 Thank you so much for waiting. We're gonna make it worth your while. My name is Carl Meacham. I think we have one more issue here. One second. So my name is Carl Meacham. I am the director of the America's Program here at CSIS and I'm thrilled to welcome Maria Corina Machalo back to CSIS to discuss the political crisis in Venezuela. Maria Corina was here last year. I think it was in March of last year. So she is not a stranger to the program and we are not a stranger to her. She's a friend, a dear friend of ours. And I am so very happy to also be co-hosting this event with my good friend and colleague, Peter Schechter. Peter is the director of the Adrienne Arched Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council. His extensive political and communications experience in the region make him one of the most sought out on hemispheric issues. We've known each other for a long time and it's a pleasure to bring this event to you with him. So thank you, Peter. The protests that are still taking place across Venezuela began in February. And according to official counts, at least 30 people have died with another 300 injured and some 1500 detained. As if this was not bad enough, these stats are joined by allegations of vicious torture and the mistreatment of prisoners. There's little sign that these protests are slowing down at any time soon. Repression of the protesters has increased since they began and censorship of domestic and international media coverage covering the crisis has as well, but the opposition has remained resolute. Nevertheless, the government's efforts to silence that opposition have increased as well. Most recently, the Osvaldo Cabejo, the president of the National Assembly, announced a government investigation into today's guest of honor. Accusing her of terrorism, murder, treason, and a host of other crimes. Despite all of this, the international response has been lacking. The OAS, for example, has issued a statement encouraging a peaceful and inclusive dialogue with little effort to invoke the Inter-American Democratic Charter. And this is something that Secretary of State, John Kerry hinted at and also hinted at taking a more definitive action in response to the crisis, but those requests have gone unmet. It's hard to ignore this body, ignoring developments regarding the evolving erosion of democracy in Venezuela. Beyond the protests and human rights abuses, instability in Venezuela has important regional implications, such as the possible derailment of Colombia's peace negotiations. Venezuela's poor economic state threatens to make it incapable of keeping its international oil assistance commitments. And in addition, domestic instability and crime exacerbates the already charged and very negative environment, which would make it easier for drug trafficking and violence within the country to continue. But Maria Corina is in Washington today in an effort to fix that. She was invited by the government of Panama to speak at the Organization of American States with the small Central American country, perhaps the most outspoken critic of the current Venezuelan government during the crisis, ceding its floor time at the OAS so she could deliver remarks. And the work she's doing is so important or is important indeed. The domestic implications of the current crisis are of course immense, but the international impact has the potential to be astronomical as well as I mentioned. I could not be happier to welcome Maria Corina back to CSIS, she's been with us before, and I'm excited that she's here with us today, even though the topic is not that much of a happy topic, it's still nice to have her here articulating these difficult times to us here and for the viewers that are following us today. Maria Corina is a deputy for the state of Miranda in the National Assembly of Venezuela and a leading member of the Venezuelan opposition movement. She is perhaps best known as the co-founder and former president of Venezuelan volunteer civil organization, SUMATE, a vote and election monitoring group that works to improve citizen participation in Venezuelan elections. She's a member of the Young Global Leaders Network, Ashoka, and the Venezuelan chapter of the International Women's Forum. After Maria Corina gives her remarks, Pedro will serve as the discussant and lead off the discussion and we will take a couple of questions and I'm sure you will have many questions here in the audience. We'll move on to a panel discussion as well, we're lucky to be joined here with folks that are involved in the Fight for Democracy in Venezuela. Carlos Vargas is a student in the university, the Catholic University, Andres Vello. At the university, he is the secretary of international affairs and he was previously the vice president of the Comité Jurídico del Centro de Estudiantes de Derecho. He's here. Ivan Freites is a union leader in Venezuela belonging to the Federación Unitaria de Trabajadores de Petróleo de Venezuela. And Rosa Orozco, our final panelist today is the mother of Geraldine Moreno, a 23-year-old student who was shot by the National Guard one month ago while she stood near a demonstration outside their family home in Nangua, Nangua, Nangua. Okay, close enough, Venezuela. I do not wanna go into any more details. I'm gonna leave that to Maria Corina, but I would just remind you all we are on the record, we are being webcast. During the Q&A, please wait for a member of my staff to get a microphone to you, please identify yourself. Please try to keep your comments brief. We would love to have lots of questions so we can have a true dialogue. And for those of you that need translation, because I think this will end up being a bilingual session, please let us know and we'll get to you with headphones because we have some able translators there in the back. So without further ado, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Maria Corina Machado. The four of us take this as a huge applause and recognition to the people of Venezuela and we are moved and grateful. And it's my pleasure to be here again, CSIS. Thank you, Pietro, also for having this joint meeting. It shows, it proves that the fighters for freedom and democracy in Venezuela are not alone. And we've felt that deep, deeply in these last years. Things are moving fast in Venezuela and I would not say it's only because of grieving, as you mentioned, or sadness and profound hurt for the horrible crimes that have been committed in the last days. But it has a lot to do with hope and struggle and strength and democratic convictions. I think that the most important lesson we have learned, reached in these weeks of fight in the streets is that we have to trust the people. We better trust Venezuelans and our generations. And that's exactly what we said the last time we were here. Some people have some doubts. And these are the results to prove that a society that has deep inside democratic convictions and love for freedom, and it's willing to fight for those. I would like to start sharing some reflections about what