III 

Calendar No. 201 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 213 

Expressing support for the free and peaceful exercise of representative democracy in Venezuela and condemning violence and intimidation against 

the country’s political opposition. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2013 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. NELSON, Mr. KAINE, Mr. 

UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. KIRK, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr. 

DURBIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble and an amendment to the title 

[Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic] 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the free and peaceful exercise of 

representative democracy in Venezuela and condemning 

violence and intimidation against the country’s political 

opposition. 

Whereas the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela 

declared Nicol ́as Maduro to be the winner of Venezuela’s 


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•SRES 213 RS 

April 14, 2013, presidential election, after crediting him 

with receiving 50.6 percent of votes cast; 

Whereas Venezuela’s political opposition has highlighted 

widespread incidents of potential electoral irregularities, 

voter intimidation, and other abuses perpetrated by the 

Government of Venezuela in favor of the candidacy of 

Nicol ́as Maduro; 

Whereas the Organization of American States and other multilateral institutions called for a full recount and audit 

that addresses all claims by participants in the electoral 

process in Venezuela; 

Whereas the Senate of the Republic of Chile, the Christian 

Democratic Organization of the Americas, the Socialist 

International, the Union of Latin American parties, and 

other political organizations in the region have issued 

declarations recognizing the alleged irregularities documented by the opposition in Venezuela and urged a complete audit of the election results; 

Whereas the CNE has denied the political opposition’s request for a full and comprehensive audit of the election 

results that includes the review and comparison of voter 

registry log books, vote tallies produced by electronic voting machines, and the paper receipts printed by electronic 

voting machines; 

Whereas the Preamble of the Charter of the Organization of 

American States affirms that ‘‘representative democracy 

is an indispensable condition for the stability, peace and 

development of the region,’’ and Article 1 of the InterAmerican Democratic Charter recognizes that ‘‘the people of the Americas have a right to democracy and their 


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•SRES 213 RS 

governments have an obligation to promote and defend 

it’’; 

Whereas the republican form of government prescribed in the 

Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has 

its legislative branch in the National Assembly, where the 

free participation and deliberation of its democratically 

elected representatives is essential to legislate and check 

the powers of the executive branch; 

Whereas the President of the National Assembly denied opposition parties the right to speak in the legislature from 

April 16 to May 21, 2013, and removed them from key 

committees in response to their refusal to recognize 

Nicol ́as Maduro as president; 

Whereas members of the ruling United Socialist Party of 

Venezuela (PSUV) violently assaulted opposition legislators on April 16 and April 30, 2013, in the National Assembly, causing lacerations, broken bones, and other injuries to members of the political opposition; 

Whereas the Department of State responded to the violence 

against opposition legislators in Venezuela by declaring 

that ‘‘violence has no place in a representative and democratic system, and is particularly inappropriate in the 

National Assembly’’; 

Whereas the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) has repudiated the incident by stating 

that it ‘‘reflects, in a dramatic manner, the absence of a 

political dialogue that can bring tranquility to the citizens 

and to the members of the different public powers to resolve in a peaceful climate and with everybody’s participation the pending matters of the country’’; 


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•SRES 213 RS 

Whereas the Congress of the Republic of Peru passed a resolution rejecting the use of violence against opposition parties in the Venezuelan National Assembly and expressing 

solidarity with those injured by the events of April 2013; 

and 

Whereas, as a member of the Organization of American 

States and signatory to the Inter-American Democratic 

Charter, the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela has 

agreed to abide by the principles of constitutional, representative democracy, which include free and fair elections and adherence to its own constitution: Now, therefore, be it 

Whereas the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela guarantees its citizens full political rights, including the right to freely associate for democratic political 

purposes, and the right to a secret ballot through regular 

free, universal, direct elections and referenda; 

Whereas the Preamble of the Charter of the Organization of 

American States affirms that ‘‘representative democracy is 

an indispensable condition for the stability, peace and development of the region,’’ and Article 1 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter recognizes that ‘‘the people of the 

Americas have a right to democracy and their governments 

have an obligation to promote and defend it’’; 

Whereas the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela 

declared Nicolas Maduro to have been elected in Venezuela’s April 14, 2013, presidential election, with 50.6 

percent of votes cast; 

Whereas the Senate of the Republic of Chile, the Christian 

Democratic Organization of the Americas, the Socialist 

International, the Union of Latin American parties, and 


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•SRES 213 RS 

other political organizations in the region issued declarations recognizing the alleged irregularities documented by 

the opposition in Venezuela and urged a complete audit of 

the election results; 

Whereas the Supreme Court of Venezuela refused to hear legal 

cases presented by the political opposition regarding alleged violations of electoral law, and the CNE denied the 

opposition’s request for a full and comprehensive audit of 

the election results that includes the review and comparison of voter registry log books, vote tallies produced by 

electronic voting machines, and the paper receipts printed 

by electronic voting machines; 

