Florida Senate - 2018                                    SM 1382
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       37-00895-18                                           20181382__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         requesting Congress to urge President Nicolás Maduro
    4         to allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance and
    5         requesting Congress to continue and intensify
    6         financial sanctions against President Nicolás Maduro
    7         and the government of Venezuela and instruct
    8         appropriate federal agencies to hold President Nicolás
    9         Maduro and officials of the government of Venezuela
   10         accountable for violations of law and abuses of
   11         internationally recognized human rights.
   12  
   13         WHEREAS, the hallmark of democracy is the free and peaceful
   14  exercise of rights guaranteed under the constitution of a
   15  democratically elected government, and
   16         WHEREAS, in an effort to secure his personal rule and
   17  oppress Venezuelan freedoms, President Nicolás Maduro
   18  manipulated elections, established a congress under his control,
   19  nationalized private industry, abandoned private property
   20  rights, and generally assumed control over Venezuela’s
   21  government and its institutions, and
   22         WHEREAS, the deterioration of basic governance and the
   23  economic crisis in Venezuela have led to an unprecedented
   24  humanitarian situation in which people are suffering from severe
   25  shortages of basic food products and essential medicines, and
   26         WHEREAS, despite the massive shortages of basic food
   27  products and essential medicines, President Nicolás Maduro has
   28  rejected repeated requests from civil society organizations to
   29  bring humanitarian aid into the country, and
   30         WHEREAS, more than 8 million Venezuelans voted symbolically
   31  for a free and democratic government, and
   32         WHEREAS, President Nicolás Maduro has sought to silence
   33  peaceful opposition to his government by killing innocent
   34  citizens of Venezuela for their political views, and
   35         WHEREAS, those who cherish democratic principles condemn
   36  the perpetration of oppression and intimidation against the
   37  Venezuelan people, and
   38         WHEREAS, to ensure the demise of such oppression and
   39  intimidation, it is imperative that the United States Government
   40  remain committed to continuing and intensifying financial
   41  sanctions against President Nicolás Maduro and the government of
   42  Venezuela, and
   43         WHEREAS, the people of Florida stand proudly with the
   44  people of Venezuela in the face of tyranny, NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         That the Congress of the United States is requested to urge
   49  President Nicolás Maduro to allow the delivery of humanitarian
   50  assistance and is further requested to continue and intensify
   51  financial sanctions against President Nicolás Maduro and the
   52  government of Venezuela and to direct appropriate federal
   53  agencies to hold President Nicolás Maduro and officials of the
   54  government of Venezuela accountable for violations of law and
   55  abuses of internationally recognized human rights.
   56         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   57  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   58  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   59  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   60  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.