[Senate Hearing 115-696] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] S. Hrg. 115-696 THE COLLAPSE OF THE RULE OF LAW IN VENEZUELA: WHAT THE UNITED STATES AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAN DO TO RESTORE DEMOCRACY ======================================================================= HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN HEMISPHERE, TRANSNATIONAL CRIME, CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GLOBAL WOMEN'S ISSUES OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION __________ JULY 19, 2017 __________ Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov __________ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 37-908 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS BOB CORKER, Tennessee, Chairman JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland MARCO RUBIO, Florida ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire JEFF FLAKE, Arizona CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware CORY GARDNER, Colorado TOM UDALL, New Mexico TODD, YOUNG, Indiana CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming TIM KAINE, Virginia JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts ROB PORTMAN, Ohio JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon RAND PAUL, Kentucky CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey Todd Womack, Staff Director Jessica Lewis, Democratic Staff Director John Dutton, Chief Clerk SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN HEMISPHERE, TRANSNATIONAL CRIME, CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GLOBAL WOMEN'S ISSUES MARCO RUBIO, Florida, Chairman RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey JEFF FLAKE, Arizona TOM UDALL, New Mexico CORY GARDNER, Colorado JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia TIM KAINE, Virginia (ii) C O N T E N T S ---------- Page Rubio, Hon. Marco, U.S. Senator from Florida..................... 1 Menendez, Hon. Robert, U.S. Senator from New Jersey.............. 4 Almagro, Hon. Luis, Secretary General, Organization of American States (OAS), Washington, DC................................... 6 Prepared statement........................................... 24 Additional Material Submitted for the Record Statement for the Record Submitted by Carlos Vecchio, LLM and MPA, National Political Coordinator of Voluntad Popular (Popular Will, opposition political party, member of the Unitary Alliance).............................................. 29 Organization of American States (OAS)--Report on Venezuela--May 30, 2016. Submitted to the committee by Luis Almagro, Secretary General, OAS................................................... 31 Organization of American States (OAS)--Updated Report on Venezuela--March 14, 2017. Submitted to the committee by Luis Almagro, Secretary General, OAS................................ 32 Organization of American States (OAS)--Resolution on the Recent Events in Venezuela............................................ 33 Balance de Victimas Fallecadas y Lesionadas Durante-- Manifestaciones en Abril-Julio de 2017......................... 35 (iii) THE COLLAPSE OF THE RULE OF LAW IN VENEZUELA: WHAT THE UNITED STATES AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAN DO TO RESTORE DEMOCRACY ---------- WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2017 U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues, Committee on Foreign Relations, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 4:16 p.m. in Room SD-419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Marco Rubio, chairman of the subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Rubio [presiding], Gardner, Menendez, and Kaine. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA Senator Rubio. Good afternoon. This is a hearing of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues. This committee has jurisdiction over a large number of issues. It is rare that every single one of them is being challenged in one place at one time, and I think the subject of today's hearing is a place where you can argue that transnational crime is present. Civilian security is in danger. Democracy is severely endangered. Human rights is violated on a regular basis. And as far as global women's issues, some of the bravest activists on behalf of Venezuelan democracy have been women, including Lilian Tintori, among others, who have been treated brutally by the Maduro regime. The title of this hearing is ``The Collapse of the Rule of Law in Venezuela: What the United States and the International Community Can Do to Restore Democracy'' and today we will have one panel and one witness, and it will feature the Honorable Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States. It is a unique privilege and honor to have him here today. As the ranking member commented in the hearing we had in this very room about an hour ago, it is not a commonplace occurrence in which an ambassador of an international multinational organization such as the OAS is before us. Secretary Almagro was elected Secretary General of the OAS on the 18th of March, the year 2015. He is a career diplomat. He was the Foreign Minister of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, and he has extensive regional and international experience. In 2014, ``Foreign Policy'' magazine named him a leading global thinker, one of 10 decision-makers in the world who have been granted this international distinction. But the area in which we have seen him, I believe, exhibit extraordinary leadership is as a staunch voice on efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela. And we are fortunate to have him here with us today. I am going to abbreviate my opening statement because I do want to get into the Secretary General's statement. And I know that the ranking member, who has been working on this issue even before me being here in the Senate, has comments that he needs and wants and should make as well. I want to be fundamentally clear. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the conflict that is occurring in Venezuela. A lot of people talk to me about the opposition, and while, indeed, they are in opposition to Maduro's regime, they are in fact the majority party in the National Assembly. In essence, they are the majority, not the opposition. The problem is that the people with the guns and the army who are in charge of Venezuela have canceled democracy. For those, I imagine, attending this hearing today you do so because you have an interest in it. For those who may watch it now or in the future, you need to understand that what has happened there is the following. And I apply what has happened there to what it would be like if it happened here. Imagine if the United States had an executive branch that basically took over the Supreme Court and put political cronies on it, canceled all funding and all function of the Congress, both House and Senate, went further and actually ordered the Capitol Police to attack the United States Congress if we tried to conduct our functions, cut off all operations, no salaries, no paper, no ink, nothing, no lights in terms of being able to meet, in essence, completely wiped out an elected National Assembly under the constitution of that country. Imagine further, that they announce we are not holding elections. We are not holding elections this year for governors and the legislative branch. We are not holding elections in the future for President. In fact, we are going to put together this fraudulent assembly, and we are going to impose a Cuban- style dictatorship under the guise of some sort of popular governance. That is the situation in Venezuela. Imagine even further, as an element of all this, that elements within the government armed non-uniformed individuals and ordered them into the streets to attack protesters and beat them. That is the situation in Venezuela. Imagine that they make trumped-up charges where they basically arrest political opponents, accuse them of ridiculous things, and jail them for extensive periods of time without charging, without recourse to the courts. That is the situation in Venezuela. And that is what brings us to this point. What the overwhelming majority of people in Venezuela are asking for is simply a return to constitutional order. And I would say to you that it is not just the people that do not like the current leadership. It is people that actually agreed with Hugo Chavez. There are people who were supporters of Hugo Chavez and of the constitution of Venezuela, and they have now aligned themselves with that cause, not because they ideologically agree with some members of the opposition but because, above all else, they want to see the rule of law restored. Chief among those voices is the current Attorney General of Venezuela, who, on a steady pace over a period of time, has begun to be critical of the Maduro regime. Today, she is now being charged with crimes for having done so. This is the horrifying situation. And if on the 30th of July they move forward with this constituent assembly, which is a fraud, it will be--for the first time in my recollection--nullification of the constitution of the democratic order of a nation in this hemisphere in probably over 40 years. There have been coup d'etats. There have been strongmen that have emerged from time to time and disrupted the constitutional and democratic order, and there have most certainly been non-democratic leaders elected who then have not governed as democrats. But we have never seen a structural imposition of a Cuban-style model in over 4 decades in the region. It would be tragic. It would be tragic anywhere. It is especially tragic that it is happening in Venezuela, a nation blessed with educated, entrepreneurial people with a deep culture of democracy and, by the way, one of the richest nations in the world, with natural resources and human resources. Its tragic that today its people cannot buy toilet paper, cannot buy toothpaste, and cannot access basic medications in their hospitals, all as the direct result of the Maduro regime's decisions. And finally, further complicating this matter is the existence within that government of narcotrafficking elements, multiple leaders and figures in that regime who, in addition to operating governmental entities, are also involved in narcotrafficking activity to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions. We have a catastrophe. And I conclude my remarks by saying