expand U.S. response to Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening remarks at this morning’s full Committee hearing entitled “Assessing U.S. Policy Towards Venezuela.” Testifying before the Committee were Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean Marcela Escobari.
“Venezuela is the epicenter of the second largest refugee and migration crisis in the world. The Maduro regime has overseen the collapse of the economy—taking down with it the country’s entire education and healthcare systems,” Chairman Menendez said, underscoring the regime’s crimes against humanity and invitation to Russian, Cuban, Iranian, and Chinese governments into the country. “So as we review United States policy towards Venezuela, we must reckon with how—in the span of a generation—a trusted democratic partner has become a mafia state. A criminal enterprise that uses brute force to cling to power.”
Continued Menendez: “Now, I want to be clear that this Committee believes in diplomacy. And Congress has long supported – and continues to support – a negotiated solution to Venezuela’s crisis. But a one-sided deal with a regime that kidnaps American citizens to increase its leverage is simply unacceptable. Unilateral concessions to a leader that tortures his political opponents is unacceptable. It’s not the path towards a successful negotiation. And it’s something the Biden administration—as well as newly elected leaders across Latin America—should keep in mind. Because given Maduro’s track record – given that he makes Al Capone look tame – there can be no return to normalcy with his regime.”
Find a copy of Chairman Menendez’s remarks as delivered below.
“This hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order.
Assistant Secretary Nichols and Assistant Administrator Escobari, thank you for appearing before us today as we talk about United States policy towards Venezuela and a crisis which not only has serious consequences for our national security, but the stability of our entire hemisphere.
Three years ago, I walked out on the bridge at the Colombian-Venezuelan border in Cúcuta.
And as I looked out at Venezuela, I saw first-hand the misery and desperation in family after family forced to flee their homeland as if it were a building on fire.
The collapse of a once-thriving, modern, country.
A beacon of stability in our hemisphere turned into a failed state.
Run into the ground by Maduro and his thugs.
Today, the situation is even more dire. Venezuela is the epicenter of the second largest refugee and migration crisis in the world.
The Maduro regime has overseen the collapse of the economy—taking down with it the country’s entire education and healthcare systems.
Basic household items are unaffordable for most Venezuelans.
Maduro has weaponized starvation, using it as a political tool to drive over 95 percent of the country—over 26 million people—below the poverty level.
And as his regime perpetrates crimes against humanity, Maduro traffics cocaine.
He enriches himself and his kleptocrat buddies.
And he invites the Russian, Cuban, Iranian and Chinese governments into the country.
So as we review United States policy towards Venezuela, we must reckon with how—in the span of a generation—a trusted democratic partner has become a mafia state. A criminal enterprise that uses brute force to cling to power.
Now, I want to be clear that this Committee believes in diplomacy. And Congress has long supported – and continues to support – a negotiated solution to Venezuela’s crisis.
But a one-sided deal with a regime that kidnaps American citizens to increase its leverage is simply unacceptable.
Unilateral concessions to a leader that tortures his political opponents is unacceptable.
It’s not the path towards a successful negotiation. And it’s something the Biden administration—as well as newly elected leaders across Latin America—should keep in mind.
Because given Maduro’s track record – given that he makes Al Capone look tame – there can be no return to normalcy with his regime.
Not without the release of American hostages and Venezuela’s political prisoners.
Not without a path to free and fair elections, the restoration of human rights, and a return to the rule of law.
If the regime won’t seriously commit to these conditions, we must use the power of our peaceful diplomatic tools, imposing swift and severe consequences on the regime.
Because while Maduro uses the prospects of negotiations to buy himself time, the physical and mental health of American hostages is deteriorating by the hour.
As is the Venezuelan people’s hope for freedom as they face violence, imprisonment, and hunger every day.
Let’s not forget that this crisis has forced nearly seven million people – we talk about the Ukrainians who have fled, and certainly we are in solidarity with them. But the world hardly whispers about the seven million people who have fled Venezuela since 2014.
Think about that. That’s almost as many refugees as the entire population of the state of New Jersey.
In fact, that’s more refugees than the combined populations of Idaho, Connecticut, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Everyone needs to do more to protect Venezuelan refugees and migrants across the hemisphere.
And the United States should be leading the way, protecting Venezuelans who are already here.
President Biden’s decision to provide Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status last year was the right choice after President Trump only paid lip service to Venezuelan-Americans.
But I am very disappointed President Biden has only provided what was an extension instead of a full re-designation.
And I’ve been disappointed by the international community’s failure to keep up with the severity of the humanitarian crisis inside Venezuela.
It seems when these crises take place in other parts of the world, we get people’s attention. When they are in the Western Hemisphere, we don’t.
We must all do more.
So today I hope to hear the Biden administration’s strategy.
What are you doing to bring home Matthew Heath, members of the CITGO 6, and other American hostages?
What is the Administration doing to raise the price the regime pays for taking American hostages?
What is the plan to tackle this sprawling humanitarian crisis?
What is your plan to maintain our support for democratic actors, including—but not limited to—Interim President Juan Guaidó? And how will you empower them to lead negotiations?
And what is your Plan B if negotiations fail, or never even seriously start?
When I authored the bipartisan VERDAD Act, with many on this committee joining as co-sponsors, I was hopeful for a diplomatic solution.
But Venezuela’s crisis endures.
And that’s why I will be introducing the VERDAD Expansion Act in the coming weeks. Comprehensive new legislation to tighten the screws on the regime.
It defines U.S. policy on Venezuela’s political crisis.
It guides humanitarian assistance.
It addresses the Maduro regime’s malfeasance.
And it sends a message to the Venezuelan opposition, to Venezuelan refugees, and to the Venezuelan community here in the United States that we stand with them in their effort to build a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Venezuela.
With that let me turn to the Ranking Member, Senator Risch, for his opening statement.”
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