,,iii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session 
,s4 ,,res4 #bac  ,,in ,,the ,,senate    
,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states  ,august   
#a1 #bjac,mr4 ,menendez 7for himself1   
,mr4 ,rubio1 ,mr4 ,nelson1 ,mr4 ,kaine1 
,mr4 ,udall of ,new ,mexico1 ,mr4       
,mc,cain1 ,mr4 ,kirk1 ,mr4 ,graham1 and 
,mr4 ,durbin7 submitted the following   
resolution2 which was referred to the   
,committee on ,foreign ,relations       
,september #cj1 #bjac,reported by ,mr4  
,menendez1 with an amendment and an     
amendment to the preamble and an        
amendment to the title,strike out all   
after the resolving clause and insert   
the part printed in italic,strike the   
preamble and insert the part printed in 
italic  ,october #d1 #bjac;,considered1 
amended1 and agreed to with an amended  
preamble and an amendment to the title  
,,resolution  ,expressing support for   
the free and peaceful exercise of       
representative democracy in ,venezuela1 
condemning violence and intimidation    
against the country's political         

opposition1 and calling for dialogue    
between all political actors in the     
country4  ,whereas the ,constitution of 
the ,bolivarian ,republic of ,venezuela 
guarantees its citizens full political  
rights1 including the right to freely   
associate for democratic political      
purposes1 and the right to a secret     
ballot through regular free1 universal1 
direct elections and referenda2 ,whereas
 the ,preamble of the ,charter of the   
,organization of ,american ,states      
affirms that 8representative democracy  
is an indispensable condition for the   
stability1 peace and development of the 
region10 and ,article #a of the         
,inter-,american ,democratic ,charter   
recognizes that 8the people of the      
,americas have a right to democracy and 
their governments have an obligation to 
promote and defend it02 ,whereas the    
,national ,electoral ,council 7,,cne7 of
 ,venezuela declared ,nicolas ,maduro to
 have been elected in ,venezuela's      
,april #ad1 #bjac1 presidential         

election1 with #ej4f percent of votes   
cast2 ,whereas the ,senate of the       
,republic of ,chile1 the ,christian     
,democratic ,organization of the        
,americas1 the ,socialist               
,international1 the ,union of ,latin    
,american parties1 and other political  
organizations in the region issued      
declarations recognizing the alleged    
irregularities documented by the        
opposition in ,venezuela and urged a    
complete audit of the election results2 
,whereas the ,supreme ,court of         
,venezuela refused to hear legal cases  
presented by the political opposition   
regarding alleged violations of         
electoral law1 and the ,,cne denied the 
opposition's request for a full and     
comprehensive audit of the election     
results that includes the review and    
comparison of voter registry log books1 
vote tallies produced by electronic     
voting machines1 and the paper receipts 
printed by electronic voting machines2  
,whereas ,venezuela's ,unified          

,democratic ,platform 7,,mud7 has       
formally requested the ,inter-,american 
,commission on ,human ,rights to conduct
 an impartial review of alleged         
violations of ,venezuelans' civic rights
 through electoral irregularities1 voter
 intimidation1 and other abuses in the  
,april #bjac elections1 and the         
,government of ,venezuela subsequently  
announced its withdrawal from the       
,inter-,american ,court on ,human       
,rights2 ,whereas in response to the    
political opposition's decision not to  
recognize ,nicolas ,maduro as           
,president1 legislators from opposition 
parties in ,venezuela were denied the   
right to speak and removed from key     
committees by the ,president of the     
,national ,assembly1 were violently     
assaulted by members of the ruling      
,united ,socialist ,party of ,venezuela 
7,,psuv71 and increasingly face the     
prospect of politically-motivated       
criminal charges2 ,whereas the ,congress
 of the ,republic of ,peru passed a     

resolution rejecting the use of violence
 against opposition parties in the      
,venezuelan ,national ,assembly and     
expressing solidarity with those injured
 by the events of ,april #bjac1 and the 
,department of ,state responded to the  
violence against opposition legislators 
in ,venezuela by declaring that         
8violence has no place in a             
representative and democratic system1   
and is particularly inappropriate in the
 ,national ,assembly02 ,whereas the     
,secretary ,general of the ,organization
 of ,american ,states 7,,oas7 repudiated
 the incident by stating that it        
8reflects1 in a dramatic manner1 the    
absence of a political dialogue that can
 bring tranquility to the citizens and  
to the members of the different public  
powers to resolve in a peaceful climate 
and with everybody's participation the  
pending matters of the country02 and    
,whereas as a member of the             
,organization of ,american ,states and  
signatory to the ,inter-,american       

,democratic ,charter1 the ,bolivarian   
,government of ,venezuela has agreed to 
abide by the principles of              
constitutional1 representative          
democracy1 which include free and fair  
elections and adherence to its own      
constitution3 ,now1 therefore1 be it    
,that the ,senate-- 7#a7 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 ,venezuela2  7#b7 deplores 
the undemocratic denial of the          
legitimate rights of opposition         
parliamentarians in ,venezuela1 the     
inexcusable violence perpetrated against
 opposition legislators inside chambers 
of the ,national ,assembly1 and the     
growing efforts to use                  
politically-motivated criminal charges  
to intimidate the country's political   
opposition2  7#c7 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          
,venezuela2  7#d7 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 states2
 and  7#e7 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 elections4