Humanitarian crisis at home, international involvement, and the effort to restore democracy. This is an hour. Thank you to the press club. It is an honor for me to be here to discuss the venezuelan crisis and have a q and a session with all of you. Before going forward, i would like to give you details on how i got here. Born in venezuela but in a small town, far away from the capital. A small village and i had the opportunity to go to a Public School in venezuela. I went to caracas because they didnt have a university in my small town. And had anolarship opportunity to come to the states. At 14, i was demonstrating on the streets, proclaiming venezuelan rights and in a certain way, warning to the venezuelans and the International Community that we were facing a dictatorship and in 2014, the regime decided to issue an order of arrest against me. Only for defending venezuelan rights. After that, i spend more than 100 days in hiding inside of venezuela. They were trying to capture me. Violent resist through attempts of arrests inside venezuela. They didnt capture me at that and after that, i received many threats against me, against my family. My wife was pregnant at that moment and they were harassing my wife, my family. After that, i decided to leave my country. I would say this has been the most difficult decision i have ever taken in my life. I came to the states in 2014. Since then, i have been in exile and i have been working internationally to denounce what is happening in venezuela and at the same time telling the people what we represent for the future of venezuela. My son was born here so i have an american now. He is with my exile. I am not totally free, to be honest. I am not totally free. I have been forced to be out of venezuela for political reasons. In my view, that is unacceptable in the 21st century. This is not the country we deserve. We deserve a continent of democracy and freedom and that is what we are fighting or. We are fighting for universal principles. We need to keep defending those principles and values. So also, i want to thank all of you because, as we know, we dont have the freedom of the press in venezuela or freedom of speech in venezuela. The people know what is going on in venezuela mainly because of you. I want to thank you because of that. We are talking about the suffering of the venezuelan people and in a certain way you have been putting in the headlines what is going on in venezuela and the type of dictatorship we are confronting. Having said that, i would like to highlight the context of the venezuelan crisis so that you may know. After that i would like to give you an overview of where we are and then open for the q and a session. The first point i would like to make is that we are facing the worst humanitarian crisis in our recent history. We have not seen this in the past, in the continent. You know all the numbers better than me. The Economic Contraction is close to 60 . Twice the size of the Great Depression during the 1930s here in the states. States. The inflation projections the last one i saw was 10,000,000 . We have a lack of food and medicine and people are dying because of that. I can resume saying that we are counting the loss of life in venezuela and that is the reality. Probably the most visible thing you can see the crisis is the millions of venezuelans who have been forced to be out of the country like me. 4 million so far. If maduro continues in power, that number could go up to 5 million. If we do our projection for the next year, by the end of next year is close to 8 million. This is the largest refugee crisis in this continent. The continent has not seen this in the past. It is the second one after the syrian refugee crisis and it could become the first one across the globe. We need to stop this. We need to stop this. It is enough. The people of venezuela are suffering. The people of venezuela are divided. They are looking for a Better Future because they dont find a future inside of venezuela. With this situation, this will be my second point, the only way keep this in mind. The only way to resolve the venezuelan crisis is taking out maduro. Taking maduro out of power. Putting an and to the dictatorship in venezuela. It is the only way to resolve the crisis. Restore democracy in our country. That is why we have been fighting in our country. At the beginning of this year, the interim president juan guaido assumed the presidency of venezuela following a constitutional procedure. I would like to be clear on this. As you know, maduro conducted a fake election, declared by our National Assembly as illegal. There was a vacancy in the presidency of venezuela. According to our constitution the president of the National Assembly has the obligation to assume the presidency of venezuela. In other words, juan guaido did not have any other choice. He automatically becomes the president of venezuela. That is why we are claiming the legitimacy of the government of venezuela. That is why there is only one legitimate president in venezuela and this person is juan guaido. The president of the National Assembly and the speaker of the house, now he is the interim president of venezuela according to our constitution. It is not fair to say that he has been selfproclaimed as the president of venezuela. No. He was declared president of venezuela according to article 233 of our