MEMBERS The Honourable Raynell Andreychuk, Chair The Honourable Percy E. Downe, Deputy Chair and The Honourable Salma Ataullahjan The Honourable Jane Cordy The Honourable Dennis Dawson The Honourable Leo Housakos The Honourable Janis G. Johnson The Honourable Thanh Hai Ngo The Honourable Victor Oh The Honourable Rose-May Poirier The Honourable Michel Rivard Ex-officio members of the Committee: The [...] Clerk of the Senate Charles Robert The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (the “Committee”) heard testimony on 11 May 2016 from several members of the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela about the political situation and growing economic crisis in that country. [...] This meeting conformed with the Committee’s periodic review of developments in Venezuela, notably regarding the serious economic 1 challenges facing the country and the ongoing plight of political opponents. [...] For example, the National Assembly’s law to reform the Central Bank in order to address the inflation crisis was reversed by the Supreme Court. [...] The Venezuelan legislators appearing before the Committee emphasized that the political situation needs to be resolved urgently to overcome the country’s economic crisis resulting in part from the decline in global oil prices and the loss of Venezuela’s status as the region’s key oil supplier.