Presidente Obama firma la S.2142
S.2142
One Hundred Thirteenth Congress of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND
SESSION
Begun and held at the City of
Washington on Friday, the third day of January, two thousand and fourteen
To impose targeted sanctions on persons responsible for violations of human rights
of antigovernment protesters in Venezuela, to strengthen civil society in Venezuela,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Venezuela Defense of Human
Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014’’.
of antigovernment protesters in Venezuela, to strengthen civil society in Venezuela,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Venezuela Defense of Human
Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)
The Central Bank of Venezuela and the National
Statistical Institute of Venezuela stated that the annual inflation rate in
Venezuela in 2013 was 56.30, the highest level of inflation in the Western
Hemisphere and the third highest level of inflation in the world behind South
Sudan and Syria.
(2)
The Central Bank of Venezuela and the Government of
Venezuela have imposed a series of currency controls that has exacerbated
economic problems and, according to the World Economic Forum, has become the
most problematic factor for doing business in Venezuela.
(3)
The Central Bank of Venezuela declared that the
scarcity index of Venezuela reached 29.4 percent in March 2014, which signifies
that fewer than one in 4 basic goods is unavailable at any given time. The
Central Bank has not released any information on the scarcity index since that
time.
(4)
Since 1999, violent crime in Venezuela has risen
sharply and the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, an independent nongovernmental
organization, found the national per capita murder rate to be 79 per 100,000
people in 2013.
(5)
The international nongovernmental organization Human
Rights Watch recently stated, ‘‘Under the leadership of President Cha`vez and
now President Maduro, the accumulation of power in the executive branch and the
erosion of human rights guarantees have enabled the government to intimidate,
censor, and prosecute its critics.’’.
(6)
The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013
of the Department of State maintained that in Venezuela ‘‘the government did
not respect judicial independence or permit judges to act according to the law
without fear of retaliation’’ and ‘‘the government used the judiciary to
intimidate and selectively prosecute political, union, business, and civil
society leaders who were critical of government policies or actions’’.
(7)
The Government of Venezuela has detained foreign
journalists and threatened and expelled international media outlets operating
in Venezuela, and the international nongovernmental organization Freedom House
declared that Venezuela’s ‘‘media climate is permeated by intimidation,
sometimes including physical attacks, and strong antimedia rhetoric by the
government is common’’.
(8)
Since February 4, 2014, the Government of Venezuela has
responded to antigovernment protests with violence and killings perpetrated by
its public security forces.
(9)
In May 2014, Human Rights Watch found that the unlawful
use of force perpetrated against antigovernment protesters was ‘‘part of a
systematic practice by the Venezuelan security forces’’.
(10)
As of September 1, 2014, 41 people had been killed,
approximately 3,000 had been arrested unjustly, and more than 150 remained in
prison and faced criminal charges as a result of antigovernment demonstrations
throughout Venezuela.
(11)
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez was arrested on
February 18, 2014, in relation to the protests and was unjustly charged with
criminal incitement, conspiracy, arson, and property damage. Since his arrest,
Lopez has been held in solitary confinement and has been denied 58 out of 60 of
his proposed witnesses at his ongoing trial.
(12)
As of September 1, 2014, not a single member of the
public security forces of the Government of Venezuela had been held accountable
for acts of violence perpetrated against antigovernment protesters.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ANTIGOVERNMENT PROTESTS IN VENEZUELA
AND THE NEED TO PREVENT FURTHER VIOLENCE IN VENEZUELA.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
the United States aspires to a mutually beneficial
relationship with Venezuela based on respect for human rights and the rule of
law and a functional and productive relationship on issues of public security,
including counternarcotics and counterterrorism;
(2)
the United States supports the people of Venezuela in
their efforts to realize their full economic potential and to advance
representative democracy, human rights, and the rule of law within their
country;
(3)
the chronic mismanagement by the Government of
Venezuela of its economy has produced conditions of economic hardship and
scarcity of basic goods and foodstuffs for the people of Venezuela;
(4)
the failure of the Government of Venezuela to guarantee
minimal standards of public security for its citizens has led the country to
become one of the most violent and corrupt in the world;
(5)
the Government of Venezuela continues to take steps to
remove checks and balances on the executive, politicize the judiciary,
undermine the independence of the legislature through use of executive decree
powers, persecute and prosecute its political opponents, curtail freedom of the
press, and limit the free expression of its citizens;
(6)
Venezuelans, responding to ongoing economic hardship,
high levels of crime and violence, and the lack of basic political rights and
individual freedoms, have turned out in demonstrations in Caracas and
throughout the country to protest the failure of the Government of Venezuela to
protect the political and economic well-being of its citizens; and
(7)
the repeated use of violence perpetrated by the
National Guard and security personnel of Venezuela, as well as persons acting
on behalf of the Government of Venezuela, against antigovernment protesters
that began on February 4, 2014, is intolerable and the use of unprovoked
violence by protesters is also a matter of serious concern.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD VENEZUELA.
