August 4, 2026
Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Schiff, and Ms. Rosen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
Reaffirming the policy of the United States to support a peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela through free and fair elections.
Whereas the Venezuelan presidential election was held on July 28, 2024, and on August 1, 2024, the Department of State concluded that overwhelming—and meticulously gathered—evidence demonstrated that Nicolás Maduro did not win that election and that Edmundo González Urrutia received the most votes in that election;
Whereas Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice upheld the June 30, 2023, decision of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic imposing a 15-year ban on María Corina Machado and preventing her from appearing on the presidential ballot and holding public office after she won the Venezuelan opposition's independently administered presidential primary on October 22, 2023, with more than 90 percent of the vote;
Whereas the Venezuelan regime also blocked Corina Yoris from registering as a candidate for the election, and the Unitary Platform opposition coalition ultimately chose Edmundo González Urrutia as a provisional candidate;
Whereas, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro during Operation Absolute Resolve on January 3, 2026, Delcy Rodríguez assumed the interim presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
Whereas, on January 28, 2026, Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that the objective of the Trump Administration's policy is to achieve a friendly, stable, prosperous, and democratic Venezuela in which all elements of society are represented in free and fair elections
;
Whereas, on July 16, 2026, the Department of State reaffirmed that the United States will continue to support Venezuelan-led efforts that produce tangible progress toward a peaceful and democratic electoral transition;
Whereas Delcy Rodríguez does not have an electoral mandate from the people of Venezuela, has not taken meaningful steps toward convening free and fair presidential elections, and is broadly assessed as unable to win any such free and fair election;
Whereas the detention, assault, enforced disappearance, death, or other serious harm suffered by individuals seeking public office has long existed in Venezuela, and is fundamentally incompatible with the conduct of free and fair democratic elections; and
Whereas the structures that have sustained persecution in Venezuela for years have not yet been dismantled: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)
reaffirms the policy of the United States to support a peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela through free and fair elections;
(2)
urges that the interim authorities of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela take immediate steps to restore democratic governance through free, fair, and transparent presidential elections;
(3)
calls for the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, including those detained in relation to the July 2024 election; and
(4)
declares that any arbitrary detention, sentence, assault, enforced disappearance, death, or other serious harm suffered by any individual seeking public office, including María Corina Machado, would—
(A)
gravely undermine the freedom or fairness of future elections;
(B)
be presumed as having been done with the knowledge, acquiescence, or approval of senior officials of the interim authorities of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela; and
(C)
necessitate actions by the United States to hold accountable any person determined to be responsible for or complicit in such actions.