Title: A resolution commemorating the life of Luis Alejandro "Alex" Villamayor and calling for justice and accountability.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution (1) commemorates the life of U.S. citizen Luis Alejandro Villamayor, (2) urges Paraguayan authorities to invite the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide technical assistance to investigate his death, and (3) calls upon the Department of State to prioritize justice for Villamayor in its diplomatic engagement with the Paraguayan government.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 269 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 269

   Commemorating the life of Luis Alejandro ``Alex'' Villamayor and 
                calling for justice and accountability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 27, 2019

  Mr. Cardin (for himself and Mr. Van Hollen) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Commemorating the life of Luis Alejandro ``Alex'' Villamayor and 
                calling for justice and accountability.

Whereas United States citizen Luis Alejandro ``Alex'' Villamayor was born on 
        July 3, 1998, to parents Puning Luk Villamayor and Luis Felipe 
        Villamayor in Rockville, Maryland;
Whereas Alex Villamayor is remembered by his family as a smart, loving, and 
        compassionate young man with a good sense of humor, who was committed to 
        his parents, siblings, and friends;
Whereas Alex Villamayor moved with his family at the age of six to Paraguay, 
        where he was a devoted member of his church and always had attention for 
        those less fortunate;
Whereas Alex Villamayor graduated with honors from Paraguay's Pan American 
        International School (PAIS) and was accepted to attend Montgomery 
        College in Maryland in the Fall of 2015;
Whereas Alex Villamayor aspired to study business management and return to 
        Paraguay to pursue a career that would help and support the Paraguayan 
        people;
Whereas Alex Villamayor was murdered on June 27, 2015, in the City of 
        Encarnacion in Paraguay;
Whereas Alex Villamayor's death was wrongfully ruled a suicide by Paraguayan 
        authorities before a comprehensive investigation was carried out;
Whereas, in the initial weeks of the investigation, Paraguayan authorities 
        failed to collect blood and DNA samples from individuals present at the 
        scene of the crime, conduct gunshot residue analysis on individuals 
        present at the crime scene, and collect cellular phone records and data 
        from individuals present at the crime scene;
Whereas, in August 2015, Alex Villamayor's body was exhumed for additional 
        forensic examination, which found that he had been raped and physically 
        assaulted prior to his death;
Whereas, in August 2015, Paraguayan prosecutor Olga Wilma Araujo Ayala was 
        suspended from the investigation into and legal case related to Alex 
        Villamayor's death due to mismanagement of the case;
Whereas, in September 2015, Mathias Wilbs, an employee at the property where 
        Alex Villamayor was murdered, admitted in a televised public interview 
        that he had removed the murder weapon from the crime scene and placed 
        another firearm in Alex Villamayor's hand;
Whereas, in September 2015, Alex Villamayor's death was ruled a homicide and 
        Rene Hofstetter and Mathias Wilbs were charged with crimes in relation 
        to Alex Villamayor's murder;
Whereas, in October 2015, Paraguayan authorities opened a formal investigation 
        of Alain Jacks Diaz de Bedoya for his role in Alex Villamayor's murder;
Whereas, in November 2016, Paraguayan authorities dropped the charges against 
        Alain Jacks Diaz de Bedoya related to Alex Villamayor's murder;
Whereas Members of the United States Congress have urged the Government of 
        Paraguay to invite the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation to 
        provide technical assistance for the investigation into Alex 
        Villamayor's death and the United States Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay 
        has offered such assistance to Paraguayan authorities;
Whereas, to date, the Government of Paraguay has not invited the Federal Bureau 
        of Investigation to provide technical assistance for the investigation 
        into Alex Villamayor's death;
Whereas the United States embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay, and the Department of 
        State have not issued any formal public statements about Alex 
        Villamayor's murder and the many irregularities in the investigation 
        into his death;
Whereas, in February 2017, outgoing United States Ambassador Leslie A. Basset 
        told media outlets that Alex Villamayor ``died under dark 
        circumstances'' and that ``the investigation and the handling of this 
        case has been worrisome'';
Whereas, in April 2018, Rene Hofstetter was convicted of homicide and sentenced 
        to 12 years in prison and Mathias Wilbs was sentenced to two years and 
        10 months on obstruction of justice;
Whereas, in spite of these convictions, media outlets report that others 
        implicated in the murder and cover-up have not been charged; and
Whereas members of Alex Villamayor's immediate family continue to face grave 
        physical threats in Paraguay for their pursuit of justice: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) commemorates the life of United States citizen Luis 
        Alejandro ``Alex'' Villamayor and offers condolences to his 
        family and friends;
            (2) expresses profound concern about the delays in 
        achieving justice in Alex Villamayor's case;
            (3) urges Paraguayan authorities to invite the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation to provide technical assistance to 
        properly investigate the circumstances surrounding Alex 
        Villamayor's death and assess whether other individuals may 
        have had a role in the crime or cover-up;
            (4) urges the Government of Paraguay to provide for the 
        physical security of Alex Villamayor's family and others 
        seeking justice in this case and to properly investigate recent 
        threats against their lives, charging those implicated in such 
        threats;
            (5) calls on the Department of State to prioritize justice 
        for Alex Villamayor in its diplomatic engagement with the 
        Government of Paraguay; and
            (6) calls on the Department of State to review its 
        procedures for providing services to the families of United 
        States citizens slain or assaulted abroad.
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