The situation in Venezuela is urgent and immediate. The country is at the brink of collapse, people are starving, and there is hyperinflation. The root cause of the crisis is that the governing coalition, that has ruled the country ever since Hugo Chavez was elected as president in 1999, and which enjoyed broad public support for many years, is unwilling to accept that they have lost the support of the public and should therefore give up power democratically. For a number of years, there have been serious and pervasive violations of people’s civil and political rights.