The National Assembly (Parliament) of Ecuador on Tuesday urged the President of the Republic, Daniel Noboa, to request the International Criminal Court to arrest the ruler of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, to prevent crimes against humanity in that country.
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With a vote of 78 legislators in favor, 43 against and 6 abstentions, the plenary session of the Assembly approved the motion presented by independent legislator María Teresa Pasquel.
The motion urged President Noboa, representing Ecuador and as a member of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, request that “arrest warrants be issued against Mr. Nicolás Maduro Moros.”
The motion states that this measure is “in order to prevent the continuation of crimes against humanity and ensure the effectiveness of ongoing investigations” into alleged human rights violations in Venezuela.
In addition, The International Criminal Court was asked to order the “immobilization and seizure of assets and property of any kind that are registered in the name of Mr. Nicolás Maduro Moros, in a personal capacity or through related third parties, for subsequent definitive confiscation.”
This is “in order to benefit the victims or their families of the crimes against humanity caused” by the accused, Pasquel specified in his motion.
The motion was approved by right-wing groups such as the ruling National Democratic Action movement, the Social Christian Party, the Construye party and independents.
On the other side were the progressive Citizen Revolution movement, led by former President Rafael Correa, and the indigenous group Pachakutik.
In the debate, Construye legislator Ana Galarza stressed that her party rejects any form of dictatorship, because it generates suffering among people and serious consequences “such as mass migration, tyranny, extreme poverty, blackouts and poor government management.”
On his side, Correísta Fernando Cedeño said that interference in the internal affairs of other countries such as Venezuela should be avoided which, he said, is on its way to becoming one of the largest economies in the world.
For Cedeño, the situation is worse in Ecuador and he recalled that this year 185,000 Ecuadorians have left the country through the dangerous Darien Pass (on the border between Colombia and Panama), who have decided to risk their lives for a better future.
The Ecuadorian parliament’s decision came after an Argentine court ordered the arrest of Venezuela’s president for alleged crimes against humanity.
The Federal Chamber of the City of Buenos Aires resolved this in the framework of a case opened at the beginning of 2023 for a complaint against Maduro presented by the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy (FADD), based on the principle of universal jurisdiction that allows countries to prosecute serious crimes against human rights regardless of where they were committed.
The Caracas government repudiated this decision, calling it “irritating” and “ridiculous” and considering it a “crude retaliation reaction instructed” by the Argentine president, Javier Milei.
The Venezuelan justice system had also ordered the “preventive” detention of the Argentine president for “aggravated robbery” and six other crimes related to the Venezuelan-Iranian plane that was detained in Buenos Aires and sent to the United States last February.
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