IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 716 
Encouraging the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to participate 
in a constitutional, peaceful, democratic, and electoral solution to the 
political crisis in Venezuela relating to the referendum to recall President 
Hugo Chavez. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2004 
Mr. GALLEGLY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on International Relations 
RESOLUTION 
Encouraging the people of the Bolivarian Republic of Ven-
ezuela to participate in a constitutional, peaceful, demo-
cratic, and electoral solution to the political crisis in 
Venezuela relating to the referendum to recall President 
Hugo Chavez. 
Whereas in August 2002, the Government of the Bolivarian 
Republic of Venezuela and several opposition political 
groups in Venezuela invited the Organization of Amer-
ican States, the United Nations Development Program, 
and the Carter Center to begin a formal process to help 
resolve the political crisis in Venezuela; 
Whereas the Group of Friends of the Secretary General of 
the Organization of American States for Venezuela was 
established on January 15, 2003, and consists of the
•HRES 716 IH 
Governments of Brazil, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Portugal 
and the United States; 
Whereas on February 18, 2003, representatives of the Gov-
ernment of Venezuela and representatives of opposition 
political groups in Venezuela signed the Declaration 
Against Violence and for Peace and Democracy; 
Whereas on May 29, 2003, representatives of the Govern-
ment of Venezuela and representatives of opposition po-
litical groups in Venezuela signed an agreement, wit-
nessed by the representatives of the Organization of 
American States and the Carter Center, calling on the 
Government of Venezuela and these opposition political 
groups to respect human rights, freedom of expression, 
and the right to petition for recall referenda of elected of-
ficials; 
Whereas on August 25, 2003, the Supreme Tribunal of Jus-
tice, the highest court in Venezuela, named a five-mem-
ber provisional National Electoral Council (‘‘CNE’’) to 
organize local and gubernatorial elections in 2004 and to 
regulate any recall petitions initiated by citizens pursuant 
to Article 72 of the Constitution of Venezuela, which pro-
vides for a recall referendum of the President if 20 per-
cent (approximately 2,436,000 voters) of all registered 
voters sign recall petitions; 
Whereas from November 21, 2003, to November 24, 2003, 
a drive was held to collect signatures for petitions to sup-
port a referendum to recall members of the National As-
sembly, the legislature of Venezuela; 
Whereas from November 28, 2003, to December 1, 2003, a 
drive was held to collect signatures for petitions to sup-
port a referendum to recall the President of Venezuela;
•HRES 716 IH 
Whereas accredited observers from the Organization of Amer-
ican States and the Carter Center determined that the 
petition drives for legislative and Presidential recall ref-
erendums had ‘‘sufficient controls, including security 
paper for the petitions, full identification of the citizen 
with signature and thumbprint, summary forms (actas) 
listing the petition (planillas) serial numbers during the 
collection process, party witnesses, personnel trained and 
designated by the CNE, verification of each petition form 
and a cross-check with the summary forms, a cross-check 
of the names with the voters list, and a mechanism for 
appeal and correction’’; 
Whereas a petition supporting the recall of the President of 
Venezuela containing more than 3,000,000 signatures 
was delivered to the CNE on December 19, 2003; 
Whereas the CNE questioned the authenticity of approxi-
mately 1,200,000 of the signatures contained in the pres-
idential recall petition and imposed new requirements to 
verify the authenticity of these signatures; 
Whereas on March 2, 2004, the CNE, in a split decision, de-
clared that 876,017 of the signatures contained in the 
presidential recall petition were not approved as authen-
tic, based on evaluation criteria of the CNE; 
Whereas on March 2, 2004, in response to the decision by 
the CNE to set aside certain signatures in the presi-
dential recall petition, the Organization of American 
States and the Carter Center concluded that there were 
discrepancies in the criteria used by the CNE to evaluate 
signatures, stating: ‘‘We understand the concerns of the 
CNE, but the evaluation should start from the presump-
tion of the good faith of the citizen as a universal prin-
ciple.’’;
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Whereas on March 2, 2004, the Organization of American 
States and the Carter Center further stated that the in-
validated signatures ‘‘occur in such large numbers that 
they could have an impact on the outcome of the proc-
ess’’; 
Whereas on March 15, 2004, the Group of Friends of the 
Secretary General of the Organization of American 
States for Venezuela expressed ‘‘concern over the evo-
lution of events related to the possible convocation of re-
call referenda in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 
pursuant to Article 72 of that country’s Constitution’’; 
Whereas the Group of Friends of the Secretary General of 
the Organization of American States for Venezuela has 
further stated that ‘‘a prolonged lack of clarity as re-
gards the results of a process begun some months ago 
cannot contribute to resolving the grave internal political 
problems in Venezuela’’ and that ‘‘it is fundamental that 
decisions taken by the National Electoral council are 
timely and transparent to avoid doubts about the state-
ment of popular will’’; 
Whereas on February 18, 2004, Amnesty International 
issued a public statement expressing concern about a se-
ries of ‘‘random and unsubstantiated allegations’’ by the 
Government of Venezuela and by the President of Ven-
ezuela against human rights groups and about the poten-
tial that ‘‘slurs and attacks’’ could ‘‘expose members of 
these organizations to serious dangers, including threats 
and intimidations’’; 
Whereas on March 18, 2004, the Inter-American Commission 
on Human Rights of the Organization of American 
States issued a Report on the Human Rights Situation 
in Venezuela, that found ‘‘worrisome signs of institu-
•HRES 716 IH 
tional weakness, including the failure to give full applica-
tion to the new Constitution, the perception that the 
branches of government lack independence, the growing 
concentration of power in the national executive, the im-
punity in which certain armed civilian groups and para- 
police units operate, the government’s tendency to con-
frontation and disparagement of the political opposition, 
the constant attacks on journalists and the media, the 
tendency to militarize the public administration through 
the increasingly prominent role of the armed forces, the 
growing radicalization of political postures in the context 
of popular discontent over unmet social demands, and 
disputes relating to the exercise of trade union rights’’ 
existed in Venezuela; 
Whereas the CNE decided that further validation of the 
1,200,000 disputed signatures on presidential recall peti-
tions would occur during the period from May 28, 2004, 
to May 30, 2004; and 
Whereas on June 3, 2004, the CNE announced that a suffi-
cient number of signatures had been secured to require 
a recall referendum of the President of Venezuela: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) encourages the people of the Bolivarian Re-
public of Venezuela to continue to seek to participate 
in a constitutional, peaceful, democratic, and elec-
toral solution to the political crisis in Venezuela; 
(2) appeals to all sectors of society in Ven-
ezuela, including the Government, civil society, and 
political parties to adhere to the provisions of the