makes this social movement that's taking place in Venezuela right now different from anything we've lived before. And at least there are three reasons. First, how wide it is. It's not only taking place in some certain cities or a region. This expression of social unrest and desire to fight has been showing up in every single city and town throughout our country. This has never happened before. A second element, you'll have to help me. Transversal, transversal, I would say, throughout the whole society. We're seeing rich and poor, young and old, civilians and military, men and women, black and white, coming out and coming out for the same reasons. And that's the third element why we're fighting for. I've heard some people say it's not clear or you have to give reasons to the protesters. Every time I participate in one of these town meetings with 50 or 500 or 5,000 or 50,000 people in these last weeks, when I ask them, do you have clear why you are out here right now? Do you know what we hear? Allowed and unique. Yes, it's clear. It goes beyond what were the reasons of unrest and protest during last years that had a lot to do with the horrible economic and social situation our country is going through. You are all aware. I'm not going to come into details about Minnesota inflation rates or crime rates or education or health. But in these last weeks, there has been made a connection between the terrible situation in terms of quality of life. We have as a society with the causes and the solutions who is culpable, guilty, I mean, and how this situation can be turned around. And that has to do with political reasons and political beliefs. And at the end, it's existential because it has to do with values, with human values. When you see these kids coming out and risking their lives, and when you talk with some of them that are badly hurt in the hospitals and have been with them and with their families, and they let you know how they want to get well fast in order to go back and keep on fighting on when you speak with their moms. For instance, I was in San Cristó like 10 days ago in Estadotachita, with the Los Nuestros Gochos that given us a great example of courage and determination. I was speaking and on my side was Carmen Gonzales, the mother of Jimmy Vargas. Jimmy's was killed. He has been killed about a week before. And she was standing beside me. And she told me, look, don't try. Fight. Let me know that my son's dreams will be fulfilled. And I turn around and I say, well, Carmen, we are trying. And we are also fighting. And we will overcome this. And we'll all be proud of what your son and his young friends had done. Secondly, what has happened is that Venezuela has awakened and has awakened. And we are moving along. And the world should know well that this process is not reversible. We are going to fight until we achieve, until we conquer democracy and freedom. And that's the kind of conviction and passion I see in the mothers, fathers, and friends of our kids that had been killed or hurt. Well, when this extraordinary movement started to grow day after day, and the whole society attended the call for action that our students gave us, brought us, the government and the regime of Mr. Maduro had two options. He could understand the magnitude of what was happening and proceed in a path of profound reforms. Or he could have done what he did. And that is radicalize his policies and proceed to put in place repression that we have not seen in Venezuela before. Not even in the worst military dictatorships of the last century. We've seen the kind of repression we've seen in these last weeks. And I'm not referring only to the amount, because the numbers are important. We've seen a systematic and massive violations of human rights. Until this morning, there were 1,681 people, mostly young students detained. 34 people have been killed. And 59 cases that officially have denounced torture. And I insist in officially, because I have spoken with some of these young students. And they have made those denounces in the same military grounds on which they had been taken. Civil judges, civil courts, moved to the military grounds. And in those military grounds and overseen by the same military forces that had hurt them, they were forced to declare. And they came up with these, some of them, horrible denounces. So it has to do, as I say, with how wide it has been, how systematic. And of course, I have to mention at this point the case of Lopoldo Lopez, who's an emblematic figure, one of the fundamental political leaders in Venezuela, that we both decided to support and accompany the students' protests. And that the government has decided to judge him and use him as an exempl, an exemplary example, of what could happen to anybody who dares to speak up and defend the rights of the people. As you know, as you are all aware, he also was charged in a military prison. He's actually isolated. And none of us are able to speak or communicate with him, only his life, his parents, and his lawyers. He's well, he's strong, and he's as hopeful as we are all, and as proud as we are all of the way this great movement is moving along. I would like to mention also two cases terrible cases of persecution that took place just yesterday. I'm sure you are aware of the case of Daniel Ceballos. He's the mayor of San Cristóbal. He won with almost 70% of the popular votes in elections that are not precisely clean and fair. And yesterday he was in Caracas for a meeting of mayors around the country, and around 730 at his hotel, armed forces with no identification showed up and took him away. He was, how do you say, secuestrado? He was taken hostage. He was taken hostage. He was taken hostage. And we have been informed that last night he was taken also to the Ramo Verde prison. Last night, a little later, in Suezcarano, a major of San Diego, that had been previously charged because he had not been efficient enough in taking away some of the barricades in his county. He was overthrown. How do you say it? You would say destituido. Destituido? Removed, removed. Removed by the Supreme Court constitutional branch, something that is totally unjustifiable. And he has been accused with a penalty of 10 months in prison. And certainly I have to mention one case that's especially hurtful for me because it's a young mother and I've been in close contact with her. And I promise her I would mention her name. She has a beautiful name. Her name is Marvinia. And somehow she today represents the dignity, the courage, and the huge struggle that mothers in Venezuela have to endorse. She was, I'm sure you've seen the videos, terribly hurt at La Isabelica. She's a single mom. She has a son that is seven years old. And she sews. Sews. And she works in her house. And she went out to take pictures while the protesters were moving along the front of her house and her mom's house. And she was turned down and severely hurt by one member of the Guardia Nacional. She was, I'm sure you saw that images of the guard taking off her cask and hitting