Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress makes the following findings: The deterioration of democratic governance and the economic crisis in Venezuela have led to an unprecedented humanitarian situation in which people are suffering from severe shortages of essential medicines and basic food products. According to the World Health Organization, Venezuela had a shortage of necessary medications and medical supplies of— 55 percent in 2014; 67 percent in 2015; and 75 percent in 2016. According to a Human Rights Watch 2016 report, it is increasingly difficult for many Venezuelans, particularly those in lower- or middle-income families, to obtain adequate nutrition and there are reports of symptoms of malnutrition, particularly in children.
Maternal deaths in Venezuela increased by 66 percent from 2015 to 2016 while infant deaths increased by 30 percent. There were 240,000 confirmed malaria cases in Venezuela in 2016—a 76 percent increase over 2015. A survey—conducted jointly by the Central University of Venezuela, the Andrés Bello Catholic University, and the Simón Bolivar University—found that almost 75 percent of Venezuelans lost an average of at least 19 pounds in 2016 as a result of a lack of proper nutrition amidst the country’s economic crisis.
Despite massive shortages of basic foodstuffs and essential medicines, Nicolás Maduro has rejected repeated requests from the Venezuelan National Assembly and civil society organizations to bring humanitarian aid into the country. The International Monetary Fund has estimated that in Venezuela in 2016 the country’s gross domestic product contracted by 12 percent and inflation rate reached 720 percent, and has stated that Venezuela had the worst growth and inflation performance in the world.
The International Monetary Fund has not convened an Article IV Executive Board consultation for Venezuela since September 13, 2004, which greatly limits the extent of information available to the international community about the severity of the Venezuelan economic crisis. Venezuela’s political, economic, and humanitarian crisis is fueling social tensions that are resulting in growing incidents of public unrest, looting, violence among citizens, and an exodus of Venezuelans abroad.
These social distortions are taking place amidst an alarming climate of criminal violence. According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, Caracas, Venezuela had the highest per capita homicide rate of any capital city in the world in 2015 at 120 murders per 100,000 citizens. In 2016, 18,155 Venezuelans submitted asylum requests in the United States, which was the greatest number of requests by any nationality, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
International and domestic human rights groups, such as Foro Penal Venezolano, recognize more than 600 political prisoners in Venezuela, including opposition leader and former Chacao mayor Leopoldo López, Judge María Lourdes Afiuni, Caracas Mayor Antonio José Ledezma Díaz, National Assembly Deputy Gilber Caro, and former San Cristobal mayor Daniel Ceballos. According to media accounts, over 125 people lost their lives as the result of public demonstrations and protests in Venezuela since April 2017.