Florida Senate - 2019                                     SM 804
       
       
        
       By Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       
       15-01108A-19                                           2019804__
    1                           Senate Memorial                         
    2         A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
    3         requesting Congress to urge the regime of President
    4         Nicolás Maduro to allow the delivery of humanitarian
    5         assistance, to continue and intensify financial
    6         sanctions against the regime of President Nicolás
    7         Maduro and the Government of Venezuela, and to
    8         instruct appropriate federal agencies to hold the
    9         regime of President Nicolás Maduro and officials of
   10         the Government of Venezuela accountable for violations
   11         of law and abuses of internationally recognized human
   12         rights.
   13  
   14         WHEREAS, the hallmark of democracy is the free and peaceful
   15  exercise of rights guaranteed under the constitution of a
   16  democratically elected government, and
   17         WHEREAS, in an effort to secure his personal rule and
   18  oppress Venezuelan freedoms, the regime of President Nicolás
   19  Maduro manipulated elections, established an illegitimate
   20  Constituent Assembly to undermine the will of the Venezuelan
   21  people, nationalized private industry, abandoned private
   22  property rights, and generally assumed control over Venezuela’s
   23  government and its institutions, and
   24         WHEREAS, the deterioration of basic governance and the
   25  economic crisis in Venezuela have led to an unprecedented
   26  humanitarian situation in which people are suffering from severe
   27  shortages of basic food products and essential medicines, and
   28         WHEREAS, despite the massive shortages of basic food
   29  products and essential medicines, the regime of President Maduro
   30  has rejected repeated requests from civil society organizations
   31  to bring humanitarian aid into the country, and
   32         WHEREAS, over 8 million Venezuelans voted symbolically for
   33  a free and democratic government, and
   34         WHEREAS, the regime of President Nicolás Maduro has sought
   35  to silence peaceful opposition to his government by killing
   36  innocent citizens of Venezuela for their political views, and
   37         WHEREAS, those who cherish democratic principles condemn
   38  the perpetration of oppression and intimidation against the
   39  Venezuelan people, and
   40         WHEREAS, to ensure the demise of such oppression and
   41  intimidation, it is imperative that the United States Government
   42  remain committed to continuing and intensifying financial
   43  sanctions against the regime of President Nicolás Maduro and the
   44  Government of Venezuela, and
   45         WHEREAS, the people of Florida stand proudly with the
   46  people of Venezuela in the face of tyranny, NOW, THEREFORE,
   47  
   48  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   49  
   50  That the Congress of the United States is requested to urge the
   51  regime of President Nicolás Maduro to allow the delivery of
   52  humanitarian assistance, to continue and intensify financial
   53  sanctions against the regime of President Nicolás Maduro and the
   54  Government of Venezuela, and to instruct appropriate federal
   55  agencies to hold the regime of President Nicolás Maduro and
   56  officials of the Government of Venezuela accountable for
   57  violations of law and abuses of internationally recognized human
   58  rights.
   59         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
   60  dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
   61  President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
   62  United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
   63  the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.