Our No. 1 concern going forward would be the situation domestically for the upcoming elections and whether or not international and domestic observers will be allowed to observe those.

I do not believe having your political affairs director smoking a cigar with a narcotics trafficker is reaching out to civil society.

the ability to engage not just with civil society, but with human rights activists and political dissidents languishing inside of their country to create the space that is necessary for the proper democratic process to take place is very…

I am as committed to engage the Nicaraguan civil society as I have been with their Cuban counterparts during the last 3 years.

If confirmed, I will work with the government and civil society to help strengthen democracy and governance, promote constructive political dialogue, and encourage greater citizen participation in the political process.

It is important that Guyana continue along this path in the elections scheduled to take place later this year.

In what is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Ortega has clearly put his own personal enrichment and empowerment over the welfare of the Nicaraguan people.

We and others in the international community have joined in trying to encourage strongly Nicaragua to allow international and domestic observation of the upcoming elections.

We are closing our USAID mission--in Guyana.

If confirmed, this is an area we will give tremendous attention.

We continue to call on the Cuban Government to immediately and unconditionally release Alan Gross.