The following is the text of Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas A. Shannon's July 17 testimony on Venezuela before the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee:

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear before this Committee today to address the theme: “Venezuela: Looking Ahead.” My remarks will look at this theme from three vantage points. First, the historic context of our relationship with Venezuela. Second, the current state of our relationship and the challenges it faces. And finally, what we can look forward to in the remaining months of this Administration.

Our relationship with Venezuela is longstanding, broad, and deep, encompassing everything from commerce and culture to education and sports. Our histories have been intertwined since our wars of independence. Francisco Miranda, one of Venezuela’s founding fathers, fought in the Continental Army during our revolution and was a colleague and friend of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. In their turn, Americans fought alongside Miranda and Simon Bolivar during Venezuela’s struggle for independence. The names of some of these “American heroes” of Venezuelan independence are inscribed at the “Los Próceres” monument in Caracas.

Our economies have also been closely linked. American mining engineers played an important role in the discovery and development of Venezuela’s petroleum wealth. American corporations and investors helped develop Venezuela’s automobile, banking, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors. Venezuela, for its part, has been one of the largest Latin American investors in the United States. Venezuela, through PDVSA and CITGO, owns refineries, asphalt, and petrochemical plants, and one of the largest gasoline distribution networks in our country.

Today, our two countries enjoy a growing economic and commercial relationship. Bilateral trade between the United States and Venezuela exceeded $50 billion in 2007. The United States exported $10 billion worth of goods to Venezuela last year, an increase of over 13% from 2006. Venezuela’s exports to the United States of $40 billion — 95 percent of which is oil — represent a 7% increase over the previous year. We are Venezuela’s largest trading partner by a factor of two. Venezuela is our second largest Latin American trading partner, exceeded only by Mexico. Venezuela is among our top five foreign oil suppliers, and we remain Venezuela’s principal customer and energy partner.

We also enjoy extensive cultural and people-to-people ties with Venezuela. The youngest director ever to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic — the 27-year-old Gustavo Dudamel, who assumes the role next year — is Venezuelan. There are 50 Venezuelans playing on major league baseball teams, nearly 800 in the minor leagues, and distinguished Venezuelans in academia, foreign policy circles, and the media. And Americans have played an important role in helping to build Venezuelan universities, political consultancies, and polling institutions.

Such a rich tapestry of human connection would seem to indicate a positive and friendly bilateral relationship. While this was the case for many years, it is regrettably no longer true. Our bilateral relationship today is troubled, characterized by resentment, suspicion, and misunderstanding.

For its part, the Government of Venezuela claims we have practiced interventionism in its political and economic life. It regularly refers to us as an “Empire,” opposes our initiatives in the Americas, and seeks out our adversaries as friends and allies. It has broken off cooperation with us on counter-drug and counter-terrorism activity, ended long-standing intelligence liaison relationships, shut down military cooperation and security assistance programs, and nationalized the holdings of some American corporations.

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