Thanks very much, Chair.
Thank you for your testimony today.
There's a quote I want to read. It comes from Monica de Bolle. She's from the Peterson Institute for International Economics. She was quoted on the weekend, in an article, as follows, in light of what had happened with the supreme court backing down on the decision to take over the powers of the National Assembly. She said that Mr. Maduro now lacks a strongman image and “that's usually the first step in ousting a dictator”. It's “the beginning of the end for him”.
First of all, my question is this. Do you agree with that assessment? I wonder if you could insert in your answer your thoughts on whether or not the military is uniformly behind the regime or whether there are pockets of disloyalty, perhaps, that are emerging, especially in light of what's happened in the past few days and with all the other problems that Venezuela is experiencing. All authoritarian leaders rely on a coercive apparatus, especially the military, so I wonder if you could talk about the loyalty of the military in particular, and the police forces, if you'd like. Also, is the opposition united? Another factor that authoritarian leaders rely on is a divided opposition.
I put the question to both of you, but we haven't heard from you yet, Ms. Torres.