Kaine Introduces Bill to Push For 2026 Presidential Elections in Venezuela

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and Ranking Member of the SFRC Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, introduced the Venezuela Democratic Transition Act, legislation that would push for free and fair elections in Venezuela this year.

"President Trump ordered the U.S. military to capture Maduro and his wife but left his regime largely intact. Delcy Rodríguez and others are now rapidly consolidating power, with no sign of plans to leave," said Kaine. "The Trump-Vance Administration cannot abandon Venezuelans' hope for democracy and freedom. I'm introducing this legislation to require the U.S. to use all its diplomatic tools to push for a free and fair presidential election and the release of political prisoners in Venezuela, and for the Administration to put in plain language what plans and timeline it has-if any-to ensure a democratic transition and support the Venezuelan people. Venezuelans must be able to decide their own future. I hope my Senate Republican colleagues can join me in pushing for a timely democratic transition in Venezuela."

The Venezuela Democratic Transition Act would:

• Assert that the U.S. should continue to recognize Edmundo González Urrutia as the rightful President-elect of Venezuela and assert the need for free and fair elections in 2026 in Venezuela.
• Require the Trump-Vance Administration to develop a detailed strategy and to push diplomatically for a new, internationally-monitored presidential election, the restoration of democracy, the release of all political prisoners, and the facilitation of humanitarian assistance in Venezuela.
• Mandate visa and financial sanctions on senior regime officials complicit in human rights violations in Venezuela.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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