her in her face badly while she was laying down. She was taken to this military ground. She was isolated for 48 hours. And today, the woman that attacked her is still free. But Marvinia was charged with five crimes. One of them is instigating hatred. And the other is for stealing private property. So what we want to make our case is that what we're seeing is a state policy of repression and torture that has been the decision this regime took once it realized the magnitude and the power of this civic movement, Pacific civic movement, I would like to insist. Because violence is only in the benefit of the government and is the source of which these events have come. We've seen, and I want to insist this, all members of different branches of power in a systematic policy of repression and provoking violence. We saw the federal prosecutor, I would say, with sarcastic remarks regarding the denounces that some of the students that had been tortured had made. We saw La Defensora del Pueblo came coming close to justify some cases of torture in order to get information. We've seen all public media being used to promote confrontation, hatred, and even being used by Mr. Maduro and Mr. Cabello as a way, as an instrument, to give instructions to the paramilitary groups, which are also part of the regime right now. And this is something it's widely accepted. These groups that are heavily armed and are used as a repression branch against protesters and when the government doesn't want to assume the whole responsibility. And certainly we've seen members of our national arms as well as militias. So at this point, we are gone way beyond of what are remarks and reflections regarding the state of democracy in Venezuela when it came last time. Because I have just one question for you. How do you call a regime that persecutes, that censors the press, that represses to this extent that tortures and that kills in the streets? How is that regime called? So what does it has to take place in Venezuela in order for Democrats around the world to realize the nature of the regime and the danger of the regime we're facing? Just to move on, because I think you have many questions, specific questions, and I want to address them after we have a chance also to hear the rest of the members of our group. My main message for every single one of you, either because you are Venezuelans and are in deep pain at this moment, but are at deep work also. This process in these last days have made every single citizen realize the strength and the power that we, the citizens have when a society decides to move in a direction in which we will conquer democracy and freedom. If you could see with us the passion and conviction that is shared in these huge mobilizations we are seeing every single day throughout the country, I'm sure you would be, as I am, hopeful and proud to be part of this process. We do not underestimate the threats we face at this point. And what I repeat every single time when I'm asked if I fear what could happen to us and the effect it could have in the movement, I say that one of the main differences between previous experiences of fight for freedom and democracy in Venezuela, what we're facing today, is that we don't have tens of leaders, we have millions of leaders. And this is a pressure and an emotion that comes from down up. And even if some of us are put aside, we are absolutely convinced that others would take our place. And this will move along. And we will see not only a free Venezuelan, but for the second time in history, the Venezuelan people fighting and achieving freedom for some other nations in our region. Thank you very much. So now we're going to go with Peter. And just because my mother would have corrected me on this, it's not taken hostage, it's kidnapped. Kidnapped. My mayor was kidnapped, so I just, for the record. Peter. Thank you. I grew up in Venezuela as a teenager. And so it's so particularly wrenching to hear and to see and to listen and feel what's happening in your country, which I consider a little bit my country as well. But when I hear you, the words passionate, convincing, thoughtful, bold, those are all the things that come to mind when I hear you. And thank you so much for what you're doing for your country and for everybody who's fighting for freedom. We're all in debt. Carl, thank you for co-sponsoring this with us at the Atlantic Council. I'd like to give you some very fast thoughts because we want to hear more from you than from us. Everybody can hear us in Washington. I just begin with, I mean, everybody who loves Venezuela knows that when you have 10 Venezuelans in a room, you get at least 20 opinions. So in those debates about Venezuela over the last months and weeks, there's been a lot of debate about how much the government has been able to tolerate this low level sense of violence. How long can they just wait it out? And it just seems to me that what has happened in the last 15 days, that debate is really over. I just wonder if there isn't, this isn't about the government waiting it out. The government has made, seems to have made a real, despite all of its assertions that it wants dialogue that is seeking to bring people to Minaflotes to talk, I mean, it is clearly seeking everything, all of its actions are pointing in the opposite direction. I mean, it's injecting the hardest line adrenaline into the situation and I guess they're doing it because they've made a decision that better to talk about politics and to talk about all of the horrible people in their opposition than to talk about the fact that the economy of Venezuela is dancing on the edge of a volcano. I mean, it is not only about the lack of supplies in Venezuela, but it is jobs and factories that are stopping and people that aren't able to find places to go to work. And I guess I'm gonna queue up my thoughts, but that's my question to you is, it seems to me that that bet that the government has made, which is we are gonna go hard, hard line against the opposition to make sure that everybody stops talking about the economy. I just wonder if that calculation is so smart. The opposition has, whether it wants to or it doesn't want to, the opposition now has almost no choice but to become more united. Leopoldo's arrest, the brutality of the attacks and the things that they've said about you in the last 48 hours, the arrest of the mayor of San Cristóbal, mayors who are under threat, young mayors are under threat in metropolitan Caracas, we're being told. If you don't clean up the protests, we're gonna come to arrest you. It seems to me that there are fewer and fewer opposition politicians now who would come up with the idea of let's go dialogue. It seems like the time of dialogue is over and I think that that unites the opposition in a certain way. The other question I have is, how much will Latin American countries who up till now are so strangely silent? But how much will other Latin American countries be able to take of arresting mayors, abusing members of Congress? I mean, I just wonder if