Venezuela: The curse...
By Daniel Duquenal
15.12.04 | Tulio Alvarez of the electoral fraud fame among others, submitted last June a legal action to the High Court, TSJ. The objective was to suspend application of the new judicial power law that is from any point of view, even this humble blogger perspective, unconstitutional. According to Venezuelan law the TSJ should have replied to him either to tell him to go to hell, or to accept it to examine the argumentation offered. But as it so happens these days in Venezuela where everything that is annoying to the chavista powerful is stashed away until kingdom comes, Tulio Alvarez justified request was simply received and ignored. Now, as the law has been applied it will be for the new illegally named judges to decide, someday, what to do about the Alvarez request. Thus Tulio Alvarez did the only honorable thing: yesterday he withdrew his legal suit. A clear symbol so that we all know that we have no business to go to the High Court if we seek justice and repair.
This simple story, just as the new justices will be sworn in today, illustrates the moral corruption that will be endorsed by the Venezuelan judicial system, if we can even call it by that name.
There is already enough written in English so that the reader can make his/her own opinion as to what this blogger is writing about.
Human Rights Watch as expected has denounced the gross election of the new political hacks, oops! sorry, I meant "justices". This brief communique outlines perfectly well all the constitutional violations committed to name these new luminaries. An excerpt:
But in May, President Chavez signed a court-packing law that allowed his governing coalition in the legislature to obtain an overwhelming majority of seats on the country’s highest court. The 17 new justices (and 32 reserves) were selected yesterday by a simply majority vote of the governing coalition, which did not reveal the names of the nominees to the opposition members of Congress until the time of the vote.
The court-packing law signed in May also gave the governing coalition the power to remove judges from the Court without the two-thirds majority vote required under the constitution. In June, two justices retired after facing possible suspension from the Supreme Court as a result of these new provisions.
El Universal has one article in English which gives the blow by blow account of the "election", and include the names of the new servants. An excerpt:
According to the opposition deputies, ruling party MVR refused to disclose the names of the candidates because not even Chavez' supporters had reached a consensus on the matter.
In fact, the list was handed over hand written and right before the names were announced to the session. Most selected judges were not appointed to the TSJ chambers they had been assigned to by a Citizens' Power's committee evaluating the candidates.
Veneconomia has a simple editorial. An excerpt:
One of the most serious consequences of this confiscation of yet another branch of government will be the loss of confidence, objectivity and impartiality of the administration of justice in Venezuela, already sorely battered. The government now has in its hands the legal instrument it needs to endorse the bills proposed by the revolution and to neutralize dissidence of any kind and from any source, without there being any counterbalance whatsoever to pose limitations on its actions.
Finally to close I will translate an excerpt of El Nacional editorial:
The government will have no doubts from now on, since without scruples the one in charge of ensuring safe nominations [Pedro Carreño] declared that all "have a filial link to the revolution guaranteed".
Let's recognize the sincerity of the confession, which was unnecessary if truth be told, but the regime does not even care about appearance. [snip] Thus, no one should hold any doubt: Justice, as the General Prosecutor [Isaias Rodriguez] stated "is either revolutionary or it is not justice"
We are cursed.
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