constitution. We have an agenda to solve the venezuelan crisis. This agenda has three main points. One is that we need to end the dictatorship in venezuela. The second one, we would like to set a Transitional Government in venezuela and we would like to call for a free and fair election. This is our agenda. This is the agenda set by venezuelan and by our leaders. That is why we have been asking for the support of the International Community, to back the agenda set by venezuelans. Having said that, it is important to mention this will be the third point the complexity of our crisis. As you know, we are facing a brutal and criminal dictatorship. Dictatorship that, in our view, has been involved in drug trafficking, Money Laundering, illegal transactions, human right abuses and links to terrorist groups. There is no doubt this regime is sponsoring terrorism in the region, particularly inside venezuela. The president from columbia has said that the top leaders of the eln are in venezuela and committing crime inside of venezuela and also in columbia. Actually, they put a bomb inside of columbia this year, killing many people in columbia. Also, they have a presence in 12 states in our country, doing illegal activities inside of venezuela with the drugs and the illegal gold transactions. As you can see, this regime is affecting not only venezuelans and neighboring countries, it is affecting the region, it is affecting the security of the region. If we do not stop this, we can be facing a difficult situation in the near term that will affect not only neighboring countries but also the United States. That is why this crisis has become complex. Also, it is important to mention that the support of cuba and russia has added an additional element to this crisis. In some ways, cuba is exporting the knowhow on how to repress and control the society in venezuela. They have been given support to the maduro regime. This has to be taken into account if we want to have a peaceful solution in our country. The fourth point i would like to make is, we have denounced this. You may know who i have mentioned but it is important to highlight that recently, the u. N. Higher commissioner of human rights released a report saying what i am saying right now. The highest Human Rights Institution in the world has said that the maduro regime is a mafia. A criminal organization. They are willing to kill people in order to preserve the power, that they are willing to control our society with Food Distribution. That report states that there is not a single right that is not been violated by maduro. Think about any ride. Right. That right has been violated by this regime. These reports say clearly that the maduro regime has killed in 2018, they killed, they assassinated close to 7000 people. They have persecuted. They have put people in jail, they have tortured people. They have played with the Food Distribution to control the society. The report is quite important because its coming from an independent institution that is recognized worldwide. Fifth point. So far, 55 organizations have destinations nations have recognized juan guaido. As the interim president of venezuela. This is quite remarkable. I have not seen this since world war ii. Different circumstances, different time, different moment. Im not trying to compare the moment. This is an Important InternationalCoalition Supporting a venezuelan political movement. I have not seen that. The most important democratic countries are supporting our movements in venezuela. We have preserved that coalition so far. We need to keep that coalition. Of course, the u. S. Has become an important ally with us. They are working to increase the pressure against the maduro regime. We need to show the change in venezuela. We are supporting a peaceful transition and that situation is sending a clear message not only to our supporters, but to our allies and to our military forces. So we have altogether, just working with the International Community a transition in our country. The seventh point. The role of our mission. Since i got this position, i have been working with the International Pressure and working together with the International Community preserving the coalition. Second. How to alleviate the suffering of the people. We are looking for humanitarian aid to alleviate the suffering, not only of the venezuelans outside of venezuela. But also for those inside the country. Third, how to protect our asset, as you know we are working with citgo. We control it. It is the most important asset we have outside venezuela. We have appointed the new board. We have protected citgo. For the future of venezuela and to be ready for the recovery. The fourth point that im doing in the mission. How can we protect the citizens of venezuela . You are in the u. S. Who are in the u. S. We have worked with the administration in affect thing the expired passports. Now we are working to avoid deportation of venezuelans. And the last point i would like to make today before going to the q a is where we are where we are. Just think about about december 2018. Where were we in 2018 . The beginning of 2019. We didnt have any strategy. We did not have a clear issue. Clear leadership. A clear unification of the Democratic Forces and that is in venezuela. And now, six months later, think about that, where we are now. Where we are now. We have clear, united, Democratic Forces. We have a clear leader in venezuela, who is juan guaido. Let me tell you more. Juan guaido has become the most popular president in venezuela in the last 20 years without appearing on national television. Only using social media. The regime now has access to the internet. Society, aunited United Government under the leadership of juan guaido. This for me is the most important. That is why i am fully confident that a change can take place in venezuela. The majority are looking for a change. Venezuela says that in any fair election, we will come to power. We will win that election. 