The Argentine justice system has requested this Monday the international arrest of the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in a case of “kidnappings, torture and murders” against civil society. The arrest warrant, which could lead to an extradition request, also covers the Minister of the Interior and number two of the regime, Diosdado Cabello, and thirty other high-ranking Chavista officials. “It was proven that there exists in Venezuela a systematic plan of repression, forced disappearance of people, torture, homicides and persecution against a portion of the civilian population, developed, at least, from 2014 to the present,” says the text of the 20-page ruling. The Argentine judges based their decision on the principle of “universal justice” that governs cases of crimes against humanity.
The ruling follows the testimony on September 17 of five Venezuelans who, under the protection of their identities, detailed persecutions, illegal detentions and torture suffered during the last decade. The judges wrote that, after listening to the witnesses, “the experiences endured by the victims are eloquently revealed —which seem to exhibit a common pattern in state actions—, and are reflected in the various reports of international organizations that expose (…) the lack of interest [del Gobierno de Maduro] “for conforming to democratic rules.” “The evidence collected is sufficient for the trial judge to urgently order the summons of Nicolás Maduro Moros and Diosdado Cabello to give a statement,” they added.
One day after the Venezuelans’ judicial presentation in Buenos Aires, Venezuela’s Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, issued arrest warrants against the President of Argentina, Javier Milei; his senior advisor and sister, Karina Milei; and his Minister of Security, Patricia Bulrich. The excuse was the seizure of a cargo plane from the Venezuelan state-owned company Emtrasur, held in Buenos Aires in 2022 and handed over to the United States last February. Saab accused Milei of “stealing and dismantling” the Emtrasur plane. The Argentine government responded at the time that the hijacking of the plane had been a judicial decision and that “in the Argentine Republic, the separation of powers and the independence of judges prevail.”
The case against Maduro in Buenos Aires is being promoted by the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy (FADD), a civil organization led by political leaders of the PRO —the party of former President Mauricio Macri—, the Radical Civic Union and related groups. The FADD’s sponsoring lawyer, Tomás Farini Duggan, said that Venezuela has become “synonymous with diaspora, torture and death,” and asked Argentine judges to “order the arrest of all the defendants, of Nicolás Maduro, of [su ministro de Interior] Diosdado Cabello and all the other leaders of the main security forces.”
The case was opened in 2023 with a presentation by the Clooney Foundation for Justice and, in principle, the judge who received the complaint considered that it should be archived, given that there is already a case pending in the International Criminal Court focused on human rights violations in Venezuela, promoted by Argentina and other nations. In response to appeals by the prosecution and the plaintiff, a second instance court ordered the magistrate to continue with the case. The seriousness of the events, they understood, “would require the enabling of universal protection.”
During the hearing on September 17, a former prosecutor said that he investigated the repression of student protests in Venezuela and that, when he tried to determine political responsibility over police commanders, he was kidnapped and tortured. Another witness said he was held for three and a half years in Helicoide, a prison controlled by the Venezuelan government’s intelligence services, on charges of conspiracy and terrorism. There he saw how, after suffering “psychological torture”, one of his fellow inmates hanged himself in his cell.
The Argentine request for Maduro’s arrest comes in a context of international pressure on the Chavista government, which has been accused of irregularities in the last presidential elections. In his quest to position himself as the leader of the global far right, the Argentine Milei has been at the forefront of attacks against his Venezuelan counterpart. Two weeks ago, the Casa Rosada urged the International Criminal Court to request the arrest of Maduro “and other leaders of the regime.” The tension between the two presidents increased due to the refuge granted by the Argentine Embassy in Caracas to six advisors of the opposition to Chavismo and the expulsion of Argentine diplomats decided by the Venezuelan government.
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