After a long wait that included the postponement of the debate in parliament for several weeks, finally the National Assembly elected in 2020 and with a Chavista majority, voted for the new members of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) in Venezuela. It is accused of being a totally red organ, that is, of official connotation.
(Also read: CPI rejects Venezuela’s request and will continue investigation for crimes)
A few months ago, a judicial reform through Organic Law. With it, it was decided to reduce the number of judges from 31 to 20 who, according to the Constitution, will hold office for a period of 12 years as well as their substitutes, however, in the appointment of this Tuesday, 12 repeat their functions , among them Michael Moreno, who until now was the president of the organization and has remained aligned with the government.
The rooms were distributed as follows:
Constitutional Chamber: Gladys María Gutiérrez Alvarado, -who had already been president of the TSJ and was now a deputy- Lourdes Benicia Suárez Anderson, Luis Fernando Damiani Bustillos, Calixto Antonio Ortega Ríos, Tania D’Amelio Cardiet.
Political-Administrative Chamber: Malaquías Gil Rodríguez, Bárbara Gabriela César Sierro and Juan Carlos Hidalgo Pandares.
Election Hall: Caryslia Beatriz Rodríguez Rodríguez, Fanny Beatriz Márquez Cordero and Inocencio Antonio Figueroa Arizaleta.
Civil Cassation Chamber: Carmen Eneida Álvarez Navas, Henry José Timaure Tapia and José Luis Gutiérrez Parra.
Social Cassation Room: Edgar Gaviria Rodríguez, Carlos Alexis Castillo Ascanio, Elías Rubén Bittar Escalona.
Criminal Cassation Chamber: Elsa Janeth Gómez Moreno, Maikel José Moreno Pérez and Carmen Marisela Castro.
Those who repeat as magistrates are Maikel Moreno, Lourdes Anderson, Luis Fernando Daminani, Calixto Ortega, Fany Márquez, Inocencio Figueroa, Elsa Yaneth Gómez, Edgar Gaviria and Gladys Gutiérrez. It is also noteworthy that the rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE) Tania D’Amelio was incorporated into the group of magistrates.
In total, 400 people had applied for the positions. A few weeks ago, the Chavista deputy Pedro Carreño had questioned the actions of some magistrates, denouncing corruption within the TSJ.
In this “reformed” TSJ, only three magistrates are considered opposition, Luis Rodríguez, Elías Bittar and Luis Emilio Rondón, the latter as a substitute. Chavista deputy Gladys Requena becomes inspector general and Guillermo Blanco heads the School of the Judiciary.
Sanctioned by the United States
In 2017, in the midst of the protests in Venezuela that left at least 43 dead, the United States, with its sanctions policy, added eight magistrates to the list, accusing them of usurping functions. Maikel Moreno, former president of the TSJ, Juan José Mendoza Jover, Arcadio de Jesús Delgado Rosales, Gladys María Gutiérrez Alvarado, Carmen Auxiliadora Zuleta de Merchán, Luis Fernando Damiani Bustillos, Lourdes Benicia Suárez Anderson and Calixto Antonio Ortega Ríos.
It is noteworthy that those who repeat are considered allies of Chavismo, especially Maikel Moreno, Gladys Gutiérrez and Calixto Ortega. Even Moreno was key so that on April 30, 2019, Juan Guaidó could not overthrow Nicolás Maduro in his uprising attempt, since a supposed sentence from the TSJ was expected, which never came.
Maikel Moreno has been singled out for his alleged problems with the law. He is accused of the death of a woman in the state of Bolívar, in southern Venezuela, and of Rubñen Gil in 1989.
Former Chavista magistrate Luis Velásquez accused him of being part of the well-known “Banda de los Enanos”, an organization that would be in charge of committing crimes of corruption within the justice system. But no evidence has ever been shown.
Calixto Ortega has been a Chavista deputy, deputy foreign minister for Europe, charge d’affaires at the Washington embassy.
He wrote the sentence that declared the
unconstitutionality of the reform of the Law of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) proposed by the opposition majority of the Parliament.
He was a deputy of the National Assembly in the periods 2000-2005 and 2006-2010. He was sanctioned by the Panamanian government for being considered a high risk for money laundering, financing of terrorism and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Gladys Gutiérrez was sanctioned on March 30, 2018 by the government of Panama for being considered a high risk for money laundering, financing of terrorism and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. She was rector of the TSJ, CNE and now a deputy.
Both she and Calixto Ortega are part of the new constitutional chamber, one of the most important, in charge of interpreting the Magna Carta and from which judgments have been issued that have affected the opposition.
This Wednesday, Gutiérrez was sworn in as president of the TSJ of Venezuela, a position she already held in the past, between 2013 and 2017.
In a brief statement broadcast by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), Gutiérrez announced her appointment as president of the Venezuelan Supreme Court and judges Edgar Gaviria as first vice president and Henry José Timaure as second vice president of the instance.
They denounce in Venezuela a ‘kidnapping of justice’
The Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaidó rejected this Tuesday, through a statement, the “imposition” of the 20 new magistrates.
“We denounce to national and international public opinion the imposition of magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro and his illegitimate Assembly. This fact is the most recent sign of the absence of democracy in our country,” the opposition group said in a statement published on its website.
In the opinion of the opponents, this act represents a process of “distribution of quotas” that “distances” the possibilities of finding justice in the cases of victims of human rights violations in recent decades.
The dictatorship intends to make fun of the victims again and delve into the kidnapping of justice in Venezuela.
An illegitimate and kidnapped assembly tries once again to simulate normality.
This contributes to the search for justice at the ICC and the need for a comprehensive Agreement. https://t.co/cLlibWo0xo
– Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) April 26, 2022
The opposition group also considered that this appointment “seeks to protect the corrupt and human rights violators, disguising this cover-up in a supposed renewal of the country’s justice system.”
“What happened makes it unfeasible for Venezuela to apply any type of ‘principle of complementarity’ between the ongoing national and international investigations, since the courts do not guarantee that true justice can be dispensed,” highlighted text.
Given the facts, the opponents urged the international community to disregard this appointment, which, they consider, “deepens” the institutional crisis in the Caribbean country. “We urge, in the same way, national and international actors not to recognize this court as legitimate as it violates our Constitution, as it is made up of political actors who are and will be facilitators of impunity and for going against all recommendations that the international instances have done to the regime of (Nicolás) Maduro,” the letter pointed out.
ANA RODRIGUEZ BRAZON
WEATHER CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS
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