To promote democracy in Venezuela, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill establishes US policy to seek peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela through diplomacy and targeted sanctions, while opposing foreign support for the Maduro regime from Cuba, Iran, Russia, and China, defines 'appropriate congressional committees' for notification and reporting purposes under the Act, and establishes detailed criteria for when the President can determine that a democratically elected government is in power in Venezuela, including requirements for free elections, judicial independence, human rights. It relies on compliance mandates, trade restrictions, grants, and reporting requirements. The main policy areas are Sanctions, Foreign Assistance, Finance, and International Organizations.
Who Benefits and How
Future democratic Venezuelan government could gain revenue opportunities, Venezuelan people (beneficiaries) would be affected, and US law enforcement agencies could face lower compliance burdens.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Maduro regime could lose revenue opportunities, Maduro regime / Government of Venezuela could lose revenue opportunities, and Venezuelan government entities could lose revenue opportunities.
Key Provisions
- Establishes US policy to seek peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela through diplomacy and targeted sanctions, while opposing foreign support for the Maduro regime from Cuba, Iran, Russia, and China.
- Defines 'appropriate congressional committees' for notification and reporting purposes under the Act.
- Establishes detailed criteria for when the President can determine that a democratically elected government is in power in Venezuela, including requirements for free elections, judicial independence, human rights...
- Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct US executive directors at international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank, IDB, etc.) to oppose seating representatives of the Maduro regime and, after democratic...
- Directs the President to instruct the US Permanent Representative to the OAS to oppose Venezuelan participation until a democratic government is in power.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill establishes US policy to seek peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela through diplomacy and targeted sanctions, while opposing foreign support for the Maduro regime from Cuba, Iran, Russia, and China, defines 'appropriate congressional committees' for notification and reporting purposes under the Act, and establishes detailed criteria for when the President can determine that a democratically elected government is in power in Venezuela, including requirements for free elections, judicial independence, human rights.
Key Policy Areas
Sanctions, Foreign Assistance, Finance, International Organizations
Primary Purpose
The bill establishes US policy to seek peaceful democratic transition in Venezuela through diplomacy and targeted sanctions, while opposing foreign support for the Maduro regime from Cuba, Iran, Russia, and China, defines 'appropriate congressional committees' for notification and reporting purposes under the Act, and establishes detailed criteria for when the President can determine that a democratically elected government is in power in Venezuela, including requirements for free elections, judicial independence, human rights.
Policy Domains
Title I - Determinations of Democratic Government
Identified Gains
- Future democratic Venezuelan government
- Venezuelan people (beneficiaries)
- US law enforcement agencies
- US intelligence agencies
- Organization of American States
Identified Costs
- Maduro regime
- Maduro regime / Government of Venezuela
- Venezuelan government entities
- Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA)
- Persons violating Venezuela sanctions
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Scott …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Department of the Treasury / OFAC, Future democratic Venezuelan government, Government of Venezuela and all agencies/instrumentalities
Positive-direction: Future democratic Venezuelan government, US Export-Import Bank, US Trade and Development Agency, US intelligence agencies, US law enforcement agencies
Negative-direction: Department of the Treasury / OFAC, Government of Venezuela and all agencies/instrumentalities, Maduro regime, Maduro regime / Government of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro and sanctioned officials, Nicolas Maduro regime, Venezuelan government entities
Cryptocurrency exchanges handling Venezuelan tokens, Foreign financial institutions in Venezuela, US banks/financial institutions holding Venezuelan assets
Human rights NGOs and election monitors, Humanitarian NGOs operating in Venezuela, Independent NGOs providing humanitarian aid in Venezuela
Entities receiving specific licenses, Persons materially assisting the Venezuelan government, Persons violating Venezuela sanctions
Positive-direction: US businesses seeking to trade with Venezuela
Negative-direction: Entities receiving specific licenses, Persons materially assisting the Venezuelan government, Persons violating Venezuela sanctions, US businesses with Venezuela exposure
US importers of Venezuelan goods, Venezuelan exporters to the US
Foreign companies in Venezuelan energy sector, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.
Venezuelan political opposition groups
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury (Section 201)
- "us_permanent_representative"
- → United States Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_secretary_of_state"
- → Secretary of State
- "the_secretary_of_treasury"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_president"
- → President of the United States
- "the_secretary_of_state"
- → Secretary of State
Note: 'The Secretary' refers to Secretary of the Treasury in Section 201 (regarding international financial institutions) but refers to Secretary of State in Title IV (regarding assistance coordination)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Committee on Foreign Relations and Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives
A partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or organization
An individual or entity
A United States citizen or lawful permanent resident; any entity organized under US laws; any person physically located in the United States
The state and Government of Venezuela; any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof including Central Bank and PDVSA; any person owned or controlled by these entities; any person acting for or on behalf of these entities including Maduro regime members
A government resulting from free and fair elections under international supervision where all candidates could participate, opposition parties had time to organize, and candidates had full media access; making progress on independent judiciary, human rights, free speech, property rights; excludes Maduro and sanctioned/wanted persons
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology