Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  A little bit.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm sorry.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The opposition. The opposition, which controlled the media for so many years, not just now, have international connections, so they all know the other owners and they are the ones who lead out the information that comes to Canada. Did you know that Canada doesn't have reporters from any of the main newspapers or CBC on the scene in Venezuela?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  And Venezuela is right next to the United States. It's very easy to get the oil, but Venezuela has always sold the oil to the United States. You can't eat oil. It's in the interest of Venezuela to sell oil to whoever pays money for it, but it's a question of control. I have to tell you and warn you that the United States has created 14 military and naval bases in Colombia and 11 bases in Panama.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  First of all, about the media, I can give you the actual numbers so that you can judge for yourselves. There are 656 privately owned radio stations, 243 community stations, and only 79 are state-owned throughout the country. As for TV stations, there are 65 TV stations, which are 60%; 37 community stations, which are 35%; and only 6 state TV stations across the nation.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  You know, there are very serious problems in Venezuela. It's a developing country. There are problems with crime. That's why I talked about the police. There are problems with Colombian paramilitaries; they regularly cross the border and commit atrocities, and they are working with criminal gangs.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Can I finish with one last sentence?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'd like to conclude that it was with dismay that we noted that a member of Parliament called President Chávez a brutal dictator. We want you to know that Latin Americans are well acquainted with brutal dictators who waged wars against neighbours, made thousands of people disappear, displaced indigenous peoples, kept secret police, tortured, imprisoned, or killed at will, and utterly disregarded the rule of law.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Greetings to the honourable members of Parliament. It's an honour to be here to be able to address this committee. Thank you very much for this opportunity. We understand that this parliamentary subcommittee is conducting a study of the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.