that it is my hope that we can continue to work through organisms like the OAS in partnership with nations in the region such as Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina, among others who have stood forward on this. I am encouraged to see statements out of the European Union, out of Spain, and from multiple other nations that have pronounced themselves on this. I am hopeful of that. I think that is the ideal way forward. I also know this. And I do not speak for the President, but I have certainly spoken to the President. And I will only reiterate what he has already said, and I have been saying this now for a number of days. I have 100 percent confidence that if democracy is destroyed once and for all in Venezuela on the 30th, in terms of the Maduro regime, the President of the United States is prepared to act unilaterally in a significant and swift way. And that is not a threat. That is the reporting of the truth. But in any event, we are hopeful that there is another way forward, but time is running out. And I certainly, within that context, continue to be hopeful that a real resolution can come about in the OAS, but not through some fake negotiation designed to extend and buy time, but through a process that restores the democratic order, restores the National Assembly, holds free, fair, and internationally supervised elections, and frees political prisoners. There is nothing to negotiate, other than who is in charge of making that happen. Anything else is a waste of time and nothing but a diversionary tactic on behalf of the Maduro regime to try to hold onto power. So we are very excited that the Secretary General is here. We look forward to hearing from him. And I recognize the ranking member, Senator Menendez. STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ, U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW JERSEY Senator Menendez. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this most important hearing today. And I especially want to thank our esteemed witness, the Secretary General, Luis Almagro. We are fully aware that it is not quite standard for the sitting Secretary General of an intergovernmental organization to testify before this committee, but your testimony and participation today speak to the gravity and importance of the crisis in Venezuela and in our hemisphere. I want to say that you have been an outspoken and vocal advocate for the values that bind democratic nations together and form the basis of regional and international cooperation that will ultimately bring peace and prosperity to our hemisphere. Given the stature of your position, I appreciate your leadership on Venezuela in particular, but beyond that, the important point of ensuring that the OAS stands for the principles of the rule of law, of democratic values, and shared responsibility, in essence, the democratic charter of the OAS. Now, between the referendum last Sunday, the proposed election on the 30th, and the ongoing humanitarian suffering of many Venezuelans, this hearing could not be more timely. The more than 7 million Venezuelans who braved intimidation and violence from their president to express themselves in a peaceful democratic process are testaments to the remnants of democracy that still thrive in Venezuela. They not only overwhelmingly express rejection of Maduro's efforts to further consolidate his own power but also show the hemisphere and the world the power of organization and mobilization in the face of an autocratic president. Venezuelans who have, for the past few years, suffered a serious humanitarian crisis--nearly 90 percent of the population reported last year that they did not have enough money to buy basic food supplies. Diseases that had previously been eradicated from the country, diseases such as malaria and diphtheria have reemerged--are still marching in the streets and petitioning for their basic rights. Even as their president prevents international support for the basic humanitarian needs of its citizens, blocking an effort by the National Assembly to facilitate international assistance, they are voting to demand fundamental freedoms. Despite the suffering of his people and the international outcry, Maduro insists on clinging onto the shards of a failed ideology his predecessor and a few colleagues in the region still champion. Without going into a full history of the calamitous actions he has taken in the name of the people or the revolution, some highlights include dissolving the National Assembly and then holding the legislative body in contempt, preventing the democratically-elected assembly from passing laws, stacking the Supreme Court with loyalists to prevent an effective judicial branch or check on executive power, jailing opposition leaders and preventing them from running for office, expelling foreign media and curbing freedom of the press, violently attacking peaceful protesters, giving control of food supply to the military, who turn the responsibility of providing for the population into a profitable black market operation. This is happening in our own hemisphere with significant consequences for regional peace and stability. In 2016, Venezuelans became the top United States asylum seekers, with claims increasing 150 percent from 2015 to 2016. Venezuelans are also fleeing to neighboring Colombia, itself in the process of implementing a precarious peace accord, and Brazil. Without vigilance and accountability, our adversaries will be quick to step in. So I was pleased to work with the chairman earlier this year to bring the Treasury Department's attention to Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA's mortgage of debt to a Russian state-owned company Rosneft. PDVSA, in turn, owns CITGO, which has significant infrastructure here in the United States. And this deal could potentially put critical energy infrastructure into the hands of Russia. China has also stepped in to help Venezuela's failing economy. In 2014, I was pleased to help the Congress pass into law the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act, which imposed sanctions on officials in the government most responsible for the erosion of democracy. And I am pleased to see Congress extend those sanctions in 2017. I also urged the full committee to consider the Venezuela Humanitarian Assistance in Defense of Democratic Governance Act, which we introduced in May. This comprehensive legislation authorizes humanitarian support, expands the scope of sanctions, calls on the administration to develop a multilateral strategy and express support for the OAS's democracy restoration and election monitoring efforts. The United States, of course, cannot act alone. Democratic countries in the Western Hemisphere must be united in our values to uphold the rule of law and to champion democratic values. In that vein, it is critical that the Organization of American States maintain pressure not just on Venezuela, but to try to ensure that member countries are working in a unified fashion. I know the Secretary General has that as part of his mission. I have been disappointed to see many countries in the region, particularly in the Caribbean, continue to stand with the assault on Venezuelan democracy or refrain from explicitly condemning undemocratic actions at the OAS. Along with Senator Rubio, I have expressed the importance of standing up with the people of Venezuela and unequivocally against usurpations of power and undemocratic actions to various foreign dignitaries. I know that I am banned from going to Venezuela by the Maduro regime, but I will continue to speak out for democracy and human rights in the Western Hemisphere wherever it may be and certainly in Venezuela. Mr. Secretary, we welcome you and we look forward to your insights. Senator Rubio. Thank you to the ranking member. Secretary, thank you for being here today, and we recognize you for your statement. STATEMENT OF HON. LUIS ALMAGRO, SECRETARY GENERAL, ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, WASHINGTON, D.C. Secretary General Almagro. Senator Rubio, Senator Menendez, members of the subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to be with you today as we address the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. The OAS, the Organization of American States, is the only multilateral forum that has taken action against the dictatorship in Venezuela. On April 3rd, 2017, the Permanent Council passed Resolution 1078 declaring an ``alteration of the constitutional order'' in Venezuela. The OAS declared the Supreme Court decision to suspend the powers of the National Assembly as inconsistent with democratic practices and constitutes an alteration of the constitutional order in Venezuela. We urged the Venezuelan Government to ensure the full restoration of the democratic order. We requested that the Venezuelan Government safeguard the separation and independence of powers. We said that we stand ready to support measures to return to democratic order and to take diplomatic initiatives to foster the restoration of the democratic institutional system in accordance with the OAS founding charter and the Inter- American Democratic Charter. The international community has a vital responsibility when faced with tyranny and repression. Venezuela is going through a decisive moment. In play is the sovereignty of the people and the survival of the constitution, the last link of the country with the rule of law. In 100 days of citizen protests, nearly 100 people have been killed, the majority of them young people, many of them minors. The number of political prisoners has risen to 473, and 415 civilians have been brought before military courts. The systematic violation of human rights and basic freedoms is the worst attack against the constitution. The regime proposes more abuse, more repression, increasingly less freedom, and the tool that it proposes to institutionalize this is a Constituent Assembly, a Constituent Assembly imposed by decree without the people and against the people, setting the will of the dictatorship above the popular will expressed through a universal and direct vote. I echo the words of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference. ``The mentioned constituent project seeks to impose a dictatorial regime on the country. In addition, by privileging, in its composition, sectoral voting bases with no legal support, it violates the right to all people to elect and be elected and the constitutional