President Bachelet in Chile or President Peña Nieto in Mexico, how long they can remain forever silent about this? Even President Correa and Ecuador, I mean, it has some internal pressures that are gonna begin to move him towards saying something. And last clearly in Washington, we've spoken here in Washington, which we're so adept at doing, speaking in two voices. From the Congress, you hear a slightly harder line which should take tough measures against Venezuela. From the administration, you're hearing a much more adept, much more diplomatic, much more behind the scenes. We've been burned before, so we wanna be careful. But I think that as the government becomes so much more hard line, I think it is gonna be inevitable that we in Washington also come together here into some measures and responses. So, for you the question is, what is the end game? Tell us, walk us through how you see the next 15, 30 days developing. How does, how does this, you're in a terrible situation, you're going back, yes, there are millions behind you, as you said, but how does the situation develop in Venezuela? And does the fact that Maduro leaves mean that it's an end of the regime? How does change happen in Venezuela? In three minutes. Take four. First please, anything could happen in Venezuela now. The levels of obscenity are really high and we have to be, have to approach these in a responsible way. It's our duty as political leaders to show everyone in the country a route, a way to democratic transition that does not involve a destruction of institutional structures. When Venezuelans felt that the only option and that there was no drive and that Venezuela was under some sort of terror because there was no alternative for democracy, one could feel that sense of sadness, of frustration, but somehow this force, this drive came to the people of Venezuela because they realized that we have the power to find hope within the framework of institutions. Nobody knew that it was going to be such a fast process. Here we have Ivan who is part of the movement. We have a high concentration of people mobilized in the state of Bolivar. We have labor movements from the state, from different sectors that are getting involved with the movement. So if the institutional way, institutional venues are close to the people, when they're actually seeing the media so they feel that they cannot communicate their own desires, their own goals, their own preoccupations, then they need to participate in the movement. I would like to insist in that our movement has been successful. In seven weeks, we have taken away the facade of democracy of Maduro. For the reasons we have seen manifestations of different voices that are not happy with the current government, people from around the world, artists in Venezuela have expressed their support for our movement. Mr. Maduro has lost the streets. He hasn't been able to maintain the support. People are feeling repression from the government. It's almost like a dictatorship in the sense that they have to keep quiet, they have to stay in their houses after a certain time. There's too much uncertainty and violence in the streets. And today, if you walk around the streets of Venezuela, you will see in the eyes of our people that there is a sense of hope. And we have to keep on maintaining this pressure on the government, pressure based on claiming our rights. We have to attack the pillars of this government in order to unveil the truth of the state of democracy. And we have also seen that members of the national forces, some Venezuelan soldiers are not participating in repressive measures. They're not taking repressive measures. We have people from different sectors of the city across the provinces coming together for we had more than 600 or 700 people from the military coming with all sorts of weapons, with tanks, and they took the Altamira Plaza and afterwards, 300 women that were praying in the church, a couple of blocks away from the plaza, from the town square, they were able to take back the town square. They were praying for the youth, they were praying for the values of Venezuelan people. So what would I like to communicate is that the government is acting with brutal repression and these measures are taking out of desperation because they feel that they're being threatened. And where do we want this to go? We want to find a solution within the own frame of our constitution. This is not a, this is just, this is not any type, just any type of political crisis. We have arrived to a stage in which we have seen human rights violations and repression that cannot be ignored. To conclude the topic about country scene, Latin America, the recognition and gratitude that we have to Panamanians who have supported Venezuela a lot and of course this will bring a lot of benefits for both Venezuela and Panama. Thank you. As Washingtonians, we have the same question in mind. How can we help from here, from Washington? Maria Corina speaking. I think that Washington has helped us a lot throughout the years and this is an opportunity in which I bring a message of gratitude and the only thing that I will say is to please place your trust on me, on us, the Venezuelans, because most of the time Washington has supported us reluctantly. But they can see that what the Venezuelan people have achieved is, it's enormous and they have transcended expectations. And this type of hope can definitely go across borders to any country of Latin America. So we want to make it clear that, make it clear for those who have seen on whether Venezuela has an alternative to a political solution that they see Venezuela as a political, what's happening in Venezuela as a political force. We have a common objective and this is the victory of democracy through the institutional and peaceful way, a peaceful path. Our hardship is what bonds us together, what brings us together. There is a clear project in the country that transcends political leadership. We have voices from society who are expressing their own frustration. We are all involved as citizens, political leaders, student leaders, labor movement leaders, public employees. This is a manifestation that's truly, that's truly from the Venezuelan people. Carl Misham speaking, here is a difficult question but I think there are a lot of people that would like to know what the answer to this question is. When you come back from Venezuela, when you go back to Venezuela, what will happen to you? Maria Corina speaking, I would also like to know the answer to that question. What I can say is that I'm being accused by the same charges as Leopoldo López for the same reasons. All of you have seen our own decorations, our behavior, our involvement and none of the leaders in the democratic unit have said any words or have acted in a way that would spark violence. And of course, violence is something that interests the government because they can legitimize their own use of violence. Then the people will be, people will stop participating out of fear. So that's why the government will