We have never visited Venezuela, so all we have been getting is what we have been reading and of course hearing from the witnesses who have also been before this committee, but I want to get a clearer picture.
If the opposition media is being shut down by the government; if the government is appointing its own judges who have to be “revolutionary socialist judges” and have to be particular to the brand, the philosophy; if those are the only ones it is prepared to appoint; if it is creating a separate police force as well in the country to monitor, investigate, arrest—as they say, if necessary—and even kidnap people who are opposing the government; if it is bringing in certain laws that restrict the opposition's ability, where is the space for members of Parliament who are willing to stand up, and are there any? I realize they probably don't have much air time because all of it is covered by Chavez and his own media outlets, but where are the voices, where are the local NGOs, where are the parliamentary and political voices able to be heard throughout the country? Is that disappearing altogether?