[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 339 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 339
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
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 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.
Whereas, since coming into power in 2013, President of Venezuela Nicolas 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
Gonzalez 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 Nicolas 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
Gonzalez 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 Gonzalez 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 Nicolas Maduro: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the steadfast leadership of democratic
opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose courage in the
face of Nicolas 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.
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