When it comes to venezuela, finding freedom and democracy for the venezuelan people. And we have our representative who is also part of the subcommittee. We have representative zelf who is part of the committee and others will be joining. Why dont we start the conversation. I want to tell you something. If you need some type of translation, im here to translate for you. I do this every day. I know going from spanish to english sometimes is difficult but i want the world to see and hear and to be able to understand to the fullest, what you are trying to say. So i am more than willing, humbly giving you that opportunity if you needed it. So there are no rules. Im not going to say im not going to have an opening remark. Im just going to ask you a couple of questions and i will give the opportunity to the other members who are here. You state in venezuela when other political leaders left. We are not blaming anybody. It is very hard to live under a regime that follows the rules and it is very hard. The question is, why did you stay and how much did it cost you personally . I have stayed because i had profound confidence to decide with the strength of the people and because i only understand freedom in my country and because we are returning venezuela into that marvelous nation to which our children can be coming back and will come back. I would just like to give you a few ideas of what we are facing right now so that we can Start Talking among us. First of all, im super grateful to all the members of the Foreign Affairs committee for this unique opportunity to convey the voice of the venezuelan people here and abroad. I want to tell you that we do have a real opportunity for a peaceful transition in venezuela to president ial elections that constitutions should take place this year. The question today is very different from other opportunities we have had in the last 25 years because of the equilibrium and the relative trend of the regime and our people. The regime is in the weakest position ever even though they shout, it is violence and terror. We, the venezuelan people are stronger than ever. And i know this has been a long fight. Some people could have confusion or skepticism or fatigue but i want to remind you that many of the challenges and problems all converge in venezuela. Im talking about security because of the regime with iran, russia and cuba and has blood and so long. Im talking about the energy crisis, the Global Energy crisis. The regime has destroyed infrastructure and we can turn venezuela into the energy hub of the americas. Because of the criminal networks and Drug Trafficking activities, venezuela has turned into the fourth cocaine producer in the world. And the humanitarian crisis that has produced the devastating effect that a fourth of the population, almost 8 Million People, have left our country. Imagine, that would represent 84 million of American People leaving your country. Imagine what this means to us. The largest migration crisis. It is not syria or ukraine. It is venezuela. I want to say, venezuela is the last country that we would have lost to the world justice project. 142 countries. Venezuela, we have more than 300 Political Prisoners. We have the largest torture center in latin america. Cuban agents have been involved in torture cases in our country and right now, as we speak, there are four members of our Campaign Teams that have disappeared by the forces of the regime. I dont know where they are. So i want to come to this point. The time is now. The time is now. We do have a huge opportunity. The regime, as i say has weakened. First because they have lost the social days completely. Second, because they have clashes among the mafia groups because they have robbed the country. And third, because im going to give the opportunity to representative castro. The opposition, meaning you, sat down with maduro. It was your vote with 92 of the vote. 92 . Every official would like to have those numbers. The maduro reports are saying that you are disqualified. The main question here for all of us in the United States in both Political Parties is, are you afraid that your International Supporters will abandon you for what they called plan b . I am not. I am not. I trust i will have the support. And it is not only me. I have an assistant on this. It is 3 million venezuelan people who voted in the primary. This is a process that made all the opposition finally come together with legitimate leadership that today has more than 80 of support. This is huge. This is not about me. It is about the right of the people to choose the candidate and the leader they want. The fact is that maduro wants to choose his counterpart because he wants to choose somebody he can control and defeat. I believe i have the support. Not only, as we are seeing today , by a bipartisan approach. By the biden administration, by the u. S. Congress, but also, by the european union. European parliament, and many governments in latin america, as well. We are with you. Thank you, representative joaquin castro. Thank you for fighting for democracy. I also want to congratulate you on your resounding victory in the primary elections. The venezuelan people have struggled for their democratic rights for years, especially since maduros legitimate efforts to dismiss the democratically elected Venezuelan National assembly in 2018 and revise the venezuelan constitution soon after. I had the privilege of speaking with other opposition voices, including the lead negotiators of the unitary platform and human rights defenders, and appreciate this opportunity to speak with you. Its unfortunate that we have to meet virtually and not in person. As you would clearly not be allowed to return to venezuela if you were to leave. I was encouraged last october, when the maduro regime reached an agreement with the opposition to set the conditions necessary for competitive democratic elections. That agreement, signed in barbados and facilitated by partners in the caribbean in the efforts of the biden admission, have