Thanks to all our witnesses for sharing wisdom and thoughts with us today.
I want to get into some of the politics of this period of transition.
I think there has been pretty much a consensus among our like-minded partners that the presidential elections of 2024 were illegitimate. We have agreed with that with the non-recognition of the Maduro presidency. The 2025 parliamentary elections were a bit more complicated, because the opposition barely participated, with the ruling party coalition gaining some 84% of the parliament.
Now we have the long-time vice-president acting as President. Her brother is the president of the National Assembly. This week, we saw a law passed at the National Assembly with respect to mining, opening it up to private interests. This was totally unheard of in the previous regime.
I'm trying to understand how the leopard changes its spots for the benefit of the Venezuelan people. I'm trying to understand how this period of transition is not going to be simply an ability for outsiders to gain access to critical minerals, gold and other assets that should belong to the Venezuelan people. I'm just trying to understand the nature of this transitional government and whether there is the potential for abuse and for the Venezuelan people to not actually receive any advantage.
I would like Ms. Dickinson and Mr. Di Martino to comment on that.