I have huge admiration for María Corina Machado. I have spoken to her. She did not run for president, but she is clearly a voice for those in Venezuela who feel that their democratic wishes have not been reflected in the make-up of their Government. We continue to have conversations with groups in Venezuela and, in a limited way, with the regime in Venezuela. We want to see a negotiated transition and the wishes of all the people of Venezuela who participated in that election to be reflected in a democratic outcome.

We regularly discuss the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela at meetings with international partners including during the visits to the UK by the Colombian President Duque and US Secretary of State Pompeo. The UK is providing £14.5 million of humanitarian assistance to respond to the crisis.

​We have welcomed Vanessa Neumann as the Official Representative of Juan Guaido in the UK. Although the UK has recognised Juan Guaido as constitutional interim President of Venezuela, we continue to engage with the institutions of the state, including the accredited Venezuelan Ambassador in London, at official level on routine business.

While we regularly discuss with partners the huge impact of migrants fleeing the Venezuelan crisis, we have had no recent discussions with international partners on migrant boats capsizing off the coast of Venezuela

The Venezuelan economy is in a desperate state. The IMF is forecasting inflation in Venezuela to reach 10 million per cent for 2019 and the Venezuelan Central Bank has reported a drop of over 55 per cent in GDP since 2013. This is a man-made disaster caused by the Maduro regime's economic mismanagement. It has resulted in a political, economic and humanitarian crisis forcing more than 4 million Venezuelans to leave.

DFID does not have a bilateral presence in Venezuela. DFID continues to work closely with – and provide significant core funding to – the UN and Red Cross movement to alleviate the worsening humanitarian situation. In the event of a change in government in Venezuela, the international financial institutions will play a key role in supporting any reconstruction work.

We are all concerned about the situation in Venezuela, a crisis of growing regional magnitude. Only yesterday 25 members of the National Guard revolted against Maduro's leadership. In October 2018, speaking at Chatham House, I called for a concerted regional and global response to what has become a man-made regional crisis. The UK is standing alongside American, EU and Lima Group partners to ensure a robust response to the crisis; all options remain open including further targeted sanctions.

Despite efforts by the UK to urge the Venezuelan Government to accept humanitarian aid, they continue to deny the existence of a humanitarian crisis.

DFID is supporting the relief effort within the region through partners such as United Nations agencies, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the European Commission and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

The European Commission announced a €35m aid package this year of which the UK’s share is approximately 15%. In addition, the UK is a longstanding supporter of the CERF which allocated $26m to the region. The UK is the largest donor to the fund since inception and in 2017 represented 20% of the fund’s total contributions. This year the UK has contributed £55m to the CERF which will support responses to humanitarian needs across the globe, including in response to the Venezuelan crisis. DFID is also ICRC’s second largest donor, providing approximately £63m of core funding per year for ICRC to direct towards priority operations across the globe as they deem appropriate.

The UK does not have its own domestic sanctions regime but does act with the international community to implement UN and EU sanctions.

We agreed a tough EU sanctions regime on Venezuela in November 2017. Travel bans and assets freezes were imposed on seven government officials in February 2018 and a further 11 officials in July 2018.

As I stated in my Chatham House speech on 25 October, we are extremely concerned at the Venezuelan government's continued attacks on opposition politicians, a number of whom have been imprisoned, exiled or stripped of their political rights. The illegal detention of National Assembly MP Juan Requesens and the death of Fernando Alban whilst detained by the Venezuelan Intelligence Service are both particularly disturbing.

In October, our Ambassador met the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, and the Vice-Minister for Europe, Yvan Gil, and expressed our concerns. In London, the Head, Latin America Department, FCO, called in the Venezuelan Ambassador to express our concern about Mr Requessens and to urge the Venezuelan government to release all political prisoners.

DFID has deployed two humanitarian experts and funded additional roles for UN agencies in the region. The UK is also supporting the international response through core funding to the UN, humanitarian agencies, the European Commission and Red Cross movements.

The UK continues to urge the Venezuelan Government to accept humanitarian aid and DFID is supporting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s efforts to urge Venezuela to meet their population’s needs.

DFID has deployed two humanitarian experts and funded additional roles for UN agencies in the region. The UK is also supporting the international response through core funding to the UN, humanitarian agencies, the European Commission and Red Cross movements.

The UK continues to urge the Venezuelan Government to accept humanitarian aid and DFID is supporting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s efforts to urge Venezuela to meet their population’s needs.

I have to say to the right hon. Gentleman that DFID has limited experience in Latin America. We would like to be doing more, and there has been the provision of humanitarian advice, but I would be the first to admit that that is not nearly enough to address the seriousness of the plight that Venezuelans face. As he rightly says, millions of people have left Venezuela and these problems are now affecting neighbouring countries in a serious way. We are working closely with the Lima group, led by the Peruvian Foreign Minister, to do what we can to try to change the disastrous situation in Venezuela.