instigate and instigate violence and would try to devalue the drive of the movement. The threat has reached a new level now. From the latest information that we have is that Mr. Cabello has accused me of terrorism and assassinations of homicide and the prosecution has been sent to the judicial system. And of course, I have the right to defend myself in the judicial tribune and this will be brought to the National Assembly and it will require two thirds of the vote to process this case. And obviously what they have said in Caracas is what awaits for me is jail. Carl Misham speaking. Now we'll take some questions from the public and I will start with Stephen Donahue. Stephen Donahue speaking now. First, I would like to congratulate the Venezuelan youth and the citizens' effort to be here. And I wanted to ask you about the comments that you made about the national forces because for members of the military, it must be really hard to see the lack or the issue of democratic principles and the violation of these same principles in the country. What has been the approach of the students and the opposition with the middle leaders of the National Guard of the military? Oh, sorry, the approach they had with the political leaders in the government. Luisa Lonzo from the OP speaking now. I would like to retake one of the questions. What's your opinion regarding the strategy of the Department of State to manage the situation in Venezuela? They insist that it should be a dialogue and it should be the center of the conversation in the Department of State. And the second part of the question is what are the projects in the government to sanction Venezuela? What will be the impact to Venezuela in your opinion? Maria Cristina, Maria Corina speaking now. In relation to, in regarding the military, for many years the current situation of the country has been affecting the internal status of the military. Their current social situation, their salaries, their medical benefits, they have been deteriorating. But also there is another topic which is very important, the deep professionalization of the armed forces with the uprising of armed militias. And their presence has been very repressive in the protests, in the movement. Their actions have been brutal. Personally, I took two requests for investigation to the commission of rights, two requests that had to do with the presence of two Cuban militaries in our armed forces. And there has been a complete change of our doctrine, the doctrine in the military forces which has generated internal dissatisfaction in our military members. Everyone in Venezuela knows that there are Cuban military members that are giving orders to our own Venezuelan members of the armed forces. In the last protest we saw a huge mobilization all around Caracas, around one of the air force bases to demand our military citizens to fulfill the constitution according to the articles 328 and 380. And regarding the contact that I have with people and with representatives of the Venezuelan movement, I have to listen to their own issues and complaints. Now moving to the next slide, I'm going to talk a little bit about what are the issues and complaints. Now moving to the question about the United States. Venezuela's problem, it could have been an essay or Cuba. The problem is the following, the essence of democracy is dialogue and that's what we're promoting, a culture of peace and dialogue, a genuine dialogue. The issue is the following and the world has to understand this, throughout the last years whenever the government has seen itself in having problems of dialogue or any threats to democracy, the government has said we should come together and have a peaceful dialogue with what end to prolong the situation and avoid certain confrontations. Whenever we want to talk about reform, the opposition is the first. So we don't have any attempts to trick us to not listen to our demands. We ask before anything to cease repression, to provide amnesty to exiled people and to avoid the lack of dialogue and to expose Cuban members of the military in our own armed forces. The government, far from offering us any solutions, they have recurred to violence. When it comes to foreign politics, we're speaking to the American society and to the American Congress because our demands are consistent with the democratic charter and with the values of democracy that are shared with most of the countries in the Western Hemisphere. This is a manifestation of that agreement that we had in defending the state of democracy. This is why this opportunity is so important to generate and to transmit a clear vision about what's going on with the government in Venezuela that have not only denied our cause but have not listened to our demands. The fragile state of democracy is now becoming a failed democracy and now it's becoming a dictatorship. Carl Mission, two more questions. Maria Corina speaking now. You asked me if international pressure worked or not. So what happened with Panama? Someone made a commentary about money that was owed to Panama by Venezuela and they applied a sanction. Hector Sham is speaking now. Maria Corina. There are some books and articles that say that democratic transitions, some of the academic literature, explains that democratic transitions do not happen until the authoritarian field, the authoritarian play field is divided. So the ones that give up within the government will start talking about an alternative, an exit, a way of escaping. In that sense, has anything like that happened or will happen in Venezuela and what is your perspective regarding the future? And what's the position of the opposition leaders? In communicating with some of the members of the government about how will the transition turn in power to democracy? Are the opposition leaders speaking with anyone in the government that it's thinking that this type of government is not sustainable anymore? Thank you. My mother is Swedish, my father is Polish, so I'm globalized and I live in Washington. How can we take the Venezuelan experience outside from Venezuela? As a clear evidence of what happens when there is excessive concentration of power in the governments. This is not a Venezuelan issue. This is a worldwide issue which we are seeing not only in Venezuela, we're seeing in Ukraine and other places. We really have to take and interpret the truth, the basic fact of Venezuela. 