80 of the people are looking for a change. We have the support of the people. That is quite important to keep in mind. We have the strategy. We have the government. We have the people. We have the leadership of juan guaido. We have the support of the International Community. We know control assets outside of venezuela. We have a difficult struggle to restore democracy in venezuela. Now we see the other side. Maduro has no future. He is surviving in power. He is part of the past. He is not able to resolve any problem in venezuela. Maduro knowscle of that. That is why im confident we have an opportunity to produce that change. Its there. We need to take advantage of it. This is a right time to make the determination. We do not have any other alternative. We dont have any other option. Keep our determination internally on the streets, mobilizing our people. Mobilizing to put more pressure using that institution and increasing the pressure of the International Community. We are in a better position. You is becauseg im not part of the interim government of venezuela. A change is occurring inside of venezuela. But also inside the regime. You that something is going on inside of the regime. We have the opportunity to talk to many of them. Many ofe negotiating them are still inside of the regime. We are still having contact with some of them. They know that maduro is not going anywhere. It is a path where something has to be done. As you can see, majuro is weaker. We need to preserve our unity, we need to preserve the leadership of juan guaido, we need to preserve the National Assembly and we need to increase the pressure from the International Community. This is not a single event. This is an ongoing process. If you view it as an ongoing process, that is what i have been saying, that we are in a better position than we were six months ago. And we will continue to do so until we restore our freedom and democracy to resolve the venezuelan crisis. Thank you very much. Feel free to ask any question you may have. I am open for a q a session. Thank you very much. Thank you, ambassador. [applause] i just want to reaffirm our longstanding ground rules and guidelines for newsmakers, which is questions are only acknowledged from the members of the working press. With that, be sure to announce the organization you represent. First, i would like to take a few questions. The first is from anthony from the Washington Post who covers venezuela from miami. He asks, sir, one of the doubts surrounding the oslo process to strike a transition deal is whether the opposition is truly united behind a common position. Can you address the comments by some members of the opposition who did not seem to recognize the legitimacy of these tall . Andegitimacy of those talks describe how the force of any deal could be implemented without the full backing of the opposition. About thecan say mechanism is the following. All the pressure we have implemented inside and outside of venezuela has forced the regime to sit there. Otherwise, the regime would not have affected that. That is one point. Mechanism is a mechanism, it is not an objective. They wanted to sell it as a final objective. It is not. Its not a solution. The mechanism is to achieve an objective to the clear venezuelan crisis, which is having free and Fair Elections in our country. The regime has not presented any solutions are far, any solutions so are. Any solution so far. There will be another round this week. I do not want to go into details. I dont want to affect those conversations. We have presented that solution on the table. We would like to see a peaceful transition in our country. That is why interim president juan guaido has been using that any mechanism to facilitate that transition to avoid the suffering of the venezuelans. That is the main objective. This is the solution we have presented. If they are not willing to move in that direction, it will be very complicated for the venezuelans, and keep this in mind, the only obstacle for peace in our country is nicolas maduro. He is not presenting any solution to the crisis. Actually, he did not recognize the crisis before. This is a manmade disaster created by maduro, and they havent resolved it and havent presented any peaceful solution in our country. So we will continue to put all the pressure we can to find that solution and i hope we can achieve it. Of course when you put this in the context of the past, they have manipulated this mechanism in the past, trying to divide the opposition, in this case the interim government, trying to divide the International Community, trying to stop the International Pressure. We need to be aware of that and thats why its important to mention that the European Union has stated that if there is no