A resolution condemning Nicolas Maduro and the Venezuelan regime's continued human rights abuses, political repression, and dismantling of democratic institutions, and recognizing the resilience of the Venezuelan democratic opposition under the leadership of Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez.

Bill: 119-sres-339
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Introduced: 2025-07-28
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2025-07-28
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (text: CR S4777: 1)

Summaries:

tv_txt: III 119th CONGRESS 1st Session S. RES. 339 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 28, 2025 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Mr. Scott of Florida , Mr. Kaine , and Mr. Curtis ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Condemning Nicolás Maduro and the Venezuelan regime’s continued human rights abuses, political repression, and dismantling of democratic institutions, and recognizing the resilience of the Venezuelan democratic opposition under the leadership of Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González.

Whereas, since coming into power in 2013, President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro has continued the unraveling of democratic institutions, the suppression of political dissent, and the perpetration of extensive human rights abuses, including alleged crimes against humanity for which he is being investigated by the International Criminal Court; Whereas the Maduro regime has repeatedly failed to uphold its commitment to the people of Venezuela to hold free and fair elections, including by violating the terms of the electoral roadmap agreement reached with the Venezuelan democratic opposition in October 2023 in Bridgetown, Barbados; Whereas the Maduro regime unjustly barred opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado from participating in the presidential election in Venezuela in July 2024 despite more than 2,000,000 Venezuelans supporting her in the democratic opposition-organized primary; Whereas, despite the Maduro regime forcing the democratic opposition to participate in an electoral environment of restricted freedoms for political actors, civil society, and the media that did not meet international standards of electoral integrity, independently released vote tallies overwhelmingly indicate that opposition candidate Edmundo González was the legitimate victor of the July 2024 presidential election; Whereas the Maduro regime’s failure to release legitimate vote tallies and allow an independent, transparent electoral audit of the July 2024 presidential election further undermined the democratic will of the Venezuelan people, rendering the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro on January 10, 2025, illegitimate; Whereas, in the immediate aftermath of the July 2024 presidential election, the Maduro regime escalated its suppression of dissent against civil society and democratic opposition groups in Venezuela, including by— (1) cracking down on peaceful protesters, with at least 25 killed and more than 2,000 detained; (2) launching Bolivarian Fury, a plan falsely alleged to be preventing a coup that involved the vandalization of the offices of media outlets, civil society groups, and opposition officials and the detainment of at least 48 individuals; (3) launching Operation Knock Knock, a systematic effort to intimidate political opponents and chill speech critical of the election results using random inspections, security checkpoints, and paramilitary threats; (4) issuing arrest warrants for opposition officials, including Edmundo González and Maria Corina Machado, and forcing many other opposition figures into hiding for fear of imprisonment; and (5) enacting a repressive anti-NGO law, significantly reducing civil society’s ability to operate independently in Venezuela by requiring approval by the regime for operations and funding of nongovernmental organizations; Whereas the families of those detained in the wake of the July 2024 presidential election were not notified of the arrests and were unable to contact or find their relatives, qualifying such imprisonments as forced disappearances, and at least 62 of the individuals arrested following the election remain unaccounted for, while an estimated 896 political prisoners remain behind bars as of April 2025; Whereas human rights groups have documented frequent instances of beatings, food deprivation, and a lack of medical care in prisons in Venezuela, with at least four individuals detained following the July 2024 presidential election dying while in custody; Whereas the Maduro regime continues to arbitrarily arrest and wrongfully detain citizens of the United States and foreign nationals; Whereas, in the year following the July 2024 presidential election, repression of opposition figures has continued, resulting in opposition candidate Edmundo González being forced to flee the country, the arbitrary arrest of Edmundo’s son-in-law Rafael Tudares, and other opposition members seeking refuge at the Argentine Embassy in Caracas until a successful extraction operation in May 2025; Whereas, in the run-up to legislative and gubernatorial elections on May 25, 2025, the Maduro regime further delegitimized the electoral process by banning opposition leaders from running, barring international observers from monitoring the election, and eliminating the QR code system that enabled independent confirmation of voting results; Whereas, in the days prior to the May elections, the Maduro regime further escalated its repression, arresting 70 opposition leaders and civil activists, including opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa; and Whereas, despite political repression, state-perpetrated violence, and democratic backsliding, the people of Venezuela, led by a strong coalition of opposition leaders with Maria Corina Machado at the head, remain determined to see their nation escape from the iron authoritarian grip of Nicolás Maduro: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1) recognizes the steadfast leadership of democratic opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose courage in the face of Nicolás Maduro’s assault on dissent and democratic norms allows citizens of Venezuela to hope for a democratic future; (2) urges the Maduro regime to release all illegitimately held political prisoners and foreign nationals, including opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa and all wrongfully detained Americans; and (3) calls on the administration of President Trump to remain committed to advancing a peaceful, democratic transition of power in Venezuela to end the country’s ongoing humanitarian, political, and economic crises.