98% of all the exports of the nation go straight into the government coffers. That's an impossible situation no matter who is there. How can we take this out and really send a message that this is not a Venezuelan issue? This is a citizen of the world's issue. Can I just trouble you for one more question? Right here in the back. Since you've been an advocate of voting and voting rights, do you think it's possible if the situation came that we could re-establish some sort of electoral college and do you have any plans in that direction? Absolutely. We have advanced discussion about the essential elements that will have to be introduced to make an electoral process that will be completely free and fair. There are some structural elements associated to the electoral registry that will take more time to fix, to repair, but this will be done once Venezuela goes to a more democratic stage. But we're also thinking that in a short amount of time there will be some fast changes in order to reform the electoral process. Carl Meach and speaking. There are a lot of people watching this event and they are really requesting if you could answer most of these questions in English. So I do think it's possible and it could be done in a reasonable amount of time if there's political willingness to do it. Second, regarding your point, I absolutely agree. And the hopeful part of this dramatic destruction that has been taking place in Venezuela in the institutional, in the economic, in the social and in the moral dimensions, the hopeful part is that we have all come to realize the profound changes in the relation between individual and state that should be put in place in order to give true power to citizens. And that's something that we will have no option but to do it since the destruction of the economic strength of the Venezuelan government is profound. And finally, regarding Nectar, it is obvious that many of the members of the regime should be thinking about how they're going to be doing as we move along. And it is our duty, it is our duty to let every single Venezuelan know that we are building a truly national, inclusive project. And that if we want to prevent violence from happening as the government has been instigating, we need to be open to, let's say, talks in which sensible reforms be done in a feasible and peaceful manner. It is not easy, and we have to make a big difference between justice and revenge. And I think we, those that have been hurt and persecuted, have the highest responsibility and duty of giving an example of being able to pardon, to forgive. Not meaning that it's going to be impunity, but we need to get a society back together and to heal many of our profound wounds. So unfortunately, we don't have time to continue with this. What we're going to do is we're going to move to the second panel as quickly as we can with Carlos Vargas, with Ivan Freites and Rosa Orozco. We're going to do a brief intro. Maria Corina is generous with her time and she's agreed to do a little bit of an introduction of these folks and they're going to give their views, their testimony, and then we'll have more time for questions. Very quickly. For me, it's an honor that the voices of Venezuela will come up to the stage. This is the best part of this afternoon. For me, I'm very pleased to introduce you three Venezuelans. I will be doing this presentation in Spanish because it needs the Creole accent. Here we have three people that represent the values that we want to prevail in the Venezuelan society, while we teach our children in our homes today. And these people have demonstrated with their example, with their actions, with their passion, the values that we need in Venezuela. I met Ivan Freites some years ago and I was impacted and was moved by his human, his humane approach, perspective. He has about 31 years in the oil industry and he's one of a movement leader that has earned the respect of his colleagues based on honesty and work. He has been a very courageous leader. In particular, his career has demonstrated he has been one of the most courageous voices in denouncing the situation of Venezuela to the world. What has happened and those things that are still not known, he denounced, and because of his accusations, he was fired from Pedevesa. Now speaking of Carlos Vargas, I feel like I know him since he was born. He represents one of these emerging voices from the student movement. He has earned a lot of people due to his passion. He's a leader from the University of Andres Vello. And lastly, we have Rosa, who might have met in a terrible situation. I went to Valencia for the funeral of Genesis Caramona, a beautiful young Venezuelan girl. And that same day, a relative of Rosa came to the funeral and asked me to come with her to the hospital where Geraldine was being treated, where Geraldine was hospitalized. And for me Rosa represents the love, the courage, the generosity, the infinite generosity that Venezuelan mothers embrace and the consciousness that knows that our fight is for our children and for millions of Venezuelans who still haven't been born. A fight for our future. And I will never forget the words of Rosa that day of Geraldine's funeral. And I know that Geraldine is with us now and she's very proud of you. So I will leave you now with these Venezuelan voices. These representatives of Venezuela. Good afternoon. I don't speak English unfortunately. For us, being here in one of the most important cities of the world in where we have powers of the world, it's a compromise with Venezuelans. I started in the oil industry in 1983, seven years after the Venezuelan industry was nationalized. Venezuelans assumed the management of the oil industry in very demanding conditions. Venezuelans made of the industry of oil an industry that was a model to the world. In 1983, Ivan Freitas started as a worker in the refinery. I was 19 years old. Ivan Freitas was earning around $2,500 at the current exchange rate of that time period. In February of 1983, the devaluation of the Venezuelan money started. In our refinery, we had very advanced machinery in the facilities. I thought that I was in the north, in the global north. A social process started in Venezuela with very accentuated changes in the last years of the decade of the 80s. More specifically, 1989, the social changes in Venezuela began in which there were corrupt practices, in which politicians made of themselves businessmen, which made Venezuela arrive to the tragic decision to place Mr. Chavez as the president of Venezuela. In 2002, in Venezuela, there was a series of mobilizations and oil blockade. Chavez's decision was to fire 22,000 workers of the oil industry. At the moment, we used to produce around 3 million oil barrels per day. Now we are 130,000 workers and we produce less than 2 million barrels of oil per day. In 2002, it starts an attack against Venezuelan institutionality and the enterprises, businesses of the state. Before, and I'm not sure if there is any worker of the oil industry present, but I will tell you, we will return in a few days. The national industry of oil, when the government, when the new management started dividing the industry, there was not a compromise with the business, but with the government's party and with the government of Chavez. What we do every day, which is the security conversations, five minutes daily before going out to work, because the facilities are of high risk. These are talks in which now people talk about communism, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, talking about rights to, that having rights to education, rights to have your own car, to have access to several services is a capitalist thing