RESOLUCION DE APOYO DE ALCALDES NORTEAMERICANOS A ANTONIO LEDEZMA (original, en inglés)
Esta resolución será llevada a la Cámara de Representantes de EEUU y al Comité de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado.
Resolution No.64
Submitted by:
The Honorable Manuel A. Diaz
City of Miami
The Honorable Juan Carlos Bermudez
City of Doral
The Honorable Martin J. Chavez
City of Albuquerque
The Honorable Raul G. Salinas
City of Laredo
The Honorable Angel L. Malave Zayas
ity of Cidra
C
The Honorable Jorge A. Santini
City of San Juan
THE UNDERMINING OF DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIC CITY GOVERNANCE
IN VENEZUELA
1. WHEREAS, freely-elected mayors in Venezuela have been subjected
to intimidation and persecution for standing in
opposition to the ruling administration and national
assembly; and
2. WHEREAS, these mayors and their families have been
threatened such that the freely-elected Mayor of Maracaibo,
Manuel Rosales, was forced into hiding and has been granted
political asylum in Peru; and
3. WHEREAS, the freely-elected Mayor of Caracas, Antonio
Ledezma, who defeated a pro-government incumbent, was
blocked from entry to City Hall by supporters of the ruling
national government following a transparent and lawful
election in November 2008, and the Venezuela National Guard
has prevented Mayor Ledezma from convening city council
meetings, in contrast to those led by the previous progovernment
mayor; and
4. WHEREAS, legislation recently passed by Venezuela's
National Assembly, reorganizes the government of the city
of Caracas without city resident consent and creates a new
Caracas municipal authority that controls the Caracas
municipal budget and the city’s 7,000 city employees, and
this law has the effect of eliminating most of the
responsibilities of the elected office of the Mayor, and
gives control of an opposition-run city to an official
appointed by the national executive; and
5. WHEREAS, Article 31 of the Venezuelan Constitution of 2000
places the capital city of Caracas under the political
control of an elected mayor, and the ruling administration
and national assembly are promulgating laws that undermine
the constitutional authority of freely-elected opposition
mayors and governors while legal proceedings are brought
against leaders of the political opposition; and
6. WHEREAS, the President of Venezuela has named a vice
president of his ruling party as the new executive with
authority over Venezuela's capital city, and the elected
mayor of Caracas has been subordinated to a city official
appointed by the President; and
7. WHEREAS, such actions are directly limiting the authority
of freely-elected political opponents and undermine
constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms of speech and
expression in Venezuela, and these actions must be clearly
viewed as attacks on constitutional government and popular
electoral expressions of citizen sovereignty, and
8. WHEREAS, such behavior undermines the rule of law and the
principles of lawful, independent, local electoral
processes in city governance, freely-elected city and local
democratic governance; and
9. WHEREAS, in 2008 in solidarity with the democratic
aspirations of the people of Venezuela, the United States
Conference of Mayors highlighted and condemned the summary
disqualification of 400 otherwise-eligible candidates for
elected office by the administrative act of a government
agency without affording due juridical process;
10. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States
Conference of Mayors reiterates its unequivocal
condemnation of the undermining of democratic governance
and the principle of freely- and independently-elected city
officials, governments and administrations in Venezuela;
and
11. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors unequivocally condemns the intimidation and persecution of freely-elected mayors in Venezuela who stand in political opposition; and
12. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this policy resolution be
presented to the United States House of Representatives
Committee on Foreign Affairs, the United States Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations, and the United States
Department of State and that representations be made to the
official representatives of the Government of Venezuela in
the United States.
Office of the Mayor 3500 Pan American Drive Miami, Florida 33133
| For More Information: Helena Poleo (305) 250-5323
For Immediate Distribution: June 18, 2009 |
Mayor Manny Diaz Sponsors Resolutions In Support of our Hemispheric Neighbors during U.S. Conference of Mayors Meeting
-Resolutions Call for TPS for Haitians and Support Venezuelan Mayors Experiencing Political Persecution -
(Miami, FL) As President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz sponsored two resolutions in support of our neighbors in the hemisphere during the 77thAnnual Meeting of the Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, held from June 12 to June 16. Both resolutions, one calling for Temporary Protected status for Haitians and another condemning political persecution of mayors in Venezuela, were approved by the USCM.
“These two resolutions voice mayors’ concerns for our region,” said Mayor Diaz. “We ask that the Administration pay attention to our neighbors to the south, as any crisis that affects our neighbors also affects us.”
Mayor Diaz sponsored a resolution urging Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to grant Temporary Protected status for Haitians in the wake of the multiple hurricanes that devastated the island during the fall of 2008. The U.S. Conference of Mayors also called on the Secretary of Homeland Security to promptly suspend deportations of Haitian nationals.
The Mayor also sponsored a resolution condemning intimidation and persecution of freely-elected mayors in Venezuela who stand in political opposition. This resolution will be presented to the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the U.S. Department of State as well as to the official representatives of the Government of Venezuela in the United States.
Please find resolutions attached.
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