principle of the proportional representation of the population according to territorial distribution.'' And it underlines that ``the National Constituent Assembly would have supra-constitutional power, with the aim of eliminating the current state bodies, mainly the National Assembly, legitimately elected by the people.'' It is the right and the responsibility of all citizens to participate in decisions relating to their own development. This is also a necessary condition for the full and effective exercise of democracy. Promoting and fostering diverse forms of participation strengthens democracy. We are in a time in which mediation efforts are taking place, all of them, of course, welcomed because they demonstrate the commitment of the international community to the search for a solution to the crisis. In this context, the institution that is in the best condition to act is the Episcopal Conference because it is Venezuelan, as we have said, because it knows people's feelings, because it knows better than anyone the history of this process, and because of its immense moral authority. From the international community, we have stripped the regime of its impunity. The alteration of the constitutional order has been recognized and denounced. The return of democracy to the country has been called for. Sanctions have been applied to corrupt and criminal affiliates of the regime. The freeing of political prisoners has been requested, and various mediation forums have been offered and will be offered. The work of the OAS has been and is essential in this sense, but the solution to the crisis is Venezuelan. Over the last month, the regime in Venezuela has buried democracy, the separation of power, justice, civil guarantees, political, economic, and social rights, as well as the principles that constitute a legitimate government. All the members of the current illegitimate government are responsible, and the role of the President of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena, has been crucial in the institutional collapse. An independent, impartial, healthy electoral body with adequate technical capabilities is fundamental to guarantee the political rights of citizens. Its responsibility is nothing less than the protection of the strict respect for the right to political expression of the people, the only sovereign that is legitimate to carry on the country. The formula announced by Tibisay Lucena to the National Constituent Assembly is as technically absurd as it is unconstitutional and undemocratic. The convocation of the Constituent Assembly is taking place outside of that stipulated in Article 347 of the constitution, which states, The Venezuelan people are the only ones who possess the original constituent power.'' In this way, it definitely puts an end of the right of the Venezuelan people to democracy. People like Tibisay Lucena that continue stripping democracy of its content work to serve the consolidation of the interest of the dictatorship imposed through the suffering of its people, sustained by the killing of its people, by the political imprisonment of opposition leaders, and by torture. The Venezuelan judiciary also has violated the fundamental principles by which the people are ensured justice, its independence. It has become an essential part of the organizational chart of institutional corruption. If justice does not follow the principles and values of democracy and the rule of law, this accelerates the legitimate functioning of the state. The Bolivarian National Guard and its head are directly responsible for the repression that has murdered, imprisoned, and tortured people. The brutal repression shows the National Guard as the perpetrator of the violation of right to life, freedoms, and guarantees of due process. Behind every detainee, every political prisoner, behind every person tortured and killed, there is something institutionally responsible in Venezuela. The Minister of Internal Relation, Nestor Reverol, Benavides Torres, General Zavarse lead the two institutions charged with the use of force in Venezuela. In this sense, they are responsible for every aggression, every shot, and every death. The return of democracy to Venezuela and the restoration of the rule of law is urgent. Legitimacy will only be returned to its institution when those in power assume their functions according to the constitution and the popular mandate. The Minister of Defense, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, has separated the armed forces from their fundamental commitments to respect the constitution, the laws, and the institution itself. What can we do? We need to speak at the highest level, at the level of presidents, to make joint declarations at the highest level. Member states and leaders of the world must speak up all together and explore what tools they have at their disposal to act. I am often asked about sanctions. Let me be clear. The sanctions will not worsen the suffering of the Venezuelan people. A clear message must be sent to Maduro and his colleagues that the criminals whose corruption, whose strategy, and whose orders have created this crisis and killed countless of their citizens should be targeted and held to account. We support sanctions to individuals that have committed crimes and are accused of corruption, and we need more economic pressure on a government that is investing the money it earns through the natural resources that belong to the people to fight and kill that very same people. Torture is a crime against humanity. We intend to support investigations, and we ask everybody to do so that may help to identify the practices of torture in Venezuela and those responsible for them, especially in front of the International Criminal Court. All our actions should be oriented to resolve this agenda. The agenda is free, transparent, just general elections; the freeing of political prisoners; restoration of the powers of the National Assembly; and an emergency plan to resolve the humanitarian crisis of the country. Thank you very much. [Mr. Almagro's prepared statement is located at the end of this transcript, beginning on page 24.] Senator Rubio. Thank you so much. I will be brief in my questions. They are rather to the point. From your understanding on the issue of revenue, to the extent that Venezuela continues to derive revenues from its oil industry, is it your understanding that that money is being used simply to try to finance its debt at a discount? Or in essence, they are selling that oil now at a steep discount. Is it not correct that the majority of the revenues they continue to generate are largely being used for corruption and/or to finance the debt and that very little of it is being used--and is the reason why, for example, there is a humanitarian crisis in food, medicine, and other matters? Secretary General Almagro. If we see all figures about health and nutrition in Venezuela, we see that practically the government is not investing at all in its people. All figures are awful and demonstrate a clear humanitarian crisis in the country: the rates of child mortality, the rates of maternal mortality, the rates of bad nutrition of children. And diseases that were extinguished in Venezuela for decades like malaria or diphtheria have reappeared in the country. So we have definitely a government that is not investing at all in its people but just trying to buy some wills, the will of--through CLAP bags given in order to achieve some political support and, of course, to keep working in their political agenda in the continent and abroad. Nothing is improving. The Government of Venezuela is practically the antithesis of any government. Any government will try to bring the crisis down to problems, problems back down to difficulties and to make the difficulties disappear. What we see in Venezuela is the contrary. From nothing, they create problems. From the problems, they create crisis, and further they escalate this crisis. The situation of the people shows that the money of the national resources that belong to the people is used to kill these people. The only action of government that we see is repression these days. Senator Rubio. The question of humanitarian aid and assistance, which the Maduro regime continues to block because they continue to refuse to acknowledge they have a humanitarian crisis. There was, however, a negotiation sponsored by the Vatican, mediated talks in November of 2016, and there was discussion about establishing a channel for allowing humanitarian aid to reach Venezuela possibly through Caritas Venezuela, which is an organization affiliated with the Catholic Church. To date, that has not happened. For those who were not involved or did not see that process of negotiation when it comes to the humanitarian aid, to this day are they allowing humanitarian aid into the country? Secretary General Almagro. They are not allowing humanitarian aid into the country. And the only measure that somehow release some pressure, some social pressure, was when they opened the border with Colombia in order to allow the people that live in border states to be able to buy their basic needs on the other side. But no international help is able to get into the country. There is definitely a need for action about that. And when you do these political measures, at the expense of the suffering of people is the most awful way of doing politics and is the most covert way of doing politics. Senator Rubio. As you are aware, the Treasury Department of the United States has imposed financial sanctions on at least 17 Venezuelans for narcotics trafficking, including nine current or former Venezuelan officials. For example, in February, the Treasury Department imposed drug trafficking sanctions against the vice president of the country. There are also very strong allegations made by defectors and others about the involvement of an individual by the name of Diosdado Cabello who I, in my personal view based on everything I have seen--he is not simply a political leader. He is in my view the Pablo Escobar of Venezuela today. He is a narcotrafficker. How complicated in this political dynamic is the existence of this narcotrafficking presence in Venezuela to the political overall crisis? Secretary General Almagro. When you see the structure of government and you see the closest relatives of the presidential family are in jail in New York and are just in New York for narcotraffic, then you see that the vice