and they will prefer to defend values of the revolution, more specifically the Cuban revolution. Workers now are forced to form groups known as patrols to catch thieves or these type of patrols are like the ones claimed to exist in Cuba, committees to circulate gossipy, in which if a worker tries to express some type of criticism against the government, then they fire him. In every institution of the state, any opposition to the government will be the same. Workers are forced to go to government rallies, to work in government rallies. They use the vehicles of the state to transport their own people. Venezuelan oil pays elections and from those 130,000 workers, there is a worker named Mario Silva who has about 30 bodyguards and all of those armed groups work in the same way. What happened in Venezuela? Production of oil has decreased, 560,000 barrels are not producing profit. This money is not being seen by the people from those 560,000 barrels, 400,000 go to China, 120,000 go to Cuba. Do you think that Cuba uses 120,000 oil barrels? Cuba has now become a seller of hydrocarbons. The rest of the barrels produced go to countries in the Caribbean. People of Latin America support Venezuela, but the governments have been bought by the Venezuelan government. The oil industry, from being an exporting industry, now we import 80,000 barrels from the United States or as the government in Venezuela refers to the empire. Our refinery has a capacity of 630,000 barrels per day. Today it doesn't get to 300,000 barrels of oil. There is no lubricant oil in the country. There is no oil for cars, lubricant oil. Here are some examples of the current situation in Venezuela. Basic businesses have gone bankrupt. They have nationalized SIDOR, and now it doesn't produce anything. SIDOR produced approximately 800,000 tons. They don't reach the production they had before. And now Venezuela is importing cabilla. This created a very severe crisis that forced us, the labor movement, to go and protest. It cost officially 42 dead people. Five were disappeared. People must know that these criminals governing Venezuela are the only ones left. To begin, thank you very much to the Center for Strategic International Studies and any other organization that has helped arrange this platform, this forum for us to give us this space of international echo to speak about what's happening to our country. I'd like to answer first who we are, what we want, and how we can help. First, we are students. We are young people from Venezuela, united without an ideology to go out in the streets, because right now we don't have a guaranteed future. A future for Venezuelans that we want to create in our country. A state of living, a quality of life that we want that is not present in Venezuela. Also we come for basic needs and because there is no confidence from the students to the government and to the system that now exists. The reason there are students in the streets is because the government does not respond to our needs because we can't go to an international or independent tribunal because today there is legislative power that doesn't respond to the popular will, which is said to a law of coercion by the state. And they put out laws that do not correspond with what the people want. It is for that reason that students go out into the streets because there does not exist a future and our determination is there to recover our country. We've been on the streets before the 12th of February. In Tachira, one of our students was sexually assaulted and that's why we came out and that's what turned into February 12th and now you see the Venezuelan people fighting for their future. We want a better future for our country and we won't tire until we achieve it. The students movement is in the streets fighting for a better Venezuela and that is the message that we want to echo all over the world. We have a number of items that we require as students. Today there are institutions that are rotten and we say this with full responsibility. When this regime began I was five years old about I am here because I want a better future for my country and that's the message that I want to transmit to the world and to you. This regime, this 15-year-old regime that has been destroying the country does not respond to who we are and they do not respond to the needs of the democratic state. It's very clear that the government has taken off its mask of democracy. There are 30 people, 30 Venezuelans that are not here. We have thousands in prisons. What is happening in Venezuela is not normal. This is not political stability. This is not any regime. This is a violation of human rights and that is what needs to be echoed throughout the world. We call for a true democracy. We have judges who have never been approved or have been illegally placed. There are electoral observation departments that aren't doing their job and monitoring elections correctly. The government has very clearly failed in applying the constitution in the way it is written. We simply want for people to follow the constitution and to restore a democracy that does not exist anymore. Of course, we also want reconciliation. In every corner of the country, the problem is not with those who think differently. We have brothers and partners who are from the right, from the left, from the middle. All that matters is that we are all students from Venezuela and we all acknowledge that there are problems in Venezuela. What we want to say, we want to give a space so that students cannot be afraid to speak their minds and I assure you that we will continue and we will fulfill that promise. Reconciliation in Venezuela is necessary to go through a democratic system and we want to bring people out into the streets, people that are scared to go out and that think they have no voice. We will be able to take people's fear and turn it into valor and into courage. The problem is not with them because of how they think. The problem is with the government. We'll be able to bridge our differences and turn it into empathy and help the student movement. How can you help us? And a lot of you have asked today. I see in American media outlets, unfortunately, it's not what I was hoping for. The echo that the people of Venezuela need to make and the message that they need to get out is what is truly happening in Venezuela. You all are voices and I beg of you that you don't leave us alone. We need everyone to know that what is happening in Venezuela is bad. We have young people here. We have politicians. We have mothers that are out in the streets and they need the world to help them and carry their message. All students throughout the entire western hemisphere, the fight in Venezuela is a fight for democracy and it's not just for democracy in Venezuela. It's democracy in an entire hemisphere. We ask all the American universities, all schools to get out into the streets to tell the world that we are in support of the Venezuelan people. Sooner or later, history will appreciate what you'll do for us. Hola, buenas