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Public Schedule – March 30, 2020

03/29/2020

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Public Schedule – March 30, 2020

03/29/2020 08:01 PM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson

***THE DAILY PUBLIC SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***

SECRETARY MICHAEL R. POMPEO
Secretary Pompeo attends meetings and briefings, at the Department of State
DEPUTY SECRETARY STEPHEN E. BIEGUN
Deputy Secretary Biegun attends meetings and briefings, at the Department of State.
UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS DAVID HALE
Under Secretary Hale attends meetings and briefings, at the Department of State.
UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT KEITH KRACH
Under Secretary Krach attends meetings and briefings, at the Department of State.

Briefing With Dr. William Walters, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Operations, Bureau of Medical Services, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ian Brownlee, Bureau of Consular Affairs On Updates On Health Impact and Assistance For American Citizens Abroad

03/30/2020

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03/30/2020 04:06 PM EDT

Ian G. Brownlee, Principal Deputy Assistant SecretaryBureau of Consular Affairs
Dr. William Walters
MR BROWN: Good afternoon, everyone. The Department of State continues its unprecedented effort to bring Americans home from all corners of the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our first priority remains the safety and well-being of American citizens.
To help give you a more granular sense of the mission, we have joining us for today’s on-the-record call Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary from the Bureau of Consular Affairs Ian Brownlee, as well as Dr. William Walters, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Operations in our Bureau of Medical Services. Dr. Walters will begin with some opening remarks and then turn it over to Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Brownlee, and then we’ll take a few of your questions.
A reminder that this briefing is – the contents of this briefing are embargoed until the end of the call.
Dr. Walters, please go ahead.
MR WALTERS: Thanks for the opportunity to once again address my colleagues from the press. The department continues to sustain and protect our overseas workforce in over 200 locations around the world. With a large employee footprint, nearly 75,000 employees, our current caseload overseas is only 75 cases – five hospitalized, all locally employed. Domestically we have 30 cases in nine cities. Most cities are single case or two cases. We do not have a documented case of employee-to-employee transmission. We’re watching very closely to that. We’ve been very aggressive in identifying cases early, decontaminating or disinfecting any impacted spaces and getting those spaces back into operation to support State Department functions on behalf of the American people.
With that, I’ll yield to PDAS Brownlee.
MR BROWNLEE: Thanks very much, Dr. Walters. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for once again joining us here.
Our repatriation flights continued through the weekend, and I am pleased to report that we have thus far brought home over 25,000 Americans from over 50 countries. We are tracking over 100 additional flights over the next week, and we have identified an additional 9,000 U.S. citizens who have indicated interest in those flights. There is still space for more on those flights, though.
I know I’ve said this several times already, but we do not know how long commercial flights will remain available, nor do we know how long the U.S. Government will be able to facilitate additional flights where commercial options no longer exist. It is therefore imperative that U.S. citizens make plans now to avail themselves of these options. We are seeing more U.S. citizens decide to stay abroad and ride out this crisis where they are. If people decide not to take advantage of these flights now, they will also need to hunker down where they are.
Regarding Peru, to date approximately 2,800 U.S. citizens have been brought home. Two flights will be departing today, one each from Lima and Cusco. Buses are bringing U.S. citizens from outlying regions Ica and Trujillo to Lima for the citizens’ return to the United States. Approximately 120 who are in Arequipa have already reached the United States.
We are also aware of cases in Peru in which U.S. citizens were placed under quarantine in facilities where they are staying. Quarantine measures due to the outbreak of COVID-19 are enforced by Peru’s ministry of health, and exceptions are not made for international tourists. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung and Charge d’Affaires Denison Offutt spoke with Peruvian Government officials at the highest level to address this issue. We are working to ensure that travelers placed under quarantine have access to appropriate food and healthy living conditions.
In the meantime, we remind all U.S. citizens to adhere to the Peruvian Government’s quarantine measures. We continue to see the demand for repatriation assistance from U.S. citizens in Central and South America, and now we are seeing growing interest from U.S. citizens wanting to return from Asia, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. We had our first flight – repatriation flight out of Bangladesh today and are coordinating with the Indian Government to begin flights there.
I know I keep repeating this message, but I want to emphasize once again how important it is for U.S. citizens to enroll at step.state.gov so we can continue to get them the latest information. Our travel.state.gov website and embassy websites have a wealth of information and the latest traveler and health – travel and health alerts. If somebody isn’t getting their STEP alerts for some reason, they should look at the relevant websites for the country where they are located. All the information is there.
