The recent decision by Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal, ordering Copei to put in place a board consisting of people they selected, presents a difficult conundrum for the opposition coalition, the MUD. The key thing here is that the Supreme Tribunal has ordered the Elections Council to only accept the roster of candidates the new Copei board proposes. Indirectly,…
There are already plenty of reports recording what happened in the wave of protests last year, but a new one from the Human Rights Center of the Andres Bello Catholic University (CDH-UCAB) puts the magnifying glass on the State’s many strategies to cover up its abuses. Under the title “Que no quede rastro” (Leave no Trace Behind),…
Anyone remember the case of “businessman”/druglord Walid Makled? This week, he was finally sentenced to 14 years and 6 months in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering, but he was also absolved of other charges. The General Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz isn’t happy with the decision, and announced that the Public Ministry will appeal it…
It’s not easy being a police officer in Venezuela, one of the most violent countries in the world. But how bad is it for those responsible to protect the lives of ordinary people? Reuters’ Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore present us with a bleak picture of how easy it is for Venezuelan cops to lose…
Tomorrow, opposition leader María Corina Machado will go to the National Prosecutor’s Office to be indicted as an alleged conspirator in a plot to assassinate the President. Hefty charges that, if proven, carry the maximum penalty of 28 years in prison. In any other country, the “if proven” part of this sentence would be the most…
The Venezuelan Judiciary has become a rubber stamp of the Executive Branch. But now we have the truth in cold, hard numbers… Four Venezuelan lawyers went to work proving this. Their results are published in an upcoming book titled “The TSJ, at the Revolution’s service.” Basically, they looked at 45,474 decisions of three halls of the Supreme Court (the all-powerful…
After so many years, few things chavistas throw our way make us do a double take. This one did: Delcy Rodríguez, Nicolás Maduro’s former minister of Communications, the über-chavista, radical sister of equally über-chavista mayor of Libertador (Caracas) Jorge Rodríguez, wants to be … a justice in the nation’s highest court! Never mind the fact that she is…
Esteemed Capitalist Pig, A socialist greeting to you! The following is to notify you that, even though the Central Government is now working on a new political framework to cope with violence against women – specially that inflicted by family members or partners – you, by virtue of being a dirty capitalist, imperialist and escuálida apátrida, do not qualify for said…
I wonder about Nicolás Maduro sometimes. I mean, it’s easy to dismiss Maduro as insane. The latest from the man who talks to birds, who thinks Chávez was “innoculated” with cancer? Well, the opposition is spreading tropical diseases, and it’s all the media’s fault. Still, barring the possibility that he’s insane, can he really be this…
If there is one arm of the Venezuelan state apparatus that comes out looking like royal crap in the Human RIghts Watch report, it is the public prosecutors. In example after example, they are portrayed as being either complicit, or grossly incompetent. Routinely, charges are pressed on dubious evidence, possible misconduct is ignored, and a…
Article 68 of the Venezuelan Constitution reads as follows: “Citizens have the right to demonstrate peacefully and without weapons, with no other requirements than those established in the law. The use of firearms and other toxic substances to control peaceful demonstrations is prohibited. The law shall regulate the actions of police and safety organizations when controlling public…
… or a modest proposal for Venezuela (A guest post by friend-of-the-blog Daniel Lansberg-Rodríguez) The Emperor Gaius Caligula Caesar enjoys a hallowed a place within popular imagination. With the possible exception of Nero, whose alleged stint at fighting fire with music has historically received mixed reviews, it is Caligula’s reign that is remembered as the very…
BBC had the chance to interview Luisa Ortega Díaz, Venezuela’s prosecutor general, a privilege few –if any- independent media get these days. Had we had the chance, there were many other questions we would have liked to ask. But the few things she said left us in awe, and itching for a fact check. These are a few of…
Remember the tale of Tokio discotheque, located inside Tocorón Prison in Aragua? Well, the prison night-club has returned to the headlines: an 18-year old girl died of a possible overdose of drugs and alcohol after a weekend-long party in that club. Can I just repeat that this nightclub is… inside a prison?! Back in 2012,…
Take it away, World Justice Project.Should it surprise you that a country with no justice system, tons of weapons, and lots of drug smuggling … is a killing field? What I love about the report is that it compares us not only with Latin America, but with countries around the world that have similar income…
Caracas Chronicles 