president is the second in charge has resources for about $2 billion in the United States that have been sanctioned, when you see that number three is that the Minister of Interior Reverol is also accused by the DEA by narcotraffic, then you have really a serious problem because it looks like the whole structure is taken by narcotraffic. So it is not how you move out of--how you push the dictatorship out and bring back democracy. It is also now how you dismantle narcotraffic from the state, and that is a completely new challenge for our organization and for our community. That is a very serious problem like corruption is a very serious problem. Venezuela is the most corrupt country in the continent. That in itself shows that nobody is judged by corruption in the country. The only way to judge them--it is international like the cases that involved corruption of PDVSA in Houston. So to attack these issues definitely is an imperative in all our country to apply sanctions that can help solutions in this field are extremely necessary. Senator Rubio. And my final question, at least for this round, because Senator Kaine has joined us as well, and I want to make sure multiple members have a chance to speak to you about this topic, is the following. It is our natural inclination as a nation and as a people and in the region, as is your job working a multinational forum, to seek for there to be a negotiated process forward. In this perfect world, the Maduro regime would realize that this is unsustainable and there would be some sort of conversation, a serious one, about holding elections for governor, holding elections for president, freeing political prisoners, and creating that space. However, while I am not against that happening, I do not believe it is going to happen, and there is no indication that it is going to happen. I would ask you to give us some insight into your views on negotiations, not in general, but as it pertains to Venezuela and, in particular, how the Maduro regime has used the ruse of dialogue and negotiation to buy time and divide the opposition and extend itself and perpetuate itself in power. Secretary General Almagro. Yes. We have seen that, and we have denounced that. The way that the government uses dialogue is just to achieve two things mainly: to release internal pressure and to release international pressure. That happened in the first week of November last year. There were not a single commitment to deal with the agenda that is necessary to resolve in Venezuela. In fact, in Venezuela, we do not call for free general elections. If we do not free the political prisoners, if we do not establish the constitutional powers to the different branches of government, then no solution is possible. We can go around that agenda as much as we can, but there will not be a solution. The government so far has not been able to push for a solution like that. And it is very clear that the main task--and we saw it last year during the procedure of the recall referendum. We see it this year again--is how they remain in power, no matter what. Imagine that in any country in the continent could be demonstrations and 100 demonstrators were killed anywhere-- anywhere--that government would not be standing anymore. It is against the basic rules of democracy and human rights. The government, when they cannot use this tool of dialogue, they just go to repression. And then they try to move back to create some conditions of a dialogue without facing the real agenda of the country. I think these days--you know, when the real negotiation to put down a dictatorship happens, it is because the dictators come and say, look, how is the best way we get out. And that is how it starts. It does not start by bringing down the National Constituent Assembly. It does not start trying to create side effects with the negotiations. You have to address the real agenda. So you put a date for elections. Okay, then we can have a dialogue. You free the political prisoners. Okay, we can have a dialogue. You establish the power of the National Assembly. Okay, we can have a dialogue. If nothing like that happens, then the conditions definitely are not there. It is awful that the people of Venezuela has been condemned to be killed in the street or to be submitted to the peace that the dictatorship provides that is a complete lack of rights. Senator Rubio. Well, as I turn it to the ranking member, my observation is when the Pope says he is no longer interested in continuing to participate in a dialogue because he does not think the Maduro government is serious about it, when the Pope says that, it is a pretty strong indication of how they have used these negotiations as a farce. The ranking member. Senator Menendez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your testimony. I do not often read from the written testimony of witnesses, but you synthesized your testimony in order for brevity. I think there are things here worthy of reading into the record. These are your words in your statement, and I often recite words such as these when I am asked by reporters about the interventionist elements of our views: The reluctance of the international community to act in defense of democracy has allowed the situation to deteriorate incrementally, but consistently, to the point where today it has become a full-blown humanitarian and security crisis. Every step of the way it has been too little and too late. The Democratic Charter was designed as a preventative tool. When it was agreed, it established a very explicit authority to act in every signatory state, when necessity requires, Venezuela signed onto the Democratic Charter, and the Democratic Charter calls, as you very explicitly note here, authority to act in every signatory state, when necessity requires. When used as intended, it can prevent or stop any backsliding in the regions' hard-earned democracies. It is true that only the people of Venezuela must solve the crisis in their country. However, in Venezuela, the words of civilians are met with the weapons of the Regime. The people of Venezuela peacefully took to the streets in defense of their fundamental rights and freedoms. The Regime responded strategically and systematically, targeting an unarmed, civilian population with violence and terror. More than 100 people have been killed since the protests began. That is close to one person each day. Of those killed, more than 30 were under the age of 21; 24 were students; 14 were teenagers. Since the protests began, more than 450 investigations into human rights violations have been opened. Civil society estimates that the number of civilians injured is above 15,000. As of July 12, there are 444 political prisoners in Venezuela; the highest number since the military dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez. These statistics do not include the thousands of lives lost in the humanitarian crisis. * * * * * * * The Regime has consistently rejected any and all offers of international humanitarian assistance. Instead, they have weaponized what little resources they do have, selecting who gets what. President Maduro, his cabinet, and his military leaders have blood on their hands and they must be held accountable. Those are not the views of some members of the United States Senate or the statements of some members. It is the view of many of us, but it is a statement of the Secretary General of the OAS. And it is a powerful statement. And it is so sad in a country that has enormous human capital and tremendous potential. So, Mr. Secretary, [Spanish spoken]. I really appreciate-- you know, it is very often that in diplomacy we mitigate what is clearly the harsh in the light of day cannot be mitigated. And I appreciate your straightforwardness. I want to ask you--and I do not subscribe this as a personal failure. Institutionally I am trying to understand. In June, the OAS failed to garner the 23 votes necessary in favor of a resolution on Venezuela that was introduced by Peru. This is not an official sheet, so I may be wrong, and I will stand corrected. But I am going to read from what was a photograph of a sheet of who voted how. So here are the people who abstained: Antigua and Barbuda, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Haiti, Republica Dominicana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. And then the people who voted outright no: Bolivia, Dominica, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Why do you think that you could not achieve 23 votes in what is so clear? I mean, your statement is so clear, so unambiguous, so powerful. Why do you think that countries in the face of that would abstain and/or outright vote no? Secretary General Almagro. Because countries vote because of their interests and not because of principles and values always. They have strong economic, political, social links with the Government of Venezuela, and those links they definitely value a lot, enough not to vote against Venezuela in those circumstances. In any case, I have to say that the importance of that resolution was to create a group of friends in order to deal with the Venezuelan case. The past 2 weeks before that, it happened that there were something like eight or nine initiatives of a group of friends, mediators, and facilitators for the Venezuelan crisis. So that solution could have helped in Venezuela I think. In fact, I do not think the government would have accepted that way of negotiating. In any case, we have to keep working on those votes and we have to keep making evident what is going on in Venezuela. And the situation is clear enough, but also we have to say it around. We have to be loud about. And I think it also would be extremely useful, as I said before, that this group of friends in any case can start working and they can start working on the level of presidents and can make joint declarations. In fact, the biggest countries, those with the biggest GDP, the biggest populations--they were there in that consultation concerned about the situation in Venezuela. So it is possible to do it and to implement it and to create that group of friends at that level of president and to make it work and to have a loud voice about what is going on in Venezuela. Senator Menendez. Mr. Chairman, I would like to introduce for the record all of the names of the countries that did vote in favor. And for the interest of time, I have not mentioned them all because they should be applauded. But I do think