Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
I represent the Venezuelan delegation and I'm here with members of Parliament, Mr. Guevara, Mr. Dávila, Mr. Rondon, and the rest of our delegation.
I must begin by saying that in Venezuela, the constitutional order has been broken. We obtained a great victory in December 2015 when we won the election for the National Assembly, but our victory has not been recognized by the government and the supreme tribunal of justice. They have issued 16 sentences in the last few months. That means four sentences every month against the National Assembly.
The former National Assembly, the one that was pro-government, had no sentences against its duties before.
The first law we approved concerned amnesty and reconciliation in order to free approximately 116 prisoners and exiled persons. This law was declared unconstitutional by the supreme tribunal. As you can see, that represents an institutional crisis.
We are suffering a deep social crisis. Out of 10 food staples, you can find only two. Out of 10 drugs, you can find only one for the treatment of diseases. People are dying because they cannot access necessary drugs. Not too long ago, I visited a hospital and I asked the physicians what they do when they see a person who is dying, and they said that there is no way to treat them because they have no drugs. They have no way to treat them and they just watch them die.
When President Maduro took power in 2014, poverty was at 48.5%. The last figure we have for this year shows poverty going beyond 80% in less than three months. That figure shows how deep the crisis in Venezuela is and how much farther we are falling.
That's why when we compare Venezuela, we can say that our country is like a pressure cooker without a relief valve, but we need to find some relief for our country, and we are trying to find relief through constitutional mechanisms. One of the constitutional mechanisms could be a recall referendum. We want these measures to be carried out safely and peacefully.
As part of our mechanisms, we visited the OAS last week to ask the secretary general of the OAS and the member countries to protect Venezuela and to help us protect the Venezuelan population. We want to invoke the Inter-American Democratic Charter, making use of chapters 3 to 6, because we believe the only way to find a solution for Venezuela is through a genuine dialogue. However, with a government that is not willing to have a dialogue with the rest of the community, that is very difficult. Only through a genuine dialogue will we be able to achieve some change.