Venezuelan Human Rights and Democracy Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill. I do not doubt the good intentions of its sponsors and supporters, but I firmly believe this bill, if enacted into law at this time, would have serious and negative consequences.

As the International Crisis Group described in its May 21st report, Venezuela has reached a tipping point in civil, military and governmental relations. The violence that began in February has cost at least 42 lives--mostly protestors, but also some security forces--injured hundreds, and produced scores of human rights violations and hundreds of arbitrary detentions. Finding a solution to this crisis is both urgent and complex.

The question facing this Congress is what should the United States do to support the negotiations currently underway, difficult as that process might be; ensure that those responsible for violence and the excessive use of force are held to account and brought to justice; help open up political space and dialogue among various civil society actors; and lower or diminish the levels of violence and confrontation?

The South American Union, UNASUR, with the support of the Vatican, is engaged in a dialogue process between the political opposition and the democratically-elected Maduro government. A clear agenda still needs to be set for this dialogue, which began with a couple of promising meetings, but now appears frozen. What is not needed is for the U.S. to appear to be interfering in the process and allowing the Maduro government to portray the political crisis of the past few months as a conflict between Venezuela and the United States, rather than a crisis between the Maduro government, political opponents and certain sectors of civil society. The State Department has suggested that some members of the opposition have asked them not to pursue sanctions which might put them on the defensive. Just the talk of U.S. sanctions has allowed President Maduro and his ministers to deflect attention from their lack of concessions and their failure to ease the economic crisis and deal effectively with safeguarding the security of ordinary citizens from criminal violence and attacks.

Not only do I believe these sanctions would be counter-productive inside Venezuela, but I also believe they will further damage U.S. relations in the hemisphere. U.S. allies in the region such as Colombia and Brazil are leading a serious diplomatic effort to resolve this crisis. They have publicly criticized U.S. efforts to impose sanctions. Sanctions legislation at this time would, once again, represent to the rest of Latin America the return of the U.S. taking unilateral actions opposed by the rest of the region. They would be considered not just unhelpful, but an insult.

I am no stranger to taking action and imposing sanctions on government officials and individuals engaged in gross violations of human rights. But I also believe there is a right time and a right way to do so. This legislation is premature. I urge my colleagues to give diplomacy a chance to work, to give our Latin American neighbors time to promote dialogue, one that de-escalates tensions, identifies and holds to account those responsible for killings and human rights violations, and helps Venezuela not only to resolve this crisis but to advance a more pluralistic society. Don't throw gasoline on the fire. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and oppose H.R. 4587.

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