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S. Res. 213 — what changed

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.

From Introduced in Senate to Reported in Senate. 1 section amended between Introduced in Senate and Reported in Senate.

That the Senate—

(1)
supports the people of Venezuela in their pursuit of the free exercise of representative democracy in Venezuela;
(2)
calls for greater dialogue between all political actors in Venezuela and strongly deplores the undemocratic denial of legitimate parliamentary rights to members of opposition parties in the National Assembly and the inexcusable violence perpetrated against opposition legislators inside the legislative chambers of Venezuela;
(3)
commends legislators from other nations in the Americas who have declared their opposition to political irregularities and the use of violence against opposition parliamentarians in Venezuela;
(4)
urges the Organization of American States to issue a detailed report on any and all irregularities resulting from the April 14, 2013, presidential election in Venezuela;
(5)
urges the United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States to work in concert with other member states to use the full power of the organization in support of meaningful steps to ensure full parliamentary democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela in accordance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, including invoking articles related to unconstitutional interruptions of the democratic order in a member state; and
(6)
urges the United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States to work in concert with other member states to strengthen the ability of the Organization to protect democratic institutions and to respond to the erosion of democracy in member states.
(1)
added supports the people of Venezuela in their pursuit of the free exercise of representative democracy as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
(2)
added deplores the undemocratic denial of the legitimate rights of opposition parliamentarians in Venezuela, the inexcusable violence perpetrated against opposition legislators inside chambers of the National Assembly, and the growing efforts to use politically-motivated criminal charges to intimidate the country’s political opposition;
(3)
added commends legislators from other countries in the Americas who have declared their opposition to alleged electoral irregularities and condemned the use of violence against opposition parliamentarians in Venezuela;
(4)
added urges the Department of State to work in concert with other countries in the Americas to take meaningful steps to ensure the rule of law in Venezuela in accordance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter and to strengthen the ability of the Organization of American States to respond to the erosion of democratic norms and institutions in member states; and
(5)
added calls for the United States to work with other countries in the hemisphere to actively encourage a process of dialogue between the Government of Venezuela and the political opposition through the good offices of the Organization of American States so that the voices of all Venezuelans can be taken into account through their country’s constitutional institutions and free and fair elections.