Welcome to meeting number 14 of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion passed by the committee on October 22, 2020, the committee will proceed to a briefing session on the current situation in Venezuela.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would encourage all participants to please mute their microphone when they are not speaking and address all comments through the chair.
When you have 30 seconds remaining in your questioning or speaking time, I will signal you visually with this piece of paper.
Interpretation is available through the globe icon on the bottom of your screen.
I would now like to welcome our witnesses from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. We have with us this afternoon Michael Grant, assistant deputy minister for the Americas, and Sara Cohen, director general, South America and inter-American affairs.
We also welcome Mr. Claude Beauséjour, director of the Venezuela task force.
Welcome to the committee.
Mr. Grant, I understand you have a statement.
The floor is yours, sir, for seven minutes.