Ottawa - The committee released a report called Perspectives on the Situation in Venezuela after hearing from four members of Venezuela’s National Assembly who risk persecution at home as a result of their public testimony.

The Venezuela delegation appeared before the committee in May to discuss the increasingly fraught situation in the South American country. Venezuela is gripped by severe inflation, acute shortages of essential supplies and political paralysis.

Venezuela’s 2015 parliamentary elections established a legislative majority of opposition members in the National Assembly. But the Senate committee heard that President Nicolás Maduro, who was elected in 2013, has used the government-controlled judicial system to thwart opposition efforts to institute political and economic reforms.

Friction between government and opposition politicians has hampered efforts to rein in the country’s triple-digit rate of inflation; without a political resolution, shortages of food, electricity and basic medicine will become even more widespread, the committee heard.

Meanwhile a number of journalists and government opponents remain in custody. Prominent opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, for example, is serving a 13-year prison sentence for inciting violence during 2014 anti-government protests.

Committee members urge all branches of the Venezuelan political system to strike a compromise on responsible governance that benefits all Venezuelans.

The committee also reiterates its call to release all political prisoners, including Lopez. The committee will continue to monitor the situation in Venezuela.

Quick Facts

• Luis Florido President of the Venezuelan Committee on Foreign Affairs, committee members Williams Dávila and Luis Emilio Rondón Hernández, and President of the Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts Freddy Guevara testified before the Senate committee on May 11, 2016.
• Venezuela’s economy is faring poorly in part because of the decline in the production and price of oil. It is experiencing triple-digit inflation and its gross domestic product is contracting.
• Canada and Venezuela have had bilateral relations since 1948. Bilateral trade with Venezuela in 2015 was valued at $740 million; exports were accounted for $633 million and imports for $107 million.

Quotes

“Our committee remains concerned about human rights abuses in Venezuela and the plight of its citizens. The Venezuelan government must adhere to and respect democratic principles and the rule of law if the situation is to improve. Its citizens deserve no less.”.

- Senator Raynell Andreychuk, Chair of the committee.

“Witnesses have told us of a dire economic situation which has left Venezuelans with shortages of basic medicine, food and other essential supplies. We urge all members of the Venezuelan government to collaborate with each other to ease the plight of their suffering citizens.”.

- Senator Percy E. Downe, Deputy Chair of the committee.

Associated Links

Read the report: Perspectives on the Situation in Venezuela.

Click here to watch members of the Venezuelan delegation testify before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Twitter: @SenateCA- follow the committee using the hashtag #AEFA.

For more information, please contact:

Marcy Galipeau
Committees Liaison Officer, Communications
Senate of Canada
613-944-4082
marcy.galipeau@sen.parl.gc.ca