Frequently, military expenditures are “secret” or concealed, thus frustrating the right of citizens to know how their taxes are being spent. - Alfred-Maurice de Zayas

Approximately 40,000 Venezuelans died as a result of the sanctions, that is, because they didn’t have access to medicines or didn’t have timely access to medicines or because they had malnutrition, etc., etc. Now, imagine with the pandemic, with Covid-19, the whole infrastructure in Venezuela, in Cuba, in Iran, in Syria, has been devastated by this economic war against them. They are already weak, and the U.S. wants to make these sanctions worse. That is nothing less than a crime against humanity. In my own report to the Human Rights Council, 2018, I explained why that adds up to a crime against humanity, susceptible to being prosecuted, being investigated by the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

The ideal of direct democracy, including the power of legislative initiative of citizens and control of issues through genuine consultation and referenda has been partially achieved only in few countries.

As far as domestic democracy, all here present know that democracy means government of the people by the people. While we agree that consultation and participation are essential to every democracy, this is seldom achieved in practice.