it is important to name and shame those who, in essence, voted to allow a continuing--that is the way I look at the vote. If you abstain or you vote no, in the midst of what is clearly a violation of the Democratic Charter of the OAS, which you are a party and signatory to, then you are, in essence, permitting it. The last question. I have many other questions, but I will cease because of my colleague here who is waiting. Do you believe that--I look at all of the Caribbean countries. So many of them voted either to abstain or no. Do you believe that in fact Petrocaribe and its influence have influence on some of the voting patterns here without specifying any specific country? Secretary General Almagro. There is something that makes this case very particular, and it is that we are dealing with a big country that has fallen into dictatorship. That is something that the Organization usually did not do. Usually what we in the Organization, in general, international organizations are small countries with small populations that have a significant coup d'etat and then the action comes. When we have seen this process of Venezuela, we see that these kind of problems happened in the past. I mean, I can quote, for example, the case of the mission that observed elections where Fujimori made the fraud. And that Permanent Council, those days, did not approve the report of the mission and supported Fujimori. The countries that were sitting there supported Fujimori in that case. So it is not the first time that happens that it is difficult to collect the votes of countries that they just do not want to vote against their national interest or their political interest. So we have to keep working. And the principles are there. The values are there. And we may be able to keep convincing people and keep convincing countries. We have convinced a lot of public opinion. We have taken the impunity away from the government, and we keep pushing. If we see the process since the 31st of May when I presented my first report to now, when I presented my first report, I was practically alone talking about political prisoners in Venezuela, talking about the needs to implement the recall referendum that was the institutional solution of the country, and of course, to stop stripping the powers of the National Assembly. If we see me myself alone there and now we have 20 votes in Cancun, we have improved a lot. And I think if you ask me, I support the decisions of the countries that went through the process of consultation meeting of minister of foreign affairs, but the rules of the meetings of minister of foreign affairs is that the decision have to be approved by two-thirds of the member states. If we would have gone through the application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, we should have just needed a simple majority, and that I think was the problem, more the procedure than the number of votes. Senator Menendez. Thank you. Senator Rubio. And the ranking member has entered into the record, without objection, a portion of your statement that he read. He also entered the name of the 20 countries, and that of course will be entered into the record without objection. [The information referred to above was not available when this hearing was printed.]List of countries voting in favor of Venezuela resolution deg. Senator Rubio. And I would just note for the record that those countries, those 20 countries, represent a billion people, and 90 percent of the population of the member states are represented in those 20 countries. With the Senator from Virginia's indulgence, I just want to go ahead and put some things on the record. I do not want to forget. I am going to ask that three reports that you presented to the Permanent Council, Secretary General, of the OAS on the situation in Venezuela be entered into the record as part of the statement. The first two reports lay out the deterioration of the humanitarian situation, as well as the complete alteration of the constitution on democratic order. They also represent a series of recommendations that offer guidance for the international community. The third report was released this week. It details the strategic and systematic violent repression targeting the unarmed civilian population in Venezuela. And in addition, I also ask that the Permanent Council Resolution 1078 recognizing the alteration of the constitutional order be entered into the record. And finally--this is interesting--a report from the Office of the Attorney General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, meaning the Attorney General of theoretically the Maduro regime itself, released a report on July 10th detailing the 92 deaths of demonstrators at the hands of Venezuelan security forces during the first 100 days. And I ask and, without objection, it will be entered into the record. [The information referred to is located at the end of this transcript.] Senator Rubio. Senator Kaine? Senator Kaine. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Mr. Secretary General. This is a very important hearing, and I think we are all in agreement on the diagnosis and we are looking for the prescription [Spanish spoken]. And one of the questions I want to ask to follow up on Senator Menendez's question is this: the vote in Cancun. You started in a lonely position, as you say, and then in Cancun, 20 votes. What would the effect have been in your estimation if the vote in Cancun had followed this referendum, 7.2 million Venezuelans turning out in the referendum and overwhelmingly rejecting the prospect of a dramatic rewrite by the Maduro Government of the constitution? Do you think there are abstentions or no votes, within that Cancun vote, that seeing this significant turnout and the significant will of these voters, might rethink their position, or do you think if we had this Cancun vote, it would likely come out the same? I am curious. Secretary General Almagro. This is not so easy to speculate about votes in international organizations. It will depend on the circumstance. It will depend a lot on the words that we use for the resolutions that we are planning to instrument. The thing is, in any case, that I am extremely positive about the 20 votes, and I am extremely positive about how loud the minister of foreign affairs were during the General Assembly in Cancun. I think all those are very positive actions that happened in Cancun. It was not at all a failure. I would not describe it like that, not in the wildest dreams. Senator Kaine. Let me ask it this way if I could. What would you predict--setting aside voting in the OAS, what would you predict would be the follow-on consequence of this referendum vote, which was so strong? Do you think it will have any affect on the situation going forward, or is the Government just going to say we do not care about it and will it then sink back en silencio? Secretary General Almagro. The government did not like it but showed something very positive: the extraordinary capacity of organization on mobilization of the opposition and the National Assembly. We have to see the positive of what went on there. The government is not ready yet to respond in a positive way to that consultation that was done. Those questions that were asked, the way that people answered are mandatory for all of us, and we should take it as mandatory for all of us, are mandatory, in fact, for the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and he should be implementing this measure now. But that is not the logic of the government. The logic of the government is keep playing games or will find somebody that will keep playing games with them. And if playing the game does not work like Senator Rubio said, then will come more repression on the country. How long they can hold that repression I do not know. But the scenarios that we see are very ugly for Venezuela, are awful for Venezuela. Senator Kaine. Let me switch to another topic that is related. The Attorney General Luisa Ortega had been a loyalist and ally of the Maduro regime, but in March of this year, as you described, she spoke against an attempt by the Supreme Court to strip the National Assembly of powers, and she has since been critical of President Maduro for creating, ``a climate of terror.'' The Supreme Court has banned her from leaving the country and frozen all of her assets. How significant is her decision to break with the regime? And would you see additional prospects or think there would be additional prospects for key defectors from the regime, people who have been allies to defect and become opponents in the near future? Secretary General Almagro. I mean, we have also to see that a substantial part of the Chaveista had democratic rules, and a lot of them--they believe in democracy. And the permanent electoral exercise that Venezuela did during the years of Chavez, of course, came to an end because mainly dictators-- they like elections when they are going to win them. If not, they are not useful for them. Senator Kaine. I have been on the side of a losing election recently. I like elections I am going to win too. [Laughter.] Senator Kaine. That is not just dictators. Senator Rubio. Well, I won and lost one in the same year. Try that. [Laughter.] Secretary General Almagro. But that is a very good thing and talks very well of you and of the system. And, of course, more people have moved. Former Minister of Interior Miguel Rodriguez del Toro has moved. You know there are something like about 100 officers of the military, of the army that are in jail. So there are a lot of cracks in that organization. So somehow we expect more people may come to the sides of democracy at the end of the day. Senator Kaine. Let me ask one other question. I was pleased to see the Trump administration state that they are looking at new sanctions against Venezuela, especially if they were to go through with the Government's plan to try to do a dramatic rewrite of laws and the constitution. Your testimony talked about sanctions as having a significant and salutary impact, and it is imperative that sanctions do not worsen the suffering of the Venezuelan people. But, however, targeted sanctions that hold those criminals responsible for the crisis and repression to account have been helpful. The news reports that I have read in ``Bloomberg'' suggest that the administration is definitely looking at targeted sanctions against key individuals, but also there is some suggestion there is