Our consular officers at home and abroad are working around the clock to bring home as many Americans as possible. From Dhaka, Bangladesh to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, our teams are on the ground coordinating these trips home for U.S. citizens. I am proud to represent these public servants as they work nonstop to get our fellow U.S. citizens back home.
With that, I will await your questions. Thank you very much.
OPERATOR: And once again, ladies and gentlemen, it is 1 followed by 0 if you’d like to queue up here for a question. It looks like our first question comes from the line of Jennifer Hansler of CNN. Your line is open.
QUESTION: Hi, thanks. I was wondering if you could get into a bit more detail about what you are telling those stranded travelers at that hostel in Peru about their situation, what they should do. There’s been some reported cases of positive tests in that hostel, and we’ve heard some concerns about the safety of the situation.
And then separately, are you aware of any deaths among the State Department staff due to coronavirus? Thanks.
MR BROWNLEE:  With regard to the folks at the hostel, as I said, we are encouraging them to comply with the quarantine regulations. At the same time, we are actively working at the highest levels of the Peruvian Government to facilitate their move from that hostel to an area where we can bring them home again. In the meantime, we are encouraging the local health authorities to ensure that they are cared for well, that they are given sufficient food, and that any health needs they might have are met.
And I will turn it over to Dr. Walters for the other question about deaths.
MR WALTERS:  So the department is aware of two locally employed staff – I don’t have locations and wouldn’t be able to provide further details – that have died overseas in their own country related to coronavirus. I don’t have any further details that I can pass on. There have been no deaths domestically or with any U.S. direct hires.
MR BROWN: Okay. Can we go to the line of Nick Wadhams for the next question?
QUESTION: Hi, thanks very much. I just wanted to check with you guys to get a little bit of context. The Europe restrictions by the Trump administration were put in place around March 11th or so, but the State Department Task Force on Repatriating Americans was not actually instituted until March 19th. In the calls that we’ve had so far, I haven’t really heard an explanation for why there was such a lag by the department to set up this task force. Was it a sense that there was not really a belief that there was going to be a flood of Americans? I mean, I know some of these airport closures happened quite suddenly, as you’ve mentioned before, but that seems sort of like a somewhat predictable response.
Can you give a little bit more context on why that took so long? Thanks.
MR BROWNLEE: Certainly. Ian Brownlee here. Yes, President Trump signed that 212(f) declaration with regard to the Schengen zone and followed up with regard to the UK before we set up a task force, but we have our Office of Overseas Citizens Services works at normal times round the clock to assist U.S. citizens seeking repatriation. The Office of Logistics Management in the Bureau of Administration is always available to assist with chartering aircraft to bring people home.  So both of those offices, both of those bureaus and directorates, were already vigorously working this issue.
So for example, in the case of Morocco, we had flights – it seems like a long time ago now. We had, I think, brought 1,200 people out of Morocco. That was right at the time the task force was preparing to stand up. So that is a demonstration that even without the task force we were meeting the need to bring U.S. citizens home. Over.
MR WALTERS: Yeah, it’s Dr. Walters. I’d add to that the task force brought together a series of disparate operations under some great leadership, but remember when this outbreak started very early on, we were bringing American citizens out of Wuhan, we were bringing American citizens back from Yokohama. With every disaster, not just this one, the State Department has a mechanism that it follows for rescuing and evacuating American citizens. It’s just the scope of this – it kind of drove a deliberate super structure for it.  There’s 57 international airports on the African continent. I would say almost all of them right now are closed. That’s unprecedented, and it’s not isolated to Africa. And so while we were keeping pace with the requirements, even when you look at China early on, the airports didn’t close. Like Wuhan closed down and Hubei closed down, but China, from an international air travel, continued on. They didn’t – that didn’t shut off completely, and so there were still mechanisms for American citizens to find their way home. But as this spread and, I would foreshadow, as this spreads into the Southern Hemisphere, the repatriation and evacuation of American citizens outside of what would normally be commercial air travel is going to continue to be a significant challenge.
MR BROWN: Sorry. For our next question, can we go to the line of Christina Ruffini?
QUESTION: Hi. Sorry, I couldn’t get my mute button off. I’m wondering if you guys can give us any kind of context as to the staffing at the embassies. I had heard from some folks in Central and South America who said that one of the problems is a lot of the staff themselves have gone home, so they’re trying to do this with minimal bodies not only in the office but working remotely as well. Can you give us any kind of numbers? Are they down by half? Are they down by a third? Does it depend on the region? Anything you can do to help out, that would be great. Thanks.