agreement they will impose more sanctions on the regime. Because they will not have another manipulation. I have some more questions that have been sent, but i would like to open the floor and remember, brief, succinct questions. No speeches. As of the guidelines. Thank you. Which organization do you represent . Yes, yes. So, you just mentioned that there is going to be another round of talks this week. I know you cannot provide us with details but if you could let us know when it is going to take place at the end of the week and where it is going to take place, thank you. Amb. Vecchio as i said, i do not to comment on the details because that will be announced by the delegation. So i would just wait. Sorry. Sorry. Im gonna try to ask two questions if that is ok. Im wondering if you support any sort of military intervention either by the u. S. Or the International Community in venezuela, and do you support temporary protected status for venezuelans in the u. S. . Amb. Vecchio the interim president juan guaido has made it clear he wants to find a peaceful solution. The only obstacle for peace is nicolas maduro. He is not presenting any solution, so thats what we want to achieve, a peaceful solution. At the same time, we are dealing with a criminal organization. As i said before, they have been linked to terrorist groups, drug trafficking, human rights abuses, illegal transactions. And we need to take that into account because this is a threat against not only venezuela, but the security of the region. The interim president has made it clear he is going to explore any option to protect the people of venezuela, but we have to understand this has to be taken with a multilateral approach with our main allies and we need to see all the circumstances and build a scenario with them. But again, our first priority, our first option is how can we put effort in order to facilitate a peaceful transition in venezuela. That is what we want. Take into account the regime that we are facing, we need to be ready for any potential scenario. And the second one, of course we support all initiatives that would help the people of venezuela to stay legally here and to avoid deportation, so we have been working with the Trump Administration and congress in how we can find a solution in that matter. Hi, im allison barry. My question is what are guaidos plans for dealing with and eliminating hyper inflation in venezuela. Amb. Vecchio thank you for asking that. Our main priority will be how we can put an end to the dictatorship in venezuela. Otherwise, we wont be able to recover our country. So, we have been working since 2013 on a plan to recover venezuela. This plan was approved by both all Political Forces inside the National Assembly and we have a general plan to be implemented as soon we get full control of the government. This plan, to give you a brief about this, because i will get to the point just mentioned, is three elements. The most important one i just mentioned. On the political point we need to bring political stability to our country. We would like to set a clear democratic system in venezuela. We believe in freedom of speech, we believe in the separation of power, we believe in political pluralism, and we need to bring that to venezuela. If we bring political stability, we will be able to recover our economy. Otherwise it will be more difficult to do that recovery. So, this is our direction from the political point of view. From an economic point of view. We want to dismantle the economic control they impose on our economy. This cyclical element. We will need funding or International Funding to increase our imports of goods, medicines, and equipments to start running our economy and to give support for the economy. So if we can have that, to have an open economy with economic rights and property rights, and have these funds from the International Community to increase our imports immediately, we will have the opportunity to control inflation in venezuela. Of course the oil sector will be also a main element of this. We would like to increase immediately our Oil Production to have income and revenues from the oil sector and that also will facilitate the recovery of our economy, creating jobs and also controlling inflation. The last point of this plan, from the social point of view. We need to take into account that we have 94 of poverty in venezuela. So we need to have social stability as well. We have been thinking about a Cash Transfer mechanism at the beginning while we create the Economic Opportunities for our people so then they can take advantage of that situation. But at the same time we would like to increase the humanitarian aid, having the control of the country, the ports and airports, to alleviate the suffering, and at the same time weve been working on a plan to recover the electrical and Water Systems that had been destroyed. Basically this is the plan and we have been working on an emergency plan as soon as we take full control of the government that will address different aspects that are not in the general plan. Ok. What i will do is im moving towards the back of the room, and when we get to the back i will start coming back forward to ask further questions. My name is laura. I was just wondering, what can congress do to help in the efforts . Amb. Vecchio can do . What can congress do to help you guys in the efforts . Amb. Vecchio well, they have been supporting us in a bipartisan way. I would say lets keep this bipartisan effort from the congress. They introduced a bill that states its support for the venezuelans who are outside of venezuela and inside of venezuela and humanitarian assistance. They are also putting elements in order to be ready for the reconstruction of venezuela. Start working with the organization and with different governments in how we can rebuild together venezuela. The way we see it also is that in the long run we will need the support of the International Community for the recovery. We are not thinking only inputting an end to the dictatorship but how will we rebuild venezuela. So we will need strong support from the u. S. And the congress will play a role not only today, but also in the future. And of course given tps or any other initiative here to any venezuelan to avoid deportation. Hi, thanks for doing this. You mentioned that shutting down the internet as president guaido goes around the country. Does china have a specific role in shutting down the internet there, as we heard in different reports, and if so, what kind of control who they have over that infrastructure, specifically the internet or other analogous infrastructure in the country . Amb. Vecchio the information that we have is that they have been providing Technical Support to the maduro regime in order to control and how to cut the access to the internet. And also how you can get more information electronically. So basically they are giving that support to the maduro regime. Hello. So, as the open border policy reaches one millionplus migrants to columbia, do you see a Tipping Point . Amb. Vecchio thats the warning im saying right now. We need to stop that now. And yes, as i said, today was 1. 5 million, but that could increase up to 2 million or more next year. That would create instability inside of columbia colombia. Thats why im saying this is a threat against the region and we need to stop it. In my view, the region is not prepared for this. It is not prepared for this. That situation will drain instability in the entire region, threatening the United States and other countries. And it will facilitate the drug trafficking, Money Laundering and also the presence of groups in venezuela conducting illegal activities. So thats why its important to stop the maduro regime because it is affecting the entire region and the security of the region. That will be an important element of this crisis. On friday, the Trump Administration gave a waiver to chevron and other u. S. Companies for 90 days to continue working in venezuela. What is guaidos view on that if you want all the u. S. Companies out, and secondly, can you talk about the guaido governments plan on oil . You talked about raising production, but to what level . Amb. Vecchio so, the waiver. This is a decision taken by the Trump Administration that we respect. It tells you also that they see this in the short run. That possible solution can be achieved in the long run. We see it as well. So the oil sector is quite complicated. So it tells you, this tells you in our view that we can build a solution in a short period of time. Thats the way we see it. And regarding the oil sector, we have been blessed as a country. We have three oil nations in one nation. We have conventional oil, extra heavy oil, natural gas. We would like to maximize and increase in the next year our Oil Production. That is what we want. And also we are willing to open the oil sector to the private participation. Im talking about not only national investment, but also foreign investment. As you know, the state doesnt have the money to increase the Oil Production, and for that we would need the private participation. So, we would like to open that sector to the different sectors of our economy and particularly to the private and Foreign Investments in our country. Its the only way to increase the Oil Production. And i have to mention as well that we would like to preserve the oil stateowned company as a state company. I want to be very clear on this. We have plenty of opportunities to dilute, for the private sector to participate in the oil sector in venezuela and how we will recover that sector as well. Do you think the waivers that were granted to chevron and other companies on friday, should they be renewed in three months time, and what is the longterm solution you talked about . Can you go into depth . Amb. Vecchio i cannot comment on that. That is a decision the u. S. Will take. I will respect the decisions they take. What i can tell you is the following. I think we have a huge opportunity in front of us to get a solution in venezuela in the months to come. To be very clear, this year. Why . Because of what i said before. We are in a better position now than we were six months ago. We have the majority of the people of venezuela with us. The people of venezuela are looking for that change. We are working all together with United Government and the support of the International Community. Maduro is not going anywhere. The inner circle is looking for a change. That change will come. I see of i see a solution in the coming months because we now have in a better position then we were six months ago and now maduro in our view is weaker. We know the inner circles looking for a change because they recognize that maduro is not