not come to pass, unfortunately. The United States, in support of the agreement, also provided limited sanctions relief, with the expectation that all candidates for office would be reinstated, that all who want to run for the presidency be allowed to. And that wrongfully detained u. S. Nationals in venezuela and Political Prisoners be released. Im encouraged by certain steps taken by the regime after the barbados agreement, including the release of him. It disqualifies you, who really and definitively on the primary election. It is inconsistent with the terms of the barbados agreement. I dont think any of us were under the illusion that the venezuelan people would have free and Fair Elections in 2024, but i believe the process was key to establishing some kind of electoral transition framework and for demonstrating the strength of opposition unity to mr. Maduro and to the rest of the world. Mr. Maduro should not be able to handpick his opponent. He is clearly threatened by your candidacy. Only the venezuelan people should pick their leader and president , not any other country. Not the United States. On any other part of the world, but the venezuelan people. Im not suggesting the United States back a specific candidate. That is a matter for the people of venezuela. Our role should be to work with the venezuelan people to establish the process needed to return to competitive elections and democratic society. We are at a Crucial Point in venezuelas history. The venezuelan opposition has made Great Strides in putting aside their differences and uniting. There was no small feat, as you know. My message to the venezuelan people is do not squander this opportunity. Do not let maduro affect this. We should replace this with productive dialogue and the private sector and local communities. I also agree with president bidens position that these negotiations are not about one ersan, but a process. Ive always said that it doesnt matter if youre on the left or the right of the political spectrum as long as you have a commitment to democracy. Unfortunately, Nicolas Maduro has not. The ban on your candidacy is illegitimate. Your participation in this is essential. We cannot allow mr. Maduro to continue disrupting the democratic playing field. We must continue pushing for a democratic process that represents the views of all that is well in society. It is not only beneficial to the country and the region, but to the United States, as well. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I am delighted, maria corina, that my counterpart in the subcommittee in the western hemisphere agrees with the republican party. I repeat. Youre not republicans or entrants when it comes to venezuela seeking freedom and holding maduro accountable to what he agreed on. So im delighted. And i thank you very much , representative castro for expressing the same desire that we have. There are no Political Parties here. I have made very clear. I have sent the message to the white house that we are here to work with them, but we need to make sure that they are free, Fair Elections where they allow you to run and let the venezuelan people decide who they want the next president to be. And that there is no plan b. You were chosen. You played by the rules. And we have to respect that. Even more, the United States. The white house has a leading role here. The biden administered region has a humongous role to play in supporting you, and forcing the regime to play by the rules. The rules that they committed to. That is my position. Now, once again, i thank you, representative castro. I would love to work with you on every single issue. Let me give the opportunity now to representative huizenga. Thank you. Maria corina, its a pleasure to meet you. Ive seen you do interviews recently on u. S. Media. You have done an amazing job explaining what has been going on. Im sure you can tell. There is no need for the chairwoman to clarify her position. With the passion that she has. With what is happening. I represent millions and millions of venezuelans. Not only millions of venezuelans. Millions of freedom loving people who are looking for liberty and opportunity and freedom. And so you symbolize that. I want to start off with doing something that i dont normally always do. I sit on both the Financial Services committee, as well as the Foreign Affairs committee, and one of the things that i deal with a lot is sanctions. What has been going on. And i have been critical of the biden admission with some of their sanctions and applications or lack thereof when it comes to iran and other places. I want to commend them for their stand on venezuela. And as representative castro said, the barbados accord is an important statement, and i believe, an important line in the sand for this administration, and for our country, and hopefully, countries around the region. And im pleased to see that the state department is reconsidering whether it is going to renew the easing of the sanctions on oil and gas. That should be up in april, the middle of april. I too want to lend my voice in that. Let me start with a question. Are you personally having direct talks with people at the state department or at the white house, or is that going through the coalition negotiators . And then, beyond that, what has been the reaction is you have been telling your story in other countries in latin america and mexico, colombia, brazil, chile how has that reaction been . Have you had any cooperation from our neighbors to the north or for those of us in michigan, to the east, in canada . Have they been supportive, as well . Thank you very much. The answer is yes. We made contact with members of the u. S. Government in the white house and in the state department, as i do in many other countries. Latin america, and north america. And europe. We have been receiving huge support. And i have to say that the decision of the regime to insist on banning me, and therefore, as representative castro is saying, violating the rights of millions of venezuelans who voted