MR BROWNLEE: Some posts around the world are facing reduced staffs, but where needed, we are sending additional staff out to assist.  So for example, in the case of Lima, we have – seven additional people have gone down there to help out. One is my counterpart from the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Julie Chung, who is down there to assist with dealing with the high-level communications with the Government of Peru. We also sent down six consular officers to augment the staff in the consular section there. We’re going to have to get back to you with numbers around the world. It really is a post-by-post situation.
We have not found it necessary to send additional staff out to the other countries in Central America, where we’ve had such great demand in the past 10 days, nor in Ecuador.  So I think that’s an indication that it’s very much a post-specific situation. Lima, yes, we did send additional staff. The other countries we did not. Over.
MR BROWN: Okay. For the next question, if we could go to Nick Schifrin.
QUESTION: Awesome. Wanted to focus to – my questions today on cases inside of State. It doesn’t look (inaudible) been updating, have updated in the last few days.  So if you could just go over the number of positive cases pending tests both in the U.S. and overseas. And I want to specifically ask about the large number of overseas self-isolating. Just wanted to see whether that was indicative of any hot spots in any particular embassies or countries or any other context you can give on the fact that more than 1,700 are self-isolating. Thanks.
MR WALTERS: Yeah, your question broke up a little bit at the beginning, but from what I understand, I think you’re really just sort of digging into the statistics. Let me go over those that I have available for you now.
As stated earlier, positive cases domestically are 30 and 75. Important to remember that of the 75 overseas, 21 have recovered and we’re seeing that. We’re seeing people who had mild illness, were treated very well through the embassy health unit at home, and went on to recover and sort of return to the embassy community.
Yet we’re looking at persons under evaluation of 79 domestically and 488 overseas reflecting really two things: One, we have a much larger footprint globally than we have in the United States, because we are the lead federal foreign affairs agency. But second, we have a much lower threshold to sort of move someone out of the embassy community and into their home, in part because it is such a small community within those embassies that people are noticed right away and self-isolated right away to keep them away from or to socially distance them from what is otherwise a very small and sort of walled-in community. And so the threshold may be a little bit lower, even, and it’s not anything by policy, just by practice. Cases are recognized earlier, they’re isolated earlier, and with a much lower threshold to do so.
So we’re not seeing high numbers of cases. We’re not seeing a ton of Medevacs. I mean, we’ve done a total of two Medevacs, both with very mild symptoms, only 85 tests pending overseas.  So what we’re doing seems to be working but we’re being very aggressive in self-isolation.
MR BROWN:  Yeah, and we’ll update those statistics on the page this afternoon.
Okay, for the next question, can we go to Abbie Williams?
QUESTION: Hi, thanks for doing the call. Given the developments that are coming forward and the fact that it seems like even those outside of the special risk categories are not entirely immune from danger, has there been any consideration of expanding the mission-wide authorized departure to go a little broader to outside of just diplomats at high risk? And what is the current number of U.S. missions on ordered or authorized departure? Thanks so much.
MR BROWNLEE: I’m sorry, Ian Brownlee here. I am not aware of conversations about broadening the authorized or ordered departure list, and I am trying to find – and I may have to get back to you with that number, the number who are – the posts that are on authorized or ordered departure. I will have to take that question. I’m sorry.
MR WALTERS: Although what I would point out is the Secretary took sort of the unprecedented step of a global authorized for the most high-risk individuals. And so there – the safety of those Foreign Service officers at any post has been taken into consideration with the ability for either a no-cost curtailment or authorized departure no matter where they are, because what we recognize now that we didn’t recognize at the beginning of the outbreak because we didn’t have the epidemiology information from the Chinese from the early outbreak is that this is – this spreads very rapidly. And that’s – really there aren’t any posts that are immune to the spread of coronavirus.
MR BROWN: Okay. I think we have time for one more question, so if we could open the line of Deirdre Shesgreen from USA Today.
QUESTION: Hi, thanks so much for doing the call. You mentioned early on that you were paying for these repatriations through the K Fund. Can you say how much is – how much you’ve spent, how much is left, and any concern that you may run out of money? Any plans to go back to Congress to ask for more?
MR BROWNLEE: Ian Brownlee here. As to the specifics of that question, we’re going to have to get back to you. We don’t have anybody from the Office of Budget and Planning on this call.
I will say this: I’ve either been directly or participated in numerous call with both appropriators, authorizers, and other members of Congress over the last several weeks, and have found in every case a readiness to assist us in assisting our fellow U.S. citizens overseas in getting home.  So at this point I’m not concerned about the K Fund running dry, but with regard to specifics, we’re going to have to get back to you with data coming from the Office of Budget and Planning. Over.
MR BROWN: Okay. Thanks, everyone, for joining today. I know that our briefers have other commitments that they’ve got to break away for. Thanks for joining. As we’ve reached the end of the call, the embargo on the contents is lifted on this on-the-record briefing. Thank you.