tardes. Hello, good afternoon. Well, I am Geraldine's mother. My name is not Rosa Roscoe. My name is Geraldine's mother. On Saturday, that will make a month since my daughter died. She was shot in the head. She was 23 years old. She studied in Arturo Michelena in her fifth semester with technology systems. I'm sorry if I choke up. All 15 years that this government has been in power, we have been out in the streets to protest when there were protests and we were hanging out of our windows with our pots and pans to protest the government. The impunity that we have right now is incredible. My daughter has been dead for a month and I don't know what National Guard killed her and I know it was a National Guard. It was the one who was supposed to protect the people and protect the country. Many of us do not approve of this regime. They invade private space. You are unable to protest. I always tell people I'm at the 350 and at the 68 and I'm not scared. I believe in democracy and I've participated in democratic elections and I've lived through four elections but I will not sit through a fifth. I have a saying that I've always said I don't want oil, I don't want iron, I don't want anything that Venezuela has other than its youth. Our youth is what makes me hurt and I know that these are the people that put us forward. If anybody is listening, if anybody is trying as hard as they can to get out of this authoritarianism the problem is not just that Venezuela will be affected by it but all of Latin America will be affected. If you think this young man with his mannerisms and his way of speaking you think people are manipulating him? You think Maria Corina Machado is manipulating him? No, he is authentic because he has grown up in a Venezuela that is hurting us. People will tell me, oh now that Geraldine has died will you ask for exile? No, I will not leave the country. I know I am on the right side of history and I know I am not wrong. Well, we only have about 15 minutes left if it is okay and if the public has some questions I hope it is okay if we can bring those to you. I have a question for Carlos. I think this is particularly important for the medium that for the environment that the youth live in in Latin America and so many countries in Latin America who can relate to what is happening in Venezuela. I want you to expand on this a little bit. You just had something very special, very good. This isn't a movement of political party. This isn't a movement of ideology. This is a movement of basic needs. Can you elaborate on that please? You have an opportunity here where a lot of people are watching who really want to understand better what is happening in Venezuela and what you are all doing. What Venezuela is living today is not isolated. The lack of democracy in Venezuela right now is something that Latin America has lived through many times before. It's an example of a society that can become very unjust in which students will take back their own country. This is a movement of people that want to have a guarantee of their own future that want a better country and that want to live in democracy and that's why we go out in the streets. The student movement in Venezuela is simply one for democracy. Curiously, the student movement has an 80% credibility and we came out before February 12th with a narrative of what we wanted and what we demanded. We require change and we know that what is happening is not just so we call to Latin America and we call to the world please understand what is happening in Venezuela that it is not normal. I've lived in Venezuela for 20 years and what we are living today the brutal repressions, the militarization of our school and our city, our students who have been tortured, the masks that the government has taken off and has shown to the world that it must be denounced. All the youth in the world who believe in democracy any person who sees this or understands this or can see this later that believes in democracy must go out into the street. What is happening in Venezuela is an insult to Latin America and the spirit of democracy that we have had for 200 years. This is our fundamental lives. The youth of Venezuela will not take any more of this. That's why we are in the streets and that's why we want all of Latin America to unite with a call for democracy. It would be heroic, it would be historic what will happen in Latin America in the next months. We'll take some questions now. A message of solidarity from the entire country of Cuba that is with you and that is not with the Castro regime. We want you to know that we have passed through this tragedy and that's why we can understand it so well. Of course these are very difficult conditions in the 60s and 70s and 80s. The Cuban resistance who had many arrested and disappeared millions of people are exiled from Cuba. Of course I just wanted to give you a message of solidarity and that you can count on Cubans in the civil society in Cuba for whatever you need. Diffusion through social media organizing international brigades of love and peace to go through Venezuela and speak for you through grassroots movements. My name is Marcelo Colminales. I'm Venezuelan, I'm 23 years old. Well, my question is directed to Ivan Freitas. I have many Latin American friends who are in accordance with us but I also have young Latin American friends who agree with the Bolivarian government. I believe democracy is worth fighting for. You, a union leader who knows exactly who comes from the fight from the people. What is your opinion? What is your opinion of the unions in Venezuela of the reality that do people believe that democracy exists or not? What do you see the consensus is? I am Argentine. Unfortunately we don't have the courage that you all are showing. There's many Argentines that are here now are fighting every day. They respect all the they deserve the respect of the entire region. We are trying on many parts of Argentina to fight against also a totalitarian democracy that we have been under for a long time that is that is censuring youth. Of course all of you I thank you so much. It's an honor to be in your presence Maria Corino Machado. If you all are in touch with students in parts of Argentina of course share so many of the values you all share so in any way that you can be able to represent students, unions and mothers in Argentina. Of course we are running out of time we can we're going to have to finish but hopefully they can answer your questions personally. Ivan, Peter co-hosting and in particular our guest of honor Maria Corino Machado the stuff that you do the stuff that all of you are doing I don't know if I could do it. I think that you are in a very special place difficult place and I think that you are doing these things for the country that you love and that's admirable. So with that I want to just thank all of you for coming this has been a successful event for sure and I look forward to seeing you at other events but for now I'm just going to close it up with a round of applause to thank our panel.