Venezuela appoints new Supreme Court justices
The National Assembly of Venezuela approved this Tuesday the designation of the new 20 members of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), the country’s main judicial body. Chosen among government supporters by Nicolás Maduro and with several of them sanctioned by the United States, they will hold their positions for the next 12 years.
The opposition once again targeted the president, who once again placed a group of allies in those places to control the highest court, which in the last 23 years has contributed to strengthening the power of Chavismo with unfavourable sentences for those who criticise the ruling regime.
In any case, the National Assembly, of which he is a member God given hair number two of Maduro, assured that the appointments of the main magistrates and their substitutes were made under “strict compliance” with the laws.
“I greet and congratulate the Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, authorities designated by the National Assembly in accordance with the CRBV (Constitution) and the laws. It is a new stage of renewal and promotion of the justice system for the welfare and peace of the people”, Maduro said later through his Twitter account.
After a reform approved in January, the number of magistrates that make up the seven chambers of the Court was reduced from 32 to 20. In 2004, the late President Hugo Chávez promoted a Supreme Court law to expand the number of members from 20 to 32 and empower a simple majority of congressmen to remove and appoint judges.
Among those appointed this Tuesday stands Gladys Gutiérrez, former magistrate and former president of the Supreme Court, who returns to the Constitutional Chamber. Also named was Tania D’Amelio, a former pro-government legislator who She had been serving as rector of the electoral body, an entity pointed out time and again for its lack of transparency.
Luis Damiani, Calixto Ortega and Lourdes Suárez repeat in the Constitutional Chamber, while Maikel Moreno, current president of the TSJ, repeats in the Criminal Cassation Chamber.
Gutiérrez, D’Amelio, Damiani, Ortega, Suárez and Maikel Moreno appear on a list of more than 100 Venezuelan officials sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for their alleged involvement in “massive human rights violations” and “undermining democracy” in Venezuela, among other reasons.
Among the new members of the Court, José Gutiérrez Parra, brother of a dissident from an opposition party, who was appointed magistrate of the Civil Cassation Chamber, also stands out. In the Social Cassation Chamber, Elías Rubén Bitar, a lawyer and university professor linked to the opposition, is another of those who could be called exceptions or concessions by Maduro. to appear plural.