Secretary Pompeo’s Call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

03/30/2020

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Secretary Pompeo’s Call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

03/30/2020 04:21 PM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:‎
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss Transatlantic cooperation and the upcoming NATO Foreign Ministerial. Secretary Pompeo emphasized U.S. support for NATO and the importance of Transatlantic unity. The Secretary and the Secretary General discussed how NATO is helping to coordinate Allied responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of countering efforts by the People’s Republic of China and Russia to spread disinformation and propaganda related to the virus. They also discussed the need for Afghan leaders to form an inclusive government that makes reaching a political settlement a priority and bolsters the security of the state. The Secretary thanked the Secretary General for his efforts to move the Ministerial to a virtual format, demonstrating NATO’s adaptability and ability to maintain strong communication among Allies even in times of crisis.

Restrictions on Iran’s Nuclear Program Continued

03/30/2020

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Restrictions on Iran’s Nuclear Program Continued

03/30/2020 08:09 PM EDT

Morgan Ortagus, Department Spokesperson
The United States is renewing four restrictions on the Iranian regime’s nuclear program for an additional 60 days. Iran’s continued expansion of nuclear activities is unacceptable. The regime’s nuclear extortion is among the greatest threats to international peace and security. As President Trump said earlier this year, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. We will continue to use the full range of our diplomatic and economic tools to constrain Iran’s destabilizing proliferation activities. We will continue to closely monitor all developments in Iran’s nuclear program and can adjust these restrictions at any time.

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Sean Hannity of The Sean Hannity Show

03/30/2020

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Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Sean Hannity of The Sean Hannity Show

03/30/2020 11:29 PM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson
QUESTION: Here with more on China as well as America’s behind-the-scenes effort to get thousands of Americans back home during this outbreak is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Mr. Secretary, I know for a fact that you have gotten people – we had people on missions – you’ve gotten them home safely, people all across the globe. You’ve been working 24/7. I want people to know what you’ve been doing behind the scenes.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, Sean, thanks. Thanks for having me on the show tonight. The State Department team has done amazing work. Over 25,000 Americans returned home when airports all across the world, roads across the world were closed, when health care facilities across the world were closed. These Americans wanted to come home. Twenty-five thousand Americans, 50 countries, some dozens and dozens of flights. We’ve got several thousand more people to get home, and the State Department is hard at work.
If you heard some of these stories, you just heard the story of the Comfort, the story from Samaritan’s Purse, if you heard the stories of what the State Department has done to get people out of places like Bhutan, an impossible place to get to. We had a sick American, an American citizen who was suffering. We got him out, we got him back, we got him to safety. Truly good work to bring Americans home. It’s the best of what the Trump administration has demonstrated in this enormous crisis.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, we’ve got to deal with this issue of China. Are you confident now? They have valuable intel and information that could help the world after they hid this, when you said the last time on this show, you would have gladly sent our experts over to help them.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Sean, President Trump and I have been committed to making sure that we had the best data available. When you hear Doctors Fauci and Birx talk about risk, talk about fatalities, trying to think about how to model, what they need is data.
They need data from Italy. They need data from China. They need data from Iran. We need every country to step up and provide accurate, transparent information. And if we can’t have that, if we have disinformation instead, there are more lives that will be at risk not only today but in the weeks ahead as we battle this enormous challenge.
We’ve asked every country to step up and tell us what they know so that the world can learn. America will then turn around and we will share the information we get, and we’ll keep people safe not only here in the United States but all across the world.
QUESTION: You’re having a problem with Iran. The last time on this program you actually said if they ask for help, you would give it. Tell us what’s going on.
SECRETARY POMPEO: We have repeatedly offered the people of Iran assistance. We want – this is a humanitarian crisis inside the Islamic Republic of Iran as well. We have offered to provide humanitarian assistance. We have offered to provide assistance, if they don’t want to take it from America, to help other countries get their assistance into the country. That offer stood then; that offer stands now. Sadly, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime, the leadership, has rejected those offers of humanitarian assistance from us here in America. It’s really unfortunate for the Iranian people. There will be Iranians who die.
QUESTION: A lot has been made over calling it the Wuhan virus, and you took issue with anybody saying sorry, we do that with a lot of other illnesses.
SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, President Trump was very clear. I think he even said it again this morning. Yes, he talked about it as being the Chinese coronavirus. But what we’ve been looking for here all along is we simply want to make sure we understand what’s happened so that we can prevent the loss of life moving forward. We’re looking to cooperate with every country. We’d love to cooperate with the Chinese as well to get the right information so that we can do all that’s needed to find therapeutics, to find a vaccine, to do everything we can to reduce the risk that there will be more lives lost as the world moves forward.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, thank you, and thank you for bringing home all of those Americans. That story will be tell – will be told over time.

Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Sean Hannity of The Sean Hannity Show

03/30/2020

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Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Sean Hannity of The Sean Hannity Show

03/30/2020 11:29 PM EDT

Public Schedule – March 31, 2020

03/31/2020

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Public Schedule – March 31, 2020

03/31/2020 08:14 AM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson
***THE DAILY PUBLIC SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
SECRETARY MICHAEL R. POMPEO
10:40 a.m. Secretary Pompeo holds a press availability, at the Department of State.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)
The Secretary’s press availability will be live streamed on www.state.gov.
DEPUTY SECRETARY STEPHEN E. BIEGUN
Deputy Secretary Biegun attends meetings and briefings, at the Department of State.
UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS DAVID HALE
Under Secretary Hale attends meetings and briefings, at the Department of State.
UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT KEITH KRACH
Under Secretary Krach attends meetings and briefings, at the Department of State

The United States Proposes a Framework for a Peaceful Democratic Transition in Venezuela

03/31/2020

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The United States Proposes a Framework for a Peaceful Democratic Transition in Venezuela

03/31/2020 11:58 AM EDT

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State
On March 31, the United States proposed a pathway to resolving Venezuela’s crisis by means of a peaceful, democratic transition. This framework calls for the establishment of broadly acceptable transitional government to administer free and fair presidential elections and a pathway to lifting Venezuela-related U.S. sanctions. It builds on the proposals put forward by the interim Government of Venezuela headed by Juan Guaido.
U.S. and international pressure are important parts of the strategy. Our sanctions will remain in effect, and increase, until the Maduro regime accepts a genuine political transition.
The United States has long been committed to finding a solution to the man-made crisis in Venezuela. The urgency for this has become all the more serious in light of the Maduro regime’s failure to adequately prepare for and address the global COVID-19 pandemic. This framework demonstrates our commitment to helping Venezuela fully recover and ensures that the voice of the Venezuelan people is respected and included. We call on all Venezuelans, whether military or civilian, young or old, of all ideological tendencies and party affiliations, to consider this framework carefully and seriously.
We believe this framework protects the interests and equities of all Venezuelan people who desperately seek a resolution to their dire political, economic, and humanitarian crisis, and who know Venezuelans can have something better. This framework can provide a path that ends the suffering and opens the path to a brighter future for Venezuela.

The United States Proposes a Framework for a Peaceful Democratic Transition in Venezuela

03/31/2020

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The United States Proposes a Framework for a Peaceful Democratic Transition in Venezuela

03/31/2020 11:58 AM EDT

Democratic Transition Framework for Venezuela

03/31/2020

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Democratic Transition Framework for Venezuela

03/31/2020 11:50 AM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson

Full return of all members of the National Assembly (AN); Supreme Court (TSJ) lifts order of contempt and restores all powers to the AN, including immunities for deputies; National Constituent Assembly (ANC) is dissolved. The U.S. lifts sanctions imposed on ANC members due to their membership in the ANC.
All political prisoners are released immediately.
All foreign security forces depart immediately unless authorized by 3/4 vote of the AN.
AN elects new National Electoral Council (CNE) and TSJ members who are acceptable to all parties or coalitions of parties representing 25% or more of AN membership. (This would give both the PSUV and the multi-party Guaidó coalition a veto over personnel for any of these posts.) Upon the selection of a new CNE and TSJ, the U.S. lifts sanctions imposed on former CNE and TSJ members due to their membership in those bodies.
AN approves “Council of State” Law, which creates a Council of State that becomes the executive branch. Each party or coalition of parties with 25% or more of AN membership selects two members of the Council of State, one of whom must be a state governor. The four members of the Council of State then select a fifth member, to be Secretary General, and who serves as Interim President until the elections and is not permitted to be a candidate for president in the elections. Council members may not be members of the AN or TSJ. Decisions of the Council of State will be reached by majority vote. One member of the National Armed Forces of Venezuela (FANB) will serve as Military Adviser to the Council of State.
All of the powers assigned to the President by the Constitution will be vested exclusively in the Council of State. The U.S. and the EU will lift sanctions on those who claimed Presidential authorities which were imposed due to their holding their previous positions once the Council of State is functioning and those individuals renounce any further claims to hold executive positions and acknowledge the Council of State as the exclusive executive power.
Once the Council of State is established and foreign security forces have departed (unless approved by 3/4 vote at the AN), U.S. sanctions on the Government of Venezuela, PDVSA, and the oil sector are suspended.
Council of State appoints new cabinet. The U.S. lifts sanctions on former cabinet members due to their holding their previous positions. The U.S. also lifts sanctions on members of the FANB that are based on their position in the institution.
The international community provides humanitarian, electoral, governance, development, security, and economic support, with special initial focus on medical care system, water and electricity supply. Existing social welfare programs, now to be supplemented with international support, must become equally accessible to all Venezuelan citizens. Negotiations begin with World Bank, IMF, and Inter-American Development Bank for major programs of support.
A Truth and Reconciliation Commission is established with the task of investigating serious acts of violence that occurred since 1999, and reports to the nation on the responsibilities of perpetrators and the rehabilitation of victims and their families. The Commission has five members, who are selected by the Secretary General of the United Nations with the consent of the Council of State. The AN adopts amnesty law consistent with Venezuela’s international obligations, covering politically motivated crimes since 1999 except for crimes against humanity. Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru withdraw support for the International Criminal Court referral.
The Council of State sets a date for simultaneous Presidential and AN elections in 6-12 months. Any Venezuelan citizen eligible in accordance with the 1999 Constitution can compete in the election.
Presidential and AN elections are held. With a consensus of international observers that elections were free and fair, remaining U.S. sanctions are lifted.
Bi-partisan commission within the AN is developed to create long term solutions to rehabilitating the economy and refinancing the debt.