tension inside the White House about which measures to adopt and whether to wait to see how Venezuela's constitutional issue plays out. Among the measures creating division is whether to impose some sort of ban on crude oil imports from Venezuela. What opinion would you have of that, just to give us your thought and perspective about how that might help or hurt the situation? Secretary General Almagro. You know, dictatorships stay only if they are pushed within the country, from inside the country. Unless you bomb them--and that is not the solution definitely--there is no way to push a dictatorship down from abroad. So sanctions may work and may not work. It depends of the internal pressure in the country. For example, there are sanctions that have worked, those against the apartheid in South Africa. They worked and at the end there were democracy in South Africa. But the whole country was committed to have democracy and to have one man, one vote. There are cases where these sanctions have not worked because the internal pressure was not enough to bring the dictatorship down like the Cuban case, for example. So at the end of the day, the most dramatic measure that can be taken are sanctions, but those sanctions have to be in order to back the people, in order to regain democracy. But it depends of the people of the country, and it will depend on the Venezuelans and their struggle to be able to achieve this solution. I think sanctions should be supportive of the Venezuelan people. I think sanctions should farther come and should have farther economic pressure on the Maduro dictatorship. Senator Kaine. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Senator Rubio. The Senator from Colorado. Senator Gardner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being here today. I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman last night from Colombia. He grew up in Colombia. He lives in the United States now. And he was talking about when they were children, if they wanted goods, if they wanted certain fresh products or produce, they would go to Venezuela, and they would have access to the goods, the produce that they could not get in Colombia. And he talked about the excitement they had in the family, when they were looking for that, to bring it home. And, of course, now what is happening in Venezuela is truly tragic because that is certainly not the case today. I want to get a little bit into some of the global policies affecting Venezuela as well. According to a report from Brookings Institute, on May 8, 2017, China--banks in China lent about $118 billion to Latin America between 2007 and 2014. During this time period, about 53 percent went to Venezuela. It is about $63 billion to Venezuela from Chinese banks. So could you talk a little bit about the extent of Chinese involvement in Venezuela, whether it is helping to prop up the Maduro government? Your perspective. Secretary General Almagro. Thank you very much. I can talk a little, of course. There are Chinese economic interests in Venezuela. Of course, I am sure China would like to have those interests completely safe, and that means that they will deal with the political situation in an objective manner. I think the interests there were mainly in projects of infrastructure. There were a lot of trade, and of course, there are big interests in energy. And those interests will remain there. And I think they do not have a strong connection with the institutional situation of the country. The institutional situation of the country--it happened in parallel to that and were not affected by this relation with China. Senator Gardner. Thank you. And with that investment infrastructure or otherwise, what type of leverage does China hold in Venezuela, and could the U.S. work with them to find a solution there? Secretary General Almagro. Mainly there were investments in the industrial sector. There were investments in the oil exploration, exploitation. There were investments in infrastructure, roads and ports and such for energy. So mainly those were the business I remember. So I think also there was some financial agreements, of course, the exchange of oil. There were a big joint commission, but that is like a normal bilateral relation, let us say. Senator Gardner. So in your opinion, the U.S. should not be concerned about Chinese financing of the Venezuelan Government? Secretary General Almagro. I do not think we should have a concern about that, and I think those agreements were done in good faith by the Chinese Government. And of course, a new Venezuelan Government should be able to reformulate them as possible in any agreement with China. Senator Gardner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator Rubio. And just for a point of clarity on it--and I am going off the Congressional Research Service here. First of all, let us just describe the situation in Venezuela today. By estimates, Venezuela has international reserves of approximately $10 billion according to this report, but its financing needs for 2017 are $17 billion. So they got a $7 billion hole at minimum. So they are taking extraordinary measures to repay creditors and unusual steps to raise cash. For example, it has turned to loans to China and to Russia. These loans are paid with oil deliveries. So they are, in essence, taking the oil that belongs to the people of Venezuela and selling it at a discount to China or giving it to China and Russia at a discount in exchange for the cash, and even there, they have fallen behind on the arrangements. And, of course, the well-reported sale of $2.8 billion in bonds issued by the state-run oil entity that was sold to Goldman Sachs for $865 million. So $2.8 billion of bonds in exchange for $865 million in cash. They are now also attempting to sell $5 billion in bonds issued in December at a steep discount. So one of the things that people do not realize is what the regime has done is they have taken oil, which belongs to the people of Venezuela. Instead of selling it at market price, they are using it as payment in exchange for funds. And in the case of Russia, Russia has even taken a 49.5 percent stake in CITGO, which is an American subsidiary of the state-run entity. They own multiple pipelines and refineries in the United States of America. They are also engaged in the same sort of trade with Cuba where they pay the Cubans in oil in exchange for doctors and other services such as intelligence and repressive advisory services, which Cuba is one of the few countries in the world that offers that as a service as they teach you how to repress your people. And that is the question that I wanted to get to in my second round here. We have not spoken about it. Not enough attention has been paid to it. I am not sure that people are fully aware of the extent to which the Cuban Government is deeply entrenched in the security apparatus of the Venezuelan Government. And we have seen the reports that they are deeply entrenched and control everything from passports and travel documents to the personal security of Chavez and now Maduro and others. And certainly their hand is visible in all of these measures that are being taken, including the release of Leopoldo Lopez to his home. He is not released. He is on house arrest. We are very happy he is with his family and his wife. He should not be detained at all. But it is a very typical Cuban Government move where they release someone into house arrest, but they are still not free and able to operate. We have not discussed the role of Cuba providing assistance to the Venezuelan Maduro Government. I know they have other allies in the region, but Cuba is a critical ally. I guess I will ask you, in the way you deem appropriate, if you could describe the role that Cuba plays in sustaining the Maduro operations that we see today. Secretary General Almagro. First of all, we have to say that everybody is taking profits of this weak Venezuelan Government, weak in the sense that they do not have the economic and financial possibilities that they had in the past. So if we see any agreement that they have done, they have given away a lot of these resources of the people. Every negotiation have given away a lot of these resources of the people. And everybody is taking profit of that, even Goldman Sachs as we have seen. They bought bonds for 30 percent of their values. That is like taking advantage of somebody that just needs money in order to stay alive. The same kind of agreements happen all the time. Cuba has been there longer, has taken more profit than any other country of the region. If we see, the Cuban involvement is a serious one, and I think the Cuban management is like the worst advice that can exist in Venezuela these days. The Cubans passed a special period in the early 1990s. They passed it without energy, cash, or possibility to import food. And so, more or less, they are saying to Venezuelans, look, at your conditions. You have energy. You have cash. You can import some food in order to implement the CLAP bags. So this logic to sustain yourself through the repression is Cuban logic. You just keep repressing and keep repressing and you just stay in power because of that. If we see, they are practically everywhere. There are at least 15,000 Cubans in Venezuela. The colonial occupation army of Spain had 22,000 people. So this is like an occupation army that exists of Cuba in Venezuela. And, of course, they are not ready to leave this very profitable relation and they are not ready to leave behind a regime that is sustaining this relationship. And so that is one of the biggest problems that we have. Senator Rubio. I am looking forward in your statement. I know I saw it somewhere. You discussed--but here are some of the things, again from the Congressional Research Center. A 2016 national survey released in March of this year found that 27 percent of the people in Venezuela eat only once a day. 93.3 percent of households lack enough income to purchase food. I believe I saw it in your statement or somewhere else about the amount of weight that Venezuelans have lost in the last year. Am I correct? Secretary General Almagro. Yes. Senator Rubio. What was the number? Secretary General Almagro. From 8 to 10 kilograms on average they lost during last year. Senator Rubio. So that is 19 pounds. Secretary General Almagro. Yes. Senator Rubio. So the average Venezuelan has lost 18 to 19 pounds in the last year because of hunger. Secretary General