| Venezuela is the fifth most sanctioned country in the world, and it has cost the country dearly. 40,000 to 100,000 people are estimated to have died from lack of food, medicines, clean drinking water and other basic necessities caused by unilateral coercive measures (“sanctions”) the U.S. has imposed since the Obama Administration. The Biden Administration has now imposed new sanctions on Venezuelan officials for supposedly obstructing a “free and fair election.” This new regime-change effort questions the results of the July 28, 2024 presidential election in which the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner. The rationale for the dispute is that the United States’ preferred candidate posted fake vote tally sheets on a website created right before the election, falsely suggesting himself as the winner. Never mind that this candidate never filed an official complaint with the Venezuelan authorities and was the only one out of nine presidential candidates who refused to provide his party’s evidence to the Supreme Court for its investigation of the vote. The State Department keeps echoing these unsubstantiated allegations in order to isolate Venezuela internationally. No one in the United States would ever allow other countries — much less ones that have been hostile to us — to intervene in our elections or question the results announced by our authorities. President Chávez did not challenge the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court awarding electoral victory to George W. Bush in 2000, and President Maduro did not meddle in U.S. internal matters when the 2020 election was challenged by Donald Trump. Nor did any other country. The Venezuelan people now deserve the same respect for their constitution and their sovereignty. Oppose Senate Bill 995 Congress is now considering Senate Bill 995, which would turn a series of punitive Executive Orders into law, making them harder to remove and further isolating Venezuela from global markets and the international financial system. These restrict Venezuela’s ability to manage debt and conduct financial transactions and impose serious constraints on the oil industry. S.995 would bar Venezuela from receiving loans from the international banks and would punish those institutions if they do grant loans to Venezuela. It would punish any third countries that provide any assistance to the Maduro Administration while blocking Venezuela’s access to any assets it has in the United States. The wording of the bill seeks to designate the Maduro Administration as a terrorist organization and imposes constraints on the gold, financial, energy, shipping, ports and free trade sectors. Venezuela’s economy has been recovering since 2020 from the impacts of existing U.S. sanctions and life has regained a level of normalcy. These sanctions would bring death and despair back to the Venezuelan people. (See factsheet) Take action: Contact your senators! Oppose Senate Bill 995! |
| Urge your Senators to oppose Senate Bill 995 |
| In addition to writing to your senators, please consider calling members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where this bill has been sent! Here is a list of Committee members: https://www.foreign.senate.gov/about/membership. Enough opposition at the committee level can stop the bill from going to the Senate floor. The Capitol switchboard number is: (202) 224-3121. Demand respect for international law Tell the Biden Administration to stop meddling in Venezuela’s elections with economic coercion and respect the will of the people as expressed at the polls and affirmed by the CNE and Venezuelan Supreme Court! Unilateral coercive measures (“sanctions”) on Venezuela are illegal under the UN Charter and violate the Geneva Conventions against collective punishment of a population. They harm the most vulnerable citizens: children, the sick, the elderly and the poor. We demand a more just foreign policy! Take action: Urge the Biden Administration to end all illegal U.S. sanctions on Venezuela! |
| Urge the Biden Administration to respect international law |
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