Guarantees

The military high command (Defense Minister, Vice Defense Minister, CEOFANB Commander, and Service Chiefs) remains in place for the duration of the transitional government.
State or local authorities remain in place for the duration of the transitional period.

The U.S. Role in International Organizations’ Response to COVID-19

03/31/2020

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The U.S. Role in International Organizations’ Response to COVID-19

03/31/2020 02:45 PM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson
“Whenever you see high quality, effective COVID-19 aid being delivered around the world by UN humanitarian and relief agencies, what you are seeing is the generosity of the American people and those who share our humanitarian values. We are by far the largest contributors to organizations like the UN Children’s Fund and the World Food Program because we believe in effective multilateralism that is focused on helping those in need, not scoring political points. This is what true global leadership looks like.”
— Secretary Michael R. Pompeo, March 27, 2020
The United States is by far the most generous and reliable contributor to crisis response and humanitarian action through the United Nations and dozens of international organizations. U.S. assistance, monetary and in-kind contributions, expertise and technology, are indispensable to the effort to combat COVID-19. Examples include:
U.S. Support to the World Health Organization (WHO)

The United States has been the largest supporter of the World Health Organization since its creation in 1948. U.S. contributions to WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost double the 2nd largest member state contribution. China, in contrast, contributed $44 million.
WHO is coordinating the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is on the ground in 149 countries around the world. This broad-based effort would not be possible without U.S. support.
The United States and other significant partners, such as Great Britain, Germany, Japan, and the Gates Foundation, have invested for decades in WHO’s emergency preparedness, response capacity, and expertise.

U.S. Support to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

UNICEF was one of the first organizations to provide aid to the Chinese people during the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 29, for instance, UNICEF delivered 6 metric tons of respiratory masks and protective suits for health workers to Shanghai, for distribution in Wuhan.
This effort would not have been possible without U.S. support. In 2019, the U.S. contributed more than $700 million to UNICEF, compared to China’s $16 million for UNICEF programs.
UNICEF is engaged in emergency actions in dozens of countries across the globe to provide critical medical supplies, expand water, sanitation and hygiene services, and educate about means of preventing the spread of the virus.
The United States continues to work vigorously with UNICEF to promote the health and well-being of children around the world.

U.S. Support to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

Refugee populations are uniquely vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, and U.S. support to UNHCR is unmatched.
In 2019, the United States contributed nearly $1.7 billion to UNHCR, making it clear that we care about human suffering no matter where it occurs. China contributed $1.9 million.

U.S. Support to the World Food Program (WFP)

The World Food Program, through its Humanitarian Response Department, has sent more than 85 shipments to 74 countries to assist in COVID-19 responses, including 1.4 million units of personal protection equipment such as health kits.
In 2019, the United States provided 42% of WFP’s $8 billion in resources, making the U.S. the largest contributor, and four times the next largest member state donation. The PRC provided just $30 million.
Even in the midst of the pandemic, WFP maintains its goal to reach 86 million food insecure people this year – thanks to American funding and food grown by American farmers.