Almagro. Two sizes smaller. Senator Rubio. Well, I saw a recent video of Nicolas Maduro and Diosdado Cabello. They have not lost any weight. [Laughter.] Secretary General Almagro. No. We have improved a lot. Senator Rubio. In fact, I have not seen any weight loss among virtually anyone at senior levels of the government. Secretary General Almagro. This is something that the people are suffering. People are suffering these shortages. Their children usually are abroad in Europe or here in North America. They do not run in the same conditions as the rest of their people. Senator Rubio. Well, the last point you raise in your testimony had to do, I believe, with infant mortality, and you compared it to the infant mortality rate in another country. And I am searching for it now, but I think, if I am not mistaken, you state in your testimony in 2016, seven children died each day before reaching the age of 1. There are better survival rates for newborns in Syria. Does that, in your recollection, remain an accurate assessment? In Syria. The survival rate of newborns is better in Syria than it is in Venezuela under the Maduro regime. Secretary General Almagro. Yes. Senator Rubio. And for the record, there is no U.S. embargo against Venezuela or any embargo from anyone. The only embargo on the people of Venezuela is self-imposed by the Maduro regime. Secretary General Almagro. Yes. But it is what I said in my presentation. The money of the resources that belong to the people--they just go to kill the people, torture the people, and nothing is provided to them. So any sanction in Venezuela will not worsen the situation of the people at all. Senator Rubio. The ranking member. Senator Menendez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, again thank you for your testimony, for your insights, for your leadership. Mr. Chairman, I hope that we can think about some other possibilities here. For example, it seems to me that if those who invest in PDVSA, which seems to be the cash cow for the regime, ultimately know that their stock, for example, that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will look seriously about whether or not such an investment, particularly in critical infrastructure of the United States, in energy would not be permitted, that it would reduce the value of PDVSA's engagement. It would reduce the allure of those both in the private sector and governmentally who are looking at PDVSA and taking shares. I look at the countries that I named earlier, and whether it is a Millennium Challenge account that we have had or whether it is a series of our other aid, I mean, peaceful diplomacy is a combination of the use of your aid, your trade, and of course, the denial of aid or trade in a pejorative way to get countries to move in a direction that is in their national interests. I really believe that the dramatic testimony of the Secretary General about what is happening in Venezuela, which I largely knew, but it has been dramatized by his testimony, and the incredible importance of Venezuela, the country, its size, its energy, its people in the midst of Latin America is a national security question of the United States. What happens if people massively seek to flee? What happens with the questions of illicit narcotic flows and the use of money laundering and a whole host of other things? So I would hope that we would urge the State Department to use all the tools of foreign diplomacy and the administration, which has seemed predisposed to seeking to do things, to look at a wide variety of things, CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment, the use of our aid, the use of our trade, the denial of such because as the Secretary said, at every step in this crisis, it has always been too little too late. I do not think that we can afford to continue too little too late on behalf of the people of Venezuela or for that fact in our own national security interest. Senator Rubio. And just to echo the ranking member's comments--first, let me add this. We did not get a chance to get to it today, but I would remind those watching here in the United States that we should not forget the case of an American citizen from Utah named Joshua Holt. He is an innocent American who has been unjustly detained in Venezuelan jails now for over a year caught up in the middle of all this crisis with absurd and ridiculous accusations. On the ranking member's point, I have said this in the past and people took it as a threat. It is not a threat. It is an honest observation about the state of affairs. I do not think you need to be a daily watcher of the news and politics to understand there is a vibrant debate in the United States about how much money this Nation should be investing in foreign aid. And I have long been a supporter, as has the ranking member, for U.S. engagement in the world and in the region. But we have a debate about how much money the United States should be investing. And I can tell you it is a debate that becomes very difficult when the debate is about investing money in nations that are our partners under the guise of we want to support them because they are democracies when these nations and the only international forum in the region designed to defend democracy are unwilling to do so for whatever the reasons may be. Maybe some of them have been involved in illicit activity that they do not want to be outed on and blackmailed by the Venezuelan regime. Perhaps others have an ideological affinity, whatever it might be. It is difficult, not a threat. I am just being honest. It is a difficult as a U.S. policymaker to turn to my colleagues from all across the country and argue that we should be funding millions of dollars of aid to countries who then turn around and support this, not support this militarily, not support this economically, supported it with a vote at the organism in the region designed to defend democracy. I do not understand how you can claim to be a democracy if you are not willing to support it at an international organism like the OAS. And that is just a fact. And that is going to be part of the debate in the months and weeks to come. Foreign aid is not charity. We do it because it defends our values as a Nation, and we do it because it is in our national interests. So I say that. On the issue of these companies, the ranking member is absolutely right. Most Americans do not realize that if Venezuela defaults, CITGO is going to be owned by a Russian entity. And CITGO is a U.S. subsidiary that has pipelines. It has refinery operations in multiple States. I am going to take a wild guess that that will not be very popular here in the United States of America or here in the United States Congress, given recent events. I do not think that is going to happen. And so I think if you are Vladimir Putin and his good friend who runs and owns that company and operates it for the benefit of their corrupt cronies over there, you just realize you own 49.5 percent of bad debt because the only way you are ever going to get your debt repaid is a functional society in a country that operates and has an economy, not this disaster. As far as the Chinese are concerned, I am sure they would like to have more reach in the Western Hemisphere, but I can tell you what their number one concern is: they want to get paid back. They paid for this oil at a discount. They got a good deal. They expect to get the oil. And if they do not get the oil, it will be humiliating--humiliating--to the Chinese Government that made this bad loan where they gave all this cash in exchange for oil and they are not going to get it. And my message to the Chinese Government is these guys will never be able to pay you back. This is a dysfunctional narco state that is in a death spiral in terms of its ability to function. If you want to get paid back on your debt, the best thing that could happen for China is for a functional nation state that restores democracy and has an economy that works and can actually produce oil again because the oil does not magically produce itself. You have to have people willing to show up to work and people that know what they are doing. But this is what happens to an oil industry when all of your buddies and friends that know nothing about the industry get put in charge of it. And that is what has happened here. It became a piggybank for everybody. And the third point is on those in Wall Street that are thinking about it, the reputational damage of those who bail out Venezuela is going to be extraordinary. All this stuff is being documented as much as anywhere in the world. The list is extensive of people that have been jailed and oppressed. And I know that there are some good deals to be had in their minds in terms of the balance sheet, but I can tell you that whether they are a large multinational entity or a hedge fund looking to make a quick buck, the reputational damage of lending money to this regime will be extraordinary. It is not a threat. It is a promise that I intend to talk about you if you do it. And people will know it, and we will see what that means in the short and long term. So this is a distressing situation. We are 13 or 12 days away from what I think will be, if it happens, a tragic and unacceptable outcome in our own hemisphere. As I said at the outset, it will be the first time in almost 4 decades that you have a formal structural abandonment of democracy in exchange for a Cuban-style dictatorship, perhaps even worse in some ways if that is even possible. And I just do not know how that is going to go over very well. And I hope we can get more of our colleagues interested in this topic because my bigger fear on this side of the equation, meaning as policymakers in the United States, is this is a very serious situation that could lead to all sorts of destabilizing effects in the region, including mass migration problems beyond what we have already seen now, a deep, endemic humanitarian crisis and, God forbid, violence probably initiated by the regime. And it could come upon us very quickly here if we are not prepared to address it. I believe from everything I have seen and heard and talked about with them that the U.S. administration not only wants to address it and be serious but is looking for partners in the hemisphere to work with, hopefully through the OAS or perhaps as a group of friends through the OAS. But July 30th will not come and go with a press release. Of that, I am 100 percent confident. I thank