able to resolve any problem inside of venezuela. And we know that. Because we have been in contact with many of them. I wanted to ask you about the content of the dialogue. You mentioned that the only way for venezuela to have a prosperous future is the exit of maduro. Is this something that has been discussed in the dialogue is a condition the interim government is putting on the table . Amb. Vecchio absolutely. What we are putting on the table to all venezuelans and the International Community is we need to end the dictatorship of people. We need to have a Transitional Government and we need to have a free and fair election. This is our proposal and how we can resolve the crisis in venezuela. Thats part of the discussion. In the back row. Good morning and thank you for being here. Sir, would you be willing to meet on a diplomatic platform with Russian Foreign minister surgery Lavrov Sergei lavrov to discuss some of the global and diplomatic implications and if russian president Vladimir Putin were sitting with us today, what would be some remarks youd have to say to him in a diplomatic sense towards peace and a solution to this process . Amb. Vecchio yes, im open to meet with anybody in order to find a peaceful solution in our country. And i would send a clear message to putin in this case. Russia should not support a dictatorship, a brutal dictatorship. That the position that we are having is not a position only from our interim government, its a position that the region has to resolve the venezuelan crisis. That instead of supporting the suffering of the venezuelans, putin should recognize the position that the region has in order to facilitate the position in our country, and this is the time to take that decision. We are open to have a relationship with russia within the rule of Mutual Respect and mutual cooperation. Yes, go ahead. I have more questions that have been sent in. Do you think there is still a perception among venezuelans that socialism under chavez was better than under maduro and do you still think socialism is popular in the country . Amb. Vecchio this regime is not popular. I think it all started with chavez. And maduro now is increasing the problem in venezuela. So, when we see this, the people of venezuela, more than 80 are looking for that change and that tells you that this system is not working, that this system is killing people, literally. And this is the right time to stop it. So, in our view, the majority of the venezuelans, they are clear that they do not support the system, that they do not support maduro, and that we need to change not only maduro, we need to change the entire system if we want to recover our country. Huh . [inaudible] amb. Vecchio that regime is not working in venezuela. You can label it whatever you want, but its not working. Its not working. But you are saying socialism is not popular anymore . Amb. Vecchio in venezuela . No. The majority of the people again are looking for a change. Ambassador, back in june, the maduro government accused you of stealing 70 million from the u. S. Based Sister Company of the venezuelan stateowned oil and natural gas company. Would you please comment on this allegation. Amb. Vecchio well, this is false. They havent presented any evidence. And what the Justice Department is doing is conducting an investigation against the maduro regime. Thats what i can tell you. The maduro regime has been manipulating all the information in order to manipulate the people of venezuela. So this is totally false. They have not presented any evidence, and i reject that clearly and this is the type of regime that we are facing. If they decide to put me in jail without any evidence, now that we are doing positive things from the position we have, they are trying to attack me to stop me from the job we are doing outside of venezuela. But nothing of this. What we are doing and we will nothing of this will stop what we are doing and we will continue doing our activities clearly before the International Community and venezuelans. I keep looking up if anybody has any yes. How can a future democratic government in venezuela and the cuban interference in the country . Amb. Vecchio how will can you repeat that again . How can a future democratic government in venezuela and the cuban interference in the country . Amb. Vecchio as i mentioned at the beginning of my remarks, i said, thats why we need to control the government. We need to control the administration. The first thing we need to do is just controlling our army force. And Intelligence Services to take out those cubans who are putting pressure, who are persecuting our people. So, this is not acceptable for us. The cuban regime have exported their oppression in our country and we need to just take them out of venezuela. And also, we need to stop the oil that we are sending to cuba. That is crazy. The oil to cuba is giving benefit to the regime instead of the cubans. Its unacceptable when we are facing this humanitarian crisis. We need to preserve resources to our people and set of financing a dictatorship. Instead of financing a dictatorship. You mentioned you mentioned wanted to keep the staterun in venezuela. How would you do that while also increasing private investment and having private Sector Companies come into the oil sector . Amb. Vecchio as i said, we have the largest oil reserve on earth. Different