Secretary Pompeo’s Call with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar

03/31/2020

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Secretary Pompeo’s Call with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar

03/31/2020 04:42 PM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:‎
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar by telephone today regarding coordination of efforts to respond to COVID-19. The Secretary highlighted the importance of continued close cooperation between the United States, India, and other close partners and allies to combat this international crisis, including strengthening global pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing and supply chains. He also reiterated the United States’ unwavering commitment to work with India to advance peace, prosperity, and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the globe.

Secretary Pompeo’s Call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

03/31/2020

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Secretary Pompeo’s Call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

03/31/2020 04:36 PM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus:‎
Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke today with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Secretary Pompeo thanked the Prime Minister and Ethiopian Airlines for their continued support to provide flights to American citizens stranded overseas by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Secretary underscored the United States’ commitment to supporting Ethiopia and working with international partners to respond to the ongoing public health emergency. The Secretary and the Prime Minister also discussed the importance of the U.S.-Ethiopian bilateral relationship and stressed the need for continued collaboration on key regional issues.

U.S. Support for ASEAN in Fighting COVID-19

03/31/2020

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U.S. Support for ASEAN in Fighting COVID-19

03/31/2020 06:00 PM EDT

Office of the Spokesperson
As the leader in the global health and humanitarian response to COVID-19, the United States has acted swiftly to support our ASEAN partners in combating the COVID-19 virus. Since the outbreak began, the U.S. government has provided approximately $18.3 million in emergency health and humanitarian assistance to ASEAN Member States. Globally, as of March 26, 2020, the United States is providing an initial investment of nearly $274 million in emergency health and humanitarian assistance to help countries in need, on top of the funding we already provide to multilateral organizations such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
This total to date includes nearly $100 million in emergency health assistance from USAID’s Global Health Emergency Reserve Fund and $110 million in humanitarian assistance from USAID’s International Disaster Assistance account, to be provided for up to 64 of the most at-risk countries facing the threat of this global pandemic. Through the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) will receive $64 million in humanitarian assistance to help address the threats posed by COVID-19 in existing humanitarian crisis situations for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
New Funding to Support ASEAN in Fighting COVID-19:
U.S. funding to ASEAN countries on COVID-19 supports the following goals:

Prepare laboratories for large-scale testing for COVID-19;
Infection prevention and control;
Enable risk communication;
Implement public-health emergency plans for border points of entry;
Activate case-finding and event-based surveillance for influenza-like illnesses;
Train and equip rapid-responders in investigation and contact-tracing;
Update training materials for health workers.

U.S. government agencies spearheading out international response, including The Department of State, USAID, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are working closely to allocate funds based on COVID-19 hotspots and vulnerabilities. The United States also coordinates with other donors to complement assistance and avoid duplicating efforts.
America’s Leading Support for ASEAN’s Public Health
This emergency support is in addition to the nearly $3.5 billion dollars in public health assistance the United States has provided to ASEAN Member States over the last twenty years. The United States is the global leader in public health assistance, with more than $9.5 billion allocated in 2019 to support public health overseas, including in Southeast Asia. This amount includes funding to counter pandemic threats, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and other health needs. Since 2009, American taxpayers have generously funded more than $100 billion in health assistance and nearly $70 billion in humanitarian assistance globally. Our country continues to be the single largest health and humanitarian donor for both long-term development and capacity building efforts with partners, and emergency response efforts in the face of recurrent crises. This money has saved lives, protected people who are most vulnerable to disease, built health institutions, and promoted the stability of communities and nations.
U.S. Emergency COVID-19 Support for ASEAN Countries (by country, as of March 26):
The United States is providing both technical assistance and financial support to ASEAN Member States, initially $18.3 million. That support is outlined below:
Brunei:

The Department of State conveyed Brunei’s request to U.S. companies for availability of respirators and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) after U.S. domestic demands are met.

Cambodia:

Approximately $2 million in health assistance will help the Cambodian government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, and support technical experts for response and preparedness, and more.
The CDC is assisting Cambodia with contact tracing clinical management, lab testing, surveillance, and infection control.
A U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) infectious disease physician is assisting with clinical consultations, and developing clinical care guidelines for the Royal Phnom Penh Hospital (Cambodia’s designated treatment hospital).
The United States has invested long-term in Cambodia, providing more than $730 million in health and more than $1.6 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years.

Indonesia:

$2.3 million in health assistance will help the Indonesian government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, and support technical experts for response and preparedness, and more.
CDC has provided technical assistance to Indonesian health officials. The U.S. Army-led Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), based in Bangkok, provided reagents to run an additional 500 tests in March.
The United States has invested more than $1 billion in health and more than $5 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years.