you for being here today. I know how busy you are, how much time you spent on this. By the way, for those who do not know, you have been the subject of extraordinary personal attacks by the Maduro regime and the other thugs that surround them. I know it does not necessarily matter to you directly but your efforts have been noticed there, and I think anyone who they attack, I think that is a badge of honor. And so I just thank you for the efforts. They have been extraordinary, and we hear that from everyone everywhere. And you say you were alone when you started. It is true. There is no way we would be at 20 votes without your leadership on this topic. I am convinced that that number will grow in the weeks to come. So thank you so much. We are honored that you came here today. Secretary General Almagro. Thank you. Senator Rubio. And with that, I thank everyone for being here. The record will remain open for 48 hours. I intend to submit additional questions for the record. We will get them to your office. We will work out a process to make sure they are part of our record. And with that, our hearing is adjourned. [Whereupon, at 5:37 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] ---------- Prepared Statement Submitted by Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] Additional Material Submitted for the Record Statement for the Record Submitted by Carlos Vecchio, LLM and MPA, National Political Coordinator of Voluntad Popular (Popular Will, opposition political party, member of the Unitary Alliance) Thank you Chairman Rubio, Ranking Member Senator Bob Menendez and members of the committee, for inviting me to submit a written testimony before you today. It has not been easy for me to get where I am today. I find myself doing what I have never been able to do in my own country; to present before an independent, public institution and give my testimony. I have experienced the political persecution imposed by the reigning dictatorship of Venezuela first hand. In 2014, after I had called for peaceful protests for the rights of the Venezuelan people, the Maduro administration decided to file a warrant for my arrest for political reasons. This was done five days after filing the arrest warrant for Leopoldo L"pez, my party leader. I went into hiding for over 100 days. They were unable to capture me. After that I decided to leave the country in order to be able to denounce the injustices in Venezuela internationally. I have come here in order to reaffirm what you yourselves have indicated in various resolutions approved by the United States Congress. There is no democracy in Venezuela. There is a dictatorship. A corrupt dictatorship that has driven my country into the worst historic crisis that we have seen since the twentieth century. From a political perspective, the elections in Venezuela have been suspended. In 2016 Nicol s Maduro chose to disregard the recall referendum that had been signed and activated by the signatures of over four hundred thousand Venezuelans. Venezuelan regional elections are behind schedule. There are over 400 political prisoners, something that is incompatible with the very concept of democracy. Separation of powers is non existent. I want to especially highlight the use of the Supreme Court under Maduro's control in their de facto dissolving of the Venezuelan National Assembly. From an economic perspective, the regime has been an unprecedented catastrophe. Our gross domestic product has gone down by almost 24% in the last three years. We have the highest inflation rate in the world, nearing 1,000%. From a social perspective, we have become one of the most violent countries in the world, as well as having an 80% poverty rate according to the latest study from the best universities in Venezuela. We have been protesting for over 100 days in an attempt to reestablish constitutional order in Venezuela. In the course of these protests more than 90 people have lost their lives, thousands have been arrested illegally, and there have been countless wounded. The Maduro administration no longer has the support of the people. More than 80% have rejected his platform. Maduro insists on using repression and terror in order to remain in power, following Cuba's lead. He has proposed a fraudulent constitutional assembly in order to remain in power despite not having the support of the people. This aggravates the crisis even further. On July 16, within the framework of these protests, the opposition carried out a referendum to gain popular support for our fight. It was entirely a grass-roots process, since it was done without the assistance of any Venezuelan public authority. More than7.6million Venezuelans took part. If the recall election had taken place on that day, Maduro's mandate would have been revoked. This level of participation sends a clear message to the country and the world that we want to reestablish constitutional order in Venezuela in a peaceful, and democratic fashion. For over 100 days, these millions of Venezuelans showed up for peaceful protests, to declare their indignation in the face of economic and social chaos, to demand liberty for political prisoners, and to put an end to the fraudulent constituent assembly. Maduro has sought to manipulate the international community with his proposed constituency, as he would if their formation had come about from something resembling a legitimate election. Even if Maduro has the prerogative to activate a constitutional assembly process, it would still need to be approved by the people by way of a referendum. This is the step that Maduro does not want to comply with. He does not want to ask the people if they want to change the constitution, and it's because he does not have the support of the people. As a matter of fact, not even the candidate selection process respects universal voting rights, something enshrined in the constitution, since Maduro has arbitrarily divided the population into groups (workers, farmers, etc), deciding for himself who gets to represent them and who gets to elect them. In this way, when determining the number of members in the assembly, the populations of each group are not taken into account. This is why we declare that this constituency is a fraud, as it does not respect the constitution, or democratic principles. The international community needs to put pressure on them in order to force an effective negotiation, and they should be more stringent this time, recalling the failed dialogues of 2016, which the United States were involved in. At this time it is not enough to remove the fraudulent constituent assembly, as this would leave us back at square one with protests. In order to restore constitutional order we need: i) General elections with the presence of international observers, ii) The swift liberation of all political prisoners and anyone imprisoned arbitrarily and without due process, iii) Restore the full constitutional competencies of the National Assembly, and iv) Support for a humanitarian aid fund. It is important to keep in mind that there is an irreversible political change that the Maduro regime won't be able to stop. We should increase the pressure so that this change happens sooner rather than later, and with the least possible suffering of our people. Our conflict should be resolved by the Venezuelan people themselves, although the international community plays an important and stellar role in helping and supporting us in the reestablishment of democracy in Venezuela. Under these circumstances, it is a challenge for the U.S. to participate in a constructive way. Therefore, with all due respect, I would recommend the following steps or actions: 1. The continued application of necessary pressure along with allies from neighboring countries in order to force an effective negotiation. This is particularly important for multilateral organisms such as OAS and the United Nations. In keeping with this line we should also seek to continue to engage the European Union. 2. Continue and expand targeted sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations, as well as against those people connected to the regime who have profited through corrupt deals and criminal undertakings. These should also include the associates and families of the people involved. 3. To the extent that the U.S. laws permit, the U.S. should release all evidences, accounts, and assets of the people involved in corrupt deals. 4. Request not only the repeal of the fraudulent constituency, but also alert them immediately that no results from such an election will be recognized by any democratic government in the world. Additionally, ask other world governments to do the same. It should be clear that if Maduro implements his fraudulent constitutional assembly in any way, the United States will not recognize anything approved thereby. 5. To the extent that U.S. law permits, the U.S. should prohibit the use of its financial system for transactions that imply further debts or any restructuring of existing public debts for Venezuela without the approval of the democratically elected Venezuelan National Assembly. 6. To the extent that U.S. law permits, the U.S. should prevent oil and mining joint ventures associated with the Maduro regime that have not been approved by democratically elected Venezuelan National Assembly. Furthermore disseminate information about the risks involved with oil and mining companies associated with the Maduro regime. (Oil and mining associations require the approval of the National Assembly as per Venezuelan law). Carlos Vecchio __________ Organization of American States (OAS) Report on Venezuela, Submitted by Luis Almagro, Secretary General--May 30, 2016 [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] The report can be accessed by following the hyperlink below: http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/OSG-243.en.pdf Organization of American States (OAS) Updated Report on Venezuela, Submitted by Luis Almagro, Secretary General--March 14, 2017 [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] The report can be accessed by following the hyperlink below: http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/Informe-VZ-II-English- Final-Signed.pdf Resolution on the Recent Events in Venezuela [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] Balance de Victimas Fallecadas y Lesionadas Durante--Manifestaciones en Abril-Julio de 2017 [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT] [all]