Let me just add briefly, having the Canadian ambassador to Venezuela try to observe the trial—technically it's open, but there are only four seats for observers—even showing up sends a message to the Government of Venezuela; ensuring that in every conversation any of you have with anybody where the conversation on Venezuela comes up, that you ask about the situation of political prisoners; for all of you on the committee to seek a meeting, even as a whole committee, with the new Venezuelan ambassador to Canada to say you would like to talk about issues of concern, and to speak with one voice to that new ambassador about what's going on.
Obviously, there's a whole range of other tools, diplomatic ways of exerting pressure on the Government of Venezuela, but also working collaboratively with like-minded governments at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, working through the OAS, and through your representation to the OAS. I think the government can engage in a broad range of ways. Simply standing in solidarity publicly—and the reason we're emphasizing that is this throws a cloak of protection over Lilian and her family, and sends a clear message to President Maduro that if anything were to happen to her or her family there would be consequences. I think that is most important.
The last thing I'll mention, and I know time is very short, is that we've talked about the violations for which we have proof. The reality is there are also killings going on in Venezuela, which we know to be extrajudicial killings, but we don't have the physical evidence to demonstrate it. I'll give you two examples.
The first example was when the three prisoners were gunned down on February 12 by security forces at the time. A student leader held one of the other people who was shot in the head while he died, literally on the street. He then left the scene covered in blood and sent a tweet saying that this person just died in his arms, what had his country become? Three hours later he was sitting in his home in Venezuela when three guys with masks and machine guns broke into the house and gunned him down and then disappeared. So possible street crime? Sure. But the tweet had been widely circulated, and the idea that this was a coincidence strikes me as somewhat unlikely.
The other example is that the government had been putting intense pressure on Leopoldo and his closest friends and allies. Literally all his friends and allies are dead, in hiding, or in exile. His two closest friends, whose wives were very close friends with Lilian, were gunned down. They were on a hike a number of months ago. They had just parked their bikes to go on a hike; both were shot at point-blank range, and killed. Wallets were left behind, money in the wallets, bikes left, so possibly it was just a street crime. Sure. But to me it comes across as a clear message that they will get them, they will get anyone who is close to them, wherever they can. The leaving behind of a large wad of cash and credit cards and the bikes sends a very clear message to me that this was not at all about some street crime gone awry. This was to send a message to Leopoldo that they could get them anywhere.
This is the kind of country that Venezuela is today, and this is why all of us so desperately need your help, and Lilian and her family particularly need your help and support. I'll tell you as well, with one more sentence, that Leopoldo gave me very clear instructions that he will not be the first political prisoner out; he'll be the last political prisoner out. If they offer him an early release or otherwise, he will decline. He will not leave the prison unless all the rest of the political prisoners go with him, and they would have to physically manhandle him out of the prison if any other political prisoner were left behind. To me, that speaks volumes about the kind of man he is, about the vision he has for his country, and about how important it is for all of us to stand in solidarity with such brave people as Leopoldo, Lilian, their children, and their family, who so desperately need our help.