Welcome to BRaVE Group for Venezuela

 To impress on decision-makers the scale of human rights abuses being practised in Venezuela. 

 BRaVE Group for Venezuela will gather information from confidential and reliable sources, and will circulate these materials to our relevant contacts primarily, though not exclusively, in the UK. Our group has access to potential speakers with wide inside knowledge and credibility about the Venezuelan crisis.  We continue to work with others organising conferences aimed at influential audiences.

  BRaVE Group for Venezuela is in close contact with Venezuela and is trying to widen the knowledge of human rights abuses. Our objective is to inform decision-makers in the UK and beyond about the reality of the human rights abuses under the current regime of Nicolás Maduro. 

British career diplomat for 35 years serving mainly in the Americas, including as Ambassador in Venezuela 2000-3, and Argentina 2004-8. He was also seconded to the Cabinet Office, BAe Systems, and Shell. In retirement John was Chair of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, and of Canning House.  He has been a Visiting Senior Fellow at London University, at the London School of Economics, and a Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE Ideas, a foreign policy think tank.  Currently, he is a member of the Advisory Board of LSE Ideas.

 Roger Silver was educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and the Manchester Business School. Roger has spent over 50 years living in Venezuela and working as an industrialist and banker. As a Managing Director of both Morgan Grenfell and Deutsche Bank he covered the Andean Region, Central America and the Caribbean. He was President of the Venezuelan / British Chamber of Commerce, and awarded the OBE for services to British culture and exports. He co-founded  CFS Partners, a financial advisory firm with offices in London and Caracas.  

 Frank Coll has been resident in the UK since 1979. Has worked for over 40 years in administration and finance. Considerable experience within the legal sector and charitable organisations. Has worked as Director and Company Secretary to international investment companies. In English Law Frims has held positions as Practice Manager and Director of Finance and Administration.  Has also worked as Finance Manager and Honorary Treasurer in various Charitable Organisations.

 Dr Peter Collecott is a former British diplomat who was the Ambassador in Brazil from 2004 to 2008. Subsequently he was a Trustee of Canning House, the main British institution fostering relations between the UK and Latin America, and Chairman until 2017. 

 Cristina Cortes is an experienced CEO with international experience in government, finance, energy and the NGO sector, and 30 years’ expertise in strategy, business development,

government relations, commercial negotiations, financial management and thought-leadership. Her career as Commercial Director with BP included international business development, acquisitions and divestments, joint venture management, government relations, and commercial negotiations with a wide range of businesses and governments across Europe and Latin America. As Strategy Director for BP’s ethics and compliance function, she was responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s first Code of Conduct for over 100,000 employees. In 2015, Cristina joined Canning House - the UK’s leading forum for contacts, thought-leadership and pragmatic debate on Latin American political, economic, social and environmental trends and issues, and business risks and opportunities;

where she was CEO from 2018 until 2022. Of Anglo-Brazilian descent, Cristina speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese and has lived and worked in Europe, the USA and Latin America. Since retiring from Canning House, she divides her time between London, Granada, and extensive travels in Latin America.