It is the policy of the United States—
(1)
to support the people of Venezuela in their aspiration
to live under conditions of peace and representative democracy as defined by
the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States;
(2)
to work in concert with the other member states within
the Organization of American States, as well as the countries of the European
Union, to ensure the peaceful resolution of the current situation in Venezuela
and the immediate cessation of violence against antigovernment protestors;
(3)
to hold accountable government and security officials
in Venezuela responsible for or complicit in the use of force in relation to
antigovernment protests and similar future acts of violence; and
(4)
to continue to support the development of democratic
political processes and independent civil society in Venezuela.
SEC. 5. SANCTIONS ON PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR VIOLENCE IN VENEZUELA.
(a)
IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the sanctions
described in subsection (b) with respect to any foreign person, including any
current or former official of the Government of Venezuela or any person acting
on behalf of that Government, that the President determines—
(1)
has perpetrated, or is responsible for ordering or
otherwise directing, significant acts of violence or serious human rights
abuses in Venezuela against persons associated with the antigovernment protests
in Venezuela that began on February 4, 2014;
(2)
has ordered or otherwise directed the arrest or
prosecution of a person in Venezuela primarily because of the person’s
legitimate exercise of freedom of expression or assembly; or
(3)
has knowingly materially assisted, sponsored, or
provided significant financial, material, or technological support for, or
goods or services in support of, the commission of acts described in paragraph
(1) or (2).
(b)
SANCTIONS
DESCRIBED.—
(1)
IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in this subsection
are the following:
(A)
ASSET BLOCKING.—The exercise of all powers granted to
the President by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.
1701 et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in
all property and interests in property of a person determined by the President
to be subject to subsection (a) if such property and interests in property are
in the United States, come within the United States, or are or come within the
possession or control of a United States person.
(B)
EXCLUSION
FROM THE UNITED STATES AND REVOCA-
TION OF VISA
OR OTHER DOCUMENTATION.—In the case of an alien determined by the
President to be subject to subsection (a), denial of a visa to, and exclusion
from the United States of, the alien, and revocation in accordance with section
221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), of any visa
or other documentation of the alien.
(2)
PENALTIES.—A person that violates, attempts to violate,
conspires to violate, or causes a violation of paragraph (1)(A) or any
regulation, license, or order issued to carry out paragraph (1)(A) shall be
subject to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of section 206 of
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same
extent as a person that commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) of
that section.
(3)
EXCEPTION
RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF GOODS.—The
requirement to block and prohibit
all transactions in all property and interests in property under paragraph
(1)(A) shall not include the authority to impose sanctions on the importation
of goods.
(4)
EXCEPTION
TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NATIONS HEAD-
QUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions
under paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to an alien if admitting the alien into
the United States is necessary to permit the United States to comply with the
Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake
Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the
United Nations and the United States, or other applicable international
obligations.
(c)
WAIVER.—The President may waive the application of
sanctions under subsection (b) with respect to a person if the President—
(1)
determines that such a waiver is in the national
interest of the United States; and
(2)
on or before the date on which the waiver takes effect,
submits to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs
and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a
notice of and justification for the waiver.
(d)
REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The President shall issue such
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry out this section.
(e)
TERMINATION.—The requirement to impose sanctions under
this section shall terminate on December 31, 2016.
(f)
DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1)
ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms ‘‘admitted’’ and ‘‘alien’’ have
the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
(2)
FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘financial
institution’’ has the meaning given that term in section 5312 of title 31,
United States Code.
(3)
FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign person’’ means a
person that is not a United States person.
(4)
GOOD.—The term ‘‘good’’ has the meaning given that term
in section 16 of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2415)
(as continued in effect pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)).
(5)
KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with respect to
conduct, a circumstance, or a result, means that a person has actual knowledge,
or should have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the result.
(6)
MATERIALLY ASSISTED.—The term ‘‘materially assisted’’
means the provision of assistance that is significant and of a kind directly
relevant to acts described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a).
(7)
UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term ‘‘United States person’’
means—
(A)
a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence to the United States; or
(B)
an entity organized under the laws of the United States
or of any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of
such an entity.
SEC. 6. REPORT ON BROADCASTING, INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION, AND
CIRCUMVENTION TECHNOLOGY DISTRIBUTION IN VENEZUELA.
(a)
IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘Board’’) shall submit to Congress a
report that includes—
(1)
a thorough evaluation of the governmental, political,
and technological obstacles faced by the people of Venezuela in their efforts
to obtain accurate, objective, and comprehensive news and information about
domestic and international affairs;
(2)
an assessment of current efforts relating to broadcasting,
information distribution, and circumvention technology distribution in
Venezuela, by the United States Government and otherwise; and
(3)
a strategy for expanding such efforts in Venezuela,
including recommendations for additional measures to expand upon current
efforts.
(b)
ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) shall
include—
(1)
an assessment of the current level of Federal funding
dedicated to broadcasting, information distribution, and circumvention
technology distribution in Venezuela by the Board befoure the date of the
enactment of this Act;
(2)
an assessment of the extent to which the current level
and type of news and related programming and content provided by the Voice of
America and other sources is addressing the informational needs of the people
of Venezuela; and
(3)
recommendations for increasing broadcasting,
information distribution, and circumvention technology distribution in
Venezuela.
Speaker of the House
of Representatives.
Vice
President of the United States and President of the Senate.
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