Supreme Court justices who are friendly to the government, Senator Dood pointed out that the Constitution of the United States instructs that it is up to the Congress to determine the size of the court. "This is not unprecedented", he said adding that he agreed with Vivanco with the inconvenience of the timing of such appointments.

Former CIA employee Miguel Diaz said that not all who come to power through elections are democrats. He added that the eyes of the world are on Venezuelan electoral authorities, and that "any perception of wrongdoing would result in bloodshed."Credit: Jeremy Bigwood

By far the most critical testimony came from Miguel Diaz, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, who alleged that the Chavez administration is "selectively arresting opposition leaders, torturing some members ofis the Saudi Arabia of Latin America"

The hearing on Venezuela concluded with Roger Tissot, an expert on the oil industry, and economist Mark Weisbrot. Tisso pointed out that Venezuela is the "Saudi Arabia of Latin America" and that the major oil-producing nation would like to become the energy supplier of choice for the Western Hemisphere. In that sense, Tissot foresaw no threat to oil supply from Venezuela and in fact reinforced that the Venezuelan government depends on its oil revenue to advance its political project. He highlighted Venezuela's strategic geographical location by pointing out that it takes only four days for a Venezuelan oil tanker to reach the U.S. coast off the Gulf of Mexico. He mentioned Venezuelan owned Citgo Petroleum's important role in the distribution on gasoline