for me and who want to vote for me it has created a wave of rejection. That is why i think it was a huge mistake the regime did. And im very grateful. Grateful to see that this approach with venezuela is bipartisan. We are all committed to a true negotiation process. And the respect for the agreement. I havecompes with the agreement. Maduro, once again, violated his part. That is the reason we are here right now. We have time for that process to resume. Meanwhile, i keep on working hard on creating strength and organizing our citizens network. Here and abroad. Wonderful. I have a moment left. Talk about the transition. Lets assume. Hopefully assume that maduro is going to allow this election. My understanding is they havent actually set a date for the election. But lets assume that that election would move forward. Do you have any belief or faith that the outcome of that election, where it is anticipated that he would win, that that would be recognized and that a transition would be allowed . I have no doubt that would be the case it they will have to accept the results. It would be a landslide. What we are achieving is the political defeat of the regime. That is already taking place. Now, we need the electric part of it. The base of the country is united. There are incentives for other groups to understand it is in their own best interest to facilitate this transition process. That is part of my responsibility. This will be an orderly and just process ahead. My time is expired. I yield back. But thank you. Thank you very much. Despite now, im going to get the opportunity to representative keith self. This is a rare opportunity. Im grateful for it. I am less optimistic. My 25 years in the army my experience is that dictators do not give up power peacefully. Maduro would lose in the election. I believe those are in my mind fairly strong facts. Given that, i would like to know your opinion of the real way ahead. You have no date, i understand. I would like to know your recommendations on the energy. The u. S. Recommendations for the u. S. Government on venezuelan energy. And then, how long can what you call an opportunity for peaceful transition last . Because in my experience, dictators want to wait you out. Until the fervor is gone. Until the Popular Support is gone. So my question deals with the fact that in my experience, dictators do not give up power peacefully. You know the history of south america far better than i do, but those are my questions. I just want to get a sense of how do you see this playing out . Thank you very much. I appreciate your question because i think it is important to understand what youre saying. I dont think the regime is willing to leave power yet. I dont think they except that even as a possibility yet. But the fact is that we are not being naove. We have been facing this regime for 25 years. We have wonderful moments. But believe me. We have never had this amount of force before. The regime is weak. We need to create all the incentives for all those forces or actors that still support the regime to understand that they should be aligned with the transition that favors everyone. Starting with our neighboring countries. I mean, the president of brazil, colombia, and others, they should be the most interested. He saw the huge conflict in venezuela that is creating this problem in other countries. Obviously, democratic countries in the world. But they are still supporting maduro. So how does this play out . How does this play out . How long can the fervor last . Because obviously, you think you have reached a peak, or maybe not a peek, but a crescendo. So how long can this last . How do you see it playing out . In how it has been evolving, representative. A year ago, venezuela was seeing no hope at all. The country looked weak. We managed in just a year to awaken the country, to create a feeling of willingness to fight. To bring people together. We demolished barriers that the regime has put up. That is why the regime is acting as they are acting. They underestimated us. They have the primary process was not going to take place, that it would be a failure. No one expected more than half 1 Million People part spitting. Rooms got 3 Million People. People have lost fear. They lost dependence on the regime because they realize it goes beyond the electorate. It has to do with existential issues and spiritual issues. People tell me, i need you to bring back my kids, and this is my last chance. We need an organization like this. It is not only the willingness. It is organization. It is creating incentives so the regime will sit down and negotiate with me a transition that gives concessions. Thank you. Thank you, representative self. I think im going to follow what youre saying, that dictators dont give up easily. They are in the business of power. Why would they give a part of the market share . They owned 100 of the market. Maduro, among them. He said effective organization. Is the maduro regime allowing you to mobilize and organize the masses that are going to vote against him . What do you face day by day, not only on the personal side, but on the effort that youre telling me that you need to put together under the boot of a dictator . Can you share that with us . But that is a good point. Precisely the fact that we have that threat that unites the country. It is a threat to them. That is why they are going so hard against us. Im not allowed to buy a domestic plane ticket. Even the biggest groups in venezuela, they want to stop me from reaching our assemblies. People that assist us. Many times, we are attacked. But even so, without having public transportation, thousands of people show up. This is something that is spreading among all sectors. And all sectors, people that work with the police sector. People in the military. They have families. They have wives and children. They also want to live with dignity and have their children back. So need to isolate this regime as they violate this. If maduro gets out of the electoral vote, it should be is