Laos:

Nearly $2 million in health assistance will help the Lao government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, and support technical experts for response and preparedness, and more. The Department of Defense (DOD) is working to provide additional testing equipment.
Six CDC specialists traveled to Laos to provide epidemiology, surveillance, and lab training.
The CDC and DOD led a table-top exercise and simulation with Laos government partners in March on COVID-19 mitigation. This included a simulation exercise on COVID-19 readiness and response at Wattay International Airport on 19-20 March
Ongoing U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) support and training, particularly the Biological Threat Reduction Program, support Lao Ministry of Health capacity to professionally test for COVID-19.
The United States has invested nearly $92 million in health and more than $348 million total over the past 20 years in Laos.

Malaysia:

The Department of State is identifying U.S. companies that can supply the Malaysian government with ventilators and PPE after U.S. domestic demands are met.
The Department of State is seeking to link the Malaysian Institute of Medical Research with appropriate companies and agencies for assistance with antigen testing and vaccine development training.

Myanmar:

Approximately $3.8 million in health and humanitarian funding will go toward water and sanitation supplies, COVID-19 case management, event-based surveillance, coordination, and more.
The CDC helped the Ministry of Health and Sports to launch a nationwide online tele-mentoring session on COVID-19, that is providing Myanmar’s frontline health workers with timely, accurate information on the outbreak at 100+ locations nationwide.
The CDC is also providing technical assistance on epidemiology, surveillance and laboratory case detection to the Myanmar’s Central Epidemiology Unit and the National Health Laboratory, and organized two rounds of technical consultations.
The United States has invested more than $176 million in health and more than $1.3 billion in total U.S. assistance over the past 20 years in Myanmar.

Philippines:

Nearly $4 million in health assistance will help the Philippines government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more. The United States has invested more than $582 million in the Philippines’ health alone and nearly $4.5 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years.
The Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) provided locally sourced PPE, training, exercises, and laboratory equipment and materials.

Thailand:

Approximately $1.2 million in health assistance will help the Thai government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more.
CDC in the United States and through its in-country team in U.S. Embassy Bangkok – have provided lab support and assistance with processing Thai national patients returning from Wuhan, China.
CDC has provided advice on risk communication, translation of technical materials, information on non-medical public health measures, and screening procedures at ports of entry.
The Department of Defense’s DTRA provided a genetic sequencer for diagnostic, surveillance, and locally sourced PPE.
S. long term assistance in Thailand includes more than $213 million in health and more than $1 billion in total assistance over the past 20 years.

Vietnam:

Nearly $3 million in health assistance will help the Vietnamese government prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, risk communication, infection prevention and control, and more.
The CDC provided training to 15 hospitals in conjunction with the WHO, and has helped train for 63 provinces on COVID-19 surveillance, reporting, and sample collection, and is supporting Vietnam in developing its National Infection Prevention and Control guidelines for COVID-19.
The Vietnamese government has requested support for COVID-19 testing reagents, which is currently being coordinated with DTRA for local sourcing.
Over the past 20 years, the United States has invested more than $706 million in health assistance and more than $1.8 billion in total assistance for Vietnam.

ASEAN-wide: U.S. exchange programs have strengthened the expertise of the Southeast Asian medical professionals leading their countries’ fight against COVID-19. More than 1,400 physicians from ASEAN countries have been visiting scholars at U.S. universities and medical schools. Another 1,000 Southeast Asian medical and public health professionals are alumni of U.S.-sponsored exchange programs in their fields.
Regionally, the United States through NIH is active in supporting research in ASEAN countries key to countering pandemics, including on therapeutics, vaccines, and medical countermeasures. Examples include NIH work with ASEAN partners on malaria treatment and prevention, bat coronavirus spillover events, and other research of public health benefit.
The United States, through USAID and the CDC, has regional programs to boost ASEAN country capacity to prepare for outbreaks and build lab diagnostic capabilities. These include:

CDC improvements to laboratory safety and biosecurity across ASEAN, by certifying high-standard biological safety cabinets.
A CDC training course for Mekong countries (Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand) on how to counter emerging influenza threats, held in November 2019
Long-standing USAID support through the One Health Workforce – Next Generation project to ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, to prepare for, prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies before they pose an overwhelming pandemic threat. The project aims to transform the health workforce and university public health curricula. Since 2014, over 10,000 students and professionals have been trained in infectious disease topics through the Southeast Asia One Health University Network (SEAOHUN).
USAID partnership with the Thailand Ministry of Public Health to build a Regional Public Health Laboratory (RPHL) network, sharing information and resources on emerging infectious diseases across ASEAN since the network’s launch in November 2019.

Secretary Pompeo’s Call with Former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemarriam Desalegn

03/31/2020

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U.S. Department of State Weekly Digest Bulletin

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