I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2542 

To withhold twenty percent of United States assessed and voluntary contributions to the Organization of American States (OAS) for every permanent 

council meeting that takes place where Article 20 of the Inter-American 

Charter is not invoked with regard to Venezuela’s recent constitutional 

reforms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 14, 2011 

Mr. MACK (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, and Mr. SIRES) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To withhold twenty percent of United States assessed and 

voluntary contributions to the Organization of American 

States (OAS) for every permanent council meeting that 

takes place where Article 20 of the Inter-American Charter is not invoked with regard to Venezuela’s recent 

constitutional reforms, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Article 3 of the Inter-American Democratic 

6 Charter of the Organization of American States 


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1 (OAS) states that, ‘‘Essential elements of represent2 ative democracy include, inter alia, respect for 

3 human rights and fundamental freedoms, access to 

4 and the exercise of power in accordance with the 

5 rule of law, the holding of periodic, free, and fair 

6 elections based on secret balloting and universal suf7 frage as an expression of the sovereignty of the peo8 ple, the pluralistic system of political parties and or9 ganizations, and the separation of powers and inde10 pendence of the branches of government.’’. 

11 (2) Article 4 of the Inter-American Democratic 

12 Charter states that ‘‘Transparency in government 

13 activities, probity, responsible public administration 

14 on the part of governments, respect for social rights, 

15 and freedom of expression and of the press are es16 sential components of the exercise of democracy. The 

17 constitutional subordination of all state institutions 

18 to the legally constituted civilian authority and re19 spect for the rule of law on the part of all institu20 tions and sectors of society are equally essential to 

21 democracy.’’. 

22 (3) Article 20 of the Inter-American Demo23 cratic Charter states that ‘‘In the event of an uncon24 stitutional alteration of the constitutional regime 

25 that seriously impairs the democratic order in a 


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1 member state, any member state or the Secretary 

2 General may request the immediate convocation of 

3 the Permanent Council to undertake a collective as4 sessment of the situation and to take such decisions 

5 as it deems appropriate. The Permanent Council, de6 pending on the situation, may undertake the nec7 essary diplomatic initiatives, including good offices, 

8 to foster the restoration of democracy.’’. 

9 (4) In December 2010, Venezuela’s President, 

10 Hugo Chavez, in coordination with a pliant legisla11 ture, passed a package of laws, including the Ena12 bling Act or Enabling Law, which fundamentally al13 tered the Venezuelan Constitution. 

14 (5) As a result of the legislation, essential free15 doms are impaired, including the freedom of speech 

16 through restrictions on the internet and television, a 

17 breakdown in strong, independent, and pluralistic 

18 political parties through electoral reform that expels 

19 from parliament politicians who change parties, vote 

20 against certain legislation, or align with ideologically 

21 opposed ideas or people, separation of powers and 

22 subordination of the state to the people through the 

23 removal of the municipal and regional governments’ 

24 constitutional mandate, and fundamentally altering 

25 the ability of the people to govern themselves, in adVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:09 Jul 16, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2542.IH H2542

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1 dition to the president’s ability to rule by decree for 

2 eighteen months in nine broad areas such as social, 

3 economic, territorial, and national security, and re4 spect for social rights through changes to the edu5 cation sector by controlling curriculum and ideology 

6 in universities. 

7 (6) The package of laws, including the Enabling 

8 Act, therefore violate essential elements of the exer9 cise of democracy as stated in Articles 3 and 4 of 

10 the Inter-American Democratic Charter. 

11 (7) Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza stat12 ed in an interview with Associated Press that he be13 lieved the Enabling Act in Venezuela was ‘‘anti14 democratic, unconstitutional and a violation of the 

15 Inter-American Charter,’’. 

16 (8) Assistant Secretary of State for the West17 ern Hemisphere, Arturo Valenzuela, reiterated the 

18 description of the Enabling Law as ‘‘undemocratic’’. 

19 (9) The most recent Worldwide Threat Assess20 ment by the Director of National Intelligence found 

21 that ‘‘at the end of the legislature’s lame duck term, 

22 Chavez and his allies passed legislation that gives 

23 more resources to his loyal community councils, al24 lowing Chavez to claim that he is both bolstering 


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1 participatory democracy and creating new means of 

2 funneling resources to supporters.’’. 

3 (10) According to the Inter-American Demo4 cratic Charter, invocation of Article 20 may be made 

5 by the Secretary General or any member state of the 

6 Organization of the American States in the event of 

7 an unconstitutional alteration of the constitutional 

8 regime that seriously impairs the democratic order 

9 in a member state. 

10 (11) Also, according to the Inter-American 

11 Democratic Charter, invocation of Article 20 sig12 nifies the calling of the Permanent Council to deter13 mine next steps, through diplomatic initiatives, to 

14 foster the restoration of democracy in a member 

15 state. If such initiatives fail to restore democracy, 

16 Article 21 is employed to call a special session of the 

17 General Assembly in order to take the decision to 

18 suspend such member state from the exercise of its 

19 right to participate in the OAS by an affirmative 

20 vote of two-thirds of the member states in accord21 ance with the Charter of the OAS. The suspension 

22 shall take effect immediately. 


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1 SEC. 2. INVOCATION OF ARTICLE 20 OF THE INTER-AMER2 ICAN DEMOCRATIC CHARTER. 

3 (a) WITHHOLDING OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—For every 

4 Permanent Council meeting of the Organization of Amer5 ican States (OAS) that, beginning after the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act, meets without the invocation of Ar7 ticle 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and the 

8 ensuing discussion with regard to Venezuela’s violation of 

9 such Charter, as guaranteed in such Charter, the Sec10 retary of State shall withhold 20 percent of assessed and 

11 voluntary United States contributions to the OAS for the 

12 fiscal year in which each such meeting begins (or, if 20 

13 percent is not available for withholding in such fiscal year, 

14 the Secretary shall withhold the highest percentage pos15 sible in such fiscal year and the remaining percentage in 

16 the subsequent fiscal year). 

17 (b) RESUMPTION OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Sec18 retary of State shall resume making assessed and vol19 untary United States contributions to the OAS upon the 

20 invocation of Article 20 and the discussion of Venezuela’s 

21 violation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter at a 

22 meeting of the Permanent Council. 

23 (c) DEFICIT REDUCTION.—Amounts withheld pursu24 ant to subsection (a) shall be applied to reduce the Federal 


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1 budget deficit, or, for any fiscal year for which there is 

2 no Federal budget deficit, to reduce the Federal debt. 

Æ 


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