types of hydrocarbons. We would like to open that sector to private investments including national and foreign investment. We have plenty of opportunity in our country. Also we have joint ventures in venezuela. And those joint ventures continue in our country and using those joint ventures you can increase the Oil Production if you give better conditions of those joint ventures in our country. It is been used a political solution. It is become a Money Laundering machine. Instead of of oil company, it has become this Money Laundering company and we need to bring it back as an oil company and start doing what we need to do technically speaking to increase the production. We have identified small opportunities that will increase as soon as possible Oil Production in venezuela. What would those better conditions be . Amb. Vecchio what i said. Just for example, setting a democratic system. Rule of law, separation of power, judicial system, open our economy with better conditions, respecting property rights. That is what we want to create in venezuela. And also social justice to facilitate the governance in venezuela. If you bring that to venezuela, you are creating the conditions to bring a lot of investments in our country. Ok, one final question from the audience and then i have a small question at the end. You mentioned youve been talking to the inner circle of maduro. Do you see any of them leaving anytime soon . Amb. Vecchio well, we saw one, the top officer the Intelligence Service of nicolas maduro, and we know there are more inside the regime, and they have said to us clearly that maduro is not going anywhere. That is why we need to increase the pressure right now. Do you see any more . Amb. Vecchio more than that. Im saying i see an opportunity to do a transition in venezuela and recover our democracy. That would imply that part of it will facilitate the exit of maduro. So, it is more than that. Going back to the ongoing talks, is there any contingency or absence where an agreement between the two sides and yet have maduro stay on even in an interim basis . Amb. Vecchio as i said at the beginning, our proposal is so clear. We need to end the dictatorship. It is impossible to have free and Fair Elections with maduro in power. It doesnt make sense. Thats what we had in last year in may of 2018. It is not a problem of one man. Its a problem of the system. The political crisis in venezuela, we must have free and Fair Elections, and the only way to have that is without maduro in power. Looking ahead, this september, World Leaders will come to new york to address the United NationsGeneral Assembly. Will interim president guaido or president maduro speak on behalf of venezuela . Amb. Vecchio you know, the u. N. Is quite complicated. The rules inside of that organization. The most important thing is the democratic countries are supporting juan guaido. Thats the relevant part. And the other piece to that General Assembly would be that we need to discuss that inside of the Permanent Security Council of the u. N. That report says clearly that we are facing a brutal and criminal dictatorship that is causing a lot of suffering in venezuela. And that that has to be discussed inside of the u. N. And the u. N. Has to take part in the solution. So this is the right time and the General Assembly will be a great opportunity to write this report. And to discuss clearly with all the countries how do we stop this criminal dictatorship, and thats what were going to do in september. That concludes our formal program and it leaves me with the high honor to follow a tradition of presenting two important dignitaries who come to the National Press club and speak with the coveted National Press club mug. And i am pleased to do so. And what i understand from my source, this is your first visit to the National Press club. Amb. Vecchio yes, it is. Thank you very much. [applause] the meeting is adjourned and thank you all for coming. And thank you for your very good questions. Amb. Vecchio thank you very much. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] here is a look at our live coverage for tuesday. On cspan at 10 00 a. M. Eastern, a look at the rehabilitation of violent extremists from the u. S. Institute of peace. The 00 p. M. Eastern, Federal Reserve bank of st. Louis president on monetary policy. Talks0 p. M. , andy barker about his concerns over immunity for Internet Service providers after video of his daughters death was posted and reposted online. On cspan 2, the indian ambassador to the u. S. And at 12 30, the Senate Cybersecurity caucus holds a discussion on cyber risks and threats facing the health care industry. While Congress Stands in recess, have Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer are calling on the senate to take up Gun Legislation passed by the house earlier this year in response to the Mass Shootings in texas and ohio. It is possible lawmakers might take the opportunity to speak on the issue later today when both chambers meet for a brief pro forma session, which typically occur without any votes or legislative debate. As always, we will have gavel to gavel coverage starting with the senate at 9 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan 2. Followed by the house. President trump the nation following to Mass Shootings. Where at least 30 people were killed and dozens more were injured