Risch on GAO Reports on Venezuela’s Transnational Criminal Network

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) newly released reports on Venezuela’s transnational criminal network that Risch requested in March 2021.

“I welcome a series of reports recently issued by GAO in response to my March 2021 request for an updated assessment of the Maduro regime’s transnational criminal network. The reports provide additional evidence of the intrinsic relations between organized crime and the survival of the regime, and the perils of normalizing its presence among the democracies of the Americas.

“Together, these reports are further evidence of the far-reaching and dangerous consequences of the Biden Administration’s nonexistent Venezuela policy and the need for Congress to act on my Venezuela Democracy Act. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to address the threats identified in these investigations and hold the administration accountable.”

Background:

In response to Risch’s request in March 2021, GAO published the following restricted reports on Venezuela’s transnational criminal network:

• Venezuela: Transnational Criminal Organizations Are Widespread and Have Varying Links to the Maduro Regime (Published May 17, 2023).
• Venezuela: The Maduro Regime’s Permissive Drug Trafficking Environment Hinders U.S.-Colombia Counternarcotics Efforts (Published May 3, 2023).

A summary of these reports can be found here.

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