Whereas Venezuela’s Unified Democratic Platform (MUD) has 

formally requested the Inter-American Commission on 

Human Rights to conduct an impartial review of alleged 

violations of Venezuelans’ civic rights through electoral 

irregularities, voter intimidation, and other abuses in the 

April 2013 elections, and the Government of Venezuela 

subsequently announced its withdrawal from the InterAmerican Court on Human Rights; 

Whereas, in response to the political opposition’s decision not 

to recognize Nicolas Maduro as President, legislators from 

opposition parties in Venezuela were denied the right to 

speak and removed from key committees by the President 

of the National Assembly, were violently assaulted by 

members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela 

(PSUV), and increasingly face the prospect of politicallymotivated criminal charges; 

Whereas the Congress of the Republic of Peru passed a resolution rejecting the use of violence against opposition parties 

in the Venezuelan National Assembly and expressing solidarity with those injured by the events of April 2013, and 


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•SRES 213 RS 

the Department of State responded to the violence against 

opposition legislators in Venezuela by declaring that ‘‘violence has no place in a representative and democratic system, and is particularly inappropriate in the National Assembly’’; 

Whereas the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) repudiated the incident by stating that 

it ‘‘reflects, in a dramatic manner, the absence of a political dialogue that can bring tranquility to the citizens and 

to the members of the different public powers to resolve in 

a peaceful climate and with everybody’s participation the 

pending matters of the country’’; and 

Whereas, as a member of the Organization of American States 

and signatory to the Inter-American Democratic Charter, 

the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela has agreed to 

abide by the principles of constitutional, representative democracy, which include free and fair elections and adherence to its own constitution: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the people of Venezuela in their 

3 pursuit of the free exercise of representative democ4 racy in Venezuela; 

5 (2) calls for greater dialogue between all polit6 ical actors in Venezuela and strongly deplores the 

7 undemocratic denial of legitimate parliamentary 

8 rights to members of opposition parties in the Na9 tional Assembly and the inexcusable violence per10 petrated against opposition legislators inside the leg11 islative chambers of Venezuela; 


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•SRES 213 RS 

1 (3) commends legislators from other nations in 

2 the Americas who have declared their opposition to 

3 political irregularities and the use of violence against 

4 opposition parliamentarians in Venezuela; 

5 (4) urges the Organization of American States 

6 to issue a detailed report on any and all irregular7 ities resulting from the April 14, 2013, presidential 

8 election in Venezuela; 

9 (5) urges the United States Ambassador to the 

10 Organization of American States to work in concert 

11 with other member states to use the full power of 

12 the organization in support of meaningful steps to 

13 ensure full parliamentary democracy and the rule of 

14 law in Venezuela in accordance with the Inter-Amer15 ican Democratic Charter, including invoking articles 

16 related to unconstitutional interruptions of the 

17 democratic order in a member state; and 

18 (6) urges the United States Ambassador to the 

19 Organization of American States to work in concert 

20 with other member states to strengthen the ability 

21 of the Organization to protect democratic institu22 tions and to respond to the erosion of democracy in 

23 member states. 

24 (1) supports the people of Venezuela in their pur25 suit of the free exercise of representative democracy as 


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•SRES 213 RS 

1 guaranteed by the Constitution of the Bolivarian Re2 public of Venezuela; 

3 (2) deplores the undemocratic denial of the legiti4 mate rights of opposition parliamentarians in Ven5 ezuela, the inexcusable violence perpetrated against 

6 opposition legislators inside chambers of the National 

7 Assembly, and the growing efforts to use politically8 motivated criminal charges to intimidate the coun9 try’s political opposition; 

10 (3) commends legislators from other countries in 

11 the Americas who have declared their opposition to 

12 alleged electoral irregularities and condemned the use 

13 of violence against opposition parliamentarians in 

14 Venezuela; 

15 (4) urges the Department of State to work in 

16 concert with other countries in the Americas to take 

17 meaningful steps to ensure the rule of law in Ven18 ezuela in accordance with the Inter-American Demo19 cratic Charter and to strengthen the ability of the Or20 ganization of American States to respond to the ero21 sion of democratic norms and institutions in member 

22 states; and 

23 (5) calls for the United States to work with other 

24 countries in the hemisphere to actively encourage a 

25 process of dialogue between the Government of VenVerDate Mar 15 2010 07:27 Oct 01, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\SR213.RS SR213

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•SRES 213 RS 

1 ezuela and the political opposition through the good 

2 offices of the Organization of American States so that 

3 the voices of all Venezuelans can be taken into account 

4 through their country’s constitutional institutions 

5 and free and fair elections. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A resolution expressing support for the free and peaceful exercise of representative democracy in Venezuela, condemning violence 

and intimidation against the country’s political opposition, and calling for dialogue between all political actors 

in the country.’’. 


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Calendar No. 201 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 213 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the free and peaceful exeragainst the country’s political opposition. and condemning violence and intimidation cise of representative democracy in Venezuela 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

preamble and an amendment to the title 


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