FAAE meeting 25 · 2026-03-10 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development met to study the situation in Venezuela. Appearing were Wendy Drukier, Director General of South America and Hemispheric Affairs at Global Affairs Canada, and the Honourable Stuart Savage, Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS).

Wendy Drukier described the Maduro regime’s institutionalized corruption, political repression, and human rights abuses, noting that Canada has sanctioned 139 individuals since 2017. She stated that the opposition won the 2024 presidential election but Maduro declared victory, and that after the U.S. operation capturing Maduro on January 3, 2026, Delcy Rodríguez is the de facto acting president under a U.S. three-step plan for stabilization, recovery, and a democratic transition. Drukier said Canada has not recognized the current regime, supports a Venezuelan-led democratic transition including opposition figures María Corina Machado and Edmundo González, and has provided over $260 million in humanitarian aid since 2019. She noted that roughly 60% of Venezuelan households lack sufficient income for basic food, that over 600 political prisoners have been released but hundreds remain, and that Canada was not given advance notice of the U.S. operation. She declined to share legal advice given to the minister on whether the operation violated international law, citing ministerial privilege, and said Canada has not changed its sanctions regime since January 3.

Ambassador Stuart Savage said the OAS has held nine discussions on Venezuela since the 2024 elections, including a January 21, 2026 meeting on political prisoners, and that Canada works to keep the issue on the agenda. He noted that the OAS could offer technical assistance for elections and election observation if a democratic transition proceeds, and that Canada supports an on-site visit by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to Venezuela, which has not been possible for 20 years. He added that the OAS Secretary General has met with María Corina Machado and can facilitate dialogue, but declined to characterize member states’ views on the U.S. operation, saying he could provide their public statements to the committee.

On the humanitarian situation, Drukier said there has been no significant return of Venezuelan refugees or change in the number leaving since January 3, and that Canada has not seen an increase in consular requests from Canadians in Venezuela. On economic conditions, she said oil revenues are partially returned to Venezuela under a U.S. arrangement requiring detailed spending plans, but production is not expected to increase significantly for a decade. On sanctions, she confirmed that Delcy Rodríguez remains sanctioned and that Canada reviews its sanctions regime regularly but has made no changes since January 3. On diplomatic relations, she said Canada would need to see a recognized democratic process before re-establishing ties, and that the safety of diplomats and accreditation by Venezuelan authorities are conditions for returning Canadian diplomats to Caracas.

On great power competition, Drukier said oil sales from Venezuela to China have stopped, but China has not taken specific measures to address the situation. On Canadian oil and gas expertise, she noted that Canada’s sanctions target individuals, not the oil sector, and that U.S. sectoral sanctions currently only license U.S. companies to operate in Venezuela. She added that Canadian companies should seek legal advice on sanctions compliance.

The committee did not debate any motions or procedural matters during this meeting.

AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.

Witnesses · 2

Wendy Drukier

Director General, South America and Hemispheric Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Opening remarks

Thank you very much, Chair and members of the committee. Nicolás Maduro presided over Venezuela from 2013 until January of this year. During this time, corruption became institutionalized in the government and military at all levels. The regime co-opted the judiciary, the economy was mismanaged to a state of ruin, and authorities engaged in systematic political repression. The regime became a beneficiary of, if not an active participant in, illegal mining, money laundering, drug trafficking and other illicit revenue streams, working with non-state and criminal armed groups. In response to this corruption, attacks on democratic institutions and systematic human rights violations, Canada has sanctioned 139 individuals since 2017. The EU and the U.K. have also imposed sanctions on the regime, and the U.S. has imposed both sectoral and individual sanctions. Under the leadership of María Corina Machado, the opposition mounted a coordinated campaign for the 2024 presidential elections, which they handily won, as shown through official voting tallies collected by poll watchers. Maduro nonetheless declared himself the victor and unleashed an unprecedented level of political arrests and…

Full testimony ↗

Hon. Stuart Savage

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Canada to the Organization of American States, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Opening remarks

The OAS, as the hemisphere's main political forum, has taken the issue of Venezuela seriously and continues to follow it with great interest. In the OAS, Canada attempts to play a leading role to ensure that the situation in Venezuela remains on the agenda, and we've has been quite successful in that regard. Over the last year or so, since the last elections in Venezuela—which were, as my colleague Madame Drukier said, not recognized for being fully free and fair in 2024—the OAS has had nine separate discussions on Venezuela in different ways, shapes and forms, including in August of that year, 2024. The OAS was the only international organization able to come together on a consensual document calling for restraint and the publication of election results, in respect for the popular will of the Venezuelan people in the face of what was apparently happening in Venezuela at the time and the Maduro regime's effectively stealing those elections. Since then, there have been a number of other topics. I could go through them if you'd like, but it certainly has remained on the agenda. Most recently, we discussed Venezuela at the OAS on January 21. That was about the situation of…