By Luis Manuel Aguana
I had the distant hope that as a
consequence of the economic debacle and the worsening of the situation of
Venezuelans' lives, the deputies of the National Assembly would have become
aware to the extent of assuming the historic responsibility of appointing a new
Emergency Government as a result of the sentence condemning the trial of
Nicolás Maduro Moros for corruption and money laundering.
But no, they escaped the bundle by
sneaking around on a legal and procedural technicality, indicating that they
had not formally received the final judgment of Maduro's trial, and worse
still, by using a report from the Legal Consultancy of the National Assembly,
conveniently dated July 30, 2018 - prior to Maduro's final judgment on August 15,
whose main argument is that there was no final judgment (by July 30th obviously
there was not) to rule on a constitutional vacuum, when the legitimate TSJ
invoked the "constitutional vacuum" in the Presidency of the
Republic, because Article 380 of the COPP had been repealed by the 1999
Constitution: "In this regard, it should be noted that Article 380 of the
COPP, invoked in the notified decision to maintain that there has been a
constitutional vacuum, is a provision that was at least partially repealed by
the 1999 Constitution, Article 42 of which excludes any suspension of the
exercise of political rights that is not based on a "final judicial
decision" (see in Spanish, Opinion of the Legal Consultancy on
notification received from magistrates appointed by the National Assembly, at http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/noticias/_dictamen-de-la-consultoria-juridica-sobre-notificacion-recibida-de-magistrados-designados-por-la-an).
Obviously at the time of that report
there was no "final court judgement" of Maduro. But by the date of
the discussion in the National Assembly there was because he had already been
sentenced. In this way they cleverly dismissed a posteriori, today, August 21,
2018, a mandate from the legitimate Supreme Court of Justice of July 2, 2018 to
appoint a new government. A
technicality.
Apart from the audacity of the
Directive of the National Assembly to submit for "examination" by its
Legal Consultancy a judgment of the High Court of the Republic, the opinion
reaffirms the Agreement adopted by the National Assembly on January 9, 2017 and
its consequences. And from there comes today's agreement to ratify the AN's
decision to "abandon the office" of Nicolás Maduro (see in Spanish Agreement
to ratify the decision of the National Assembly to declare the abandonment of
the office of Nicolás Maduro Moros and his criminal responsibility for acts of
corruption, at http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/actos/_acuerdo-de-ratificacion-de-la-decision-de-la-asamblea-nacional-de-declarar-el-abandono-del-cargo-de-nicolas-maduro-moros-y-sobre-su-responsabilidad-penal-por-hechos-de-corrupcion-vinculados-a-la-empre).
That is why I would like to
reiterate what I have already emphasized on other occasions: While it is true
that the Deputies DECLARED the Abandonment of the Office of Nicolás Maduro
applying Article 233 of the Constitution, the truth is that they did not
initiate any procedure that would allow the constitutional transition of the
Presidency of the Republic, neither at the time they made that statement, nor
now when they were formally requested by the judges of the legitimate Supreme
Court as a result of a criminal trial against Maduro. Skillfully, the honorable
deputies escaped the bundle of confronting the political decision that entails
assuming that they have the responsibility to the Venezuelan people to initiate
this procedure (see The dilemma of the National Assembly, at http://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/p/the-dilemma-of-national-assembly.html).
And that is what Deputy Juan Pablo
García, from the 16th of July Fraction of the Assembly in an extraordinary
session, urged them to do today, August 21, 2010, not on the basis of an
absolute fault of the President, but on the basis of a final sentence of the
legitimate Supreme Court of Justice: "On
July 2, 2018, this legitimate Supreme Court ruled that the National Assembly
should fill the constitutional vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic. More
recently, on August 15, in his dispositive, he sentenced Nicolás Maduro to 18
years and 3 months in prison: what is left for us as legislators? Fulfill the
mandate of that TSJ. We here designate a legitimate TSJ that by force majeure
is outside but I have said it several times, that is creating international and
national doctrine and jurisprudence and its decisions are binding. And this is
how the OAS has recognized it, this is how Almagro has recognized it. And
yesterday I said very bravely that we have to comply with that mandate...I call
on the Board of Directors of the National Assembly, let us comply with the mandate!
that is the step, brothers! that is the immediate step to achieve the freedom
of the people of Venezuela!...Let us assume our responsibility and the
consequences!..." (emphasis added) (see in Spanish National Assembly
in session in rejection of the economic measures, intervention of Congressman
Juan Pablo García, Faction 16J in https://youtu.be/GsTrD9xDZkI, min 25:25).
However, the defense of the Board's
position to freeze this decision was already in place with the intervention of
Congressman Simón Calzadilla (MPV), who, beyond that, took over the defense of
the Assembly for the alleged "attack" of the OAS Secretary General,
Luis Almagro, against the President of the National Assembly, Omar Barboza.
Secretary Almagro in his communication of August 20 to the National Assembly
urged the institution presided by Omar Barboza to abide by the decisions of the
legitimate Supreme Court of Justice for the good of the Venezuelan people (see
in Spanish Communication from Luis
Almagro to Omar Barboza, GSO/388-18 of August 20, 2018, https://twitter.com/Almagro_OEA2015/status/1031626342318661632).
It is worthwhile to analyze in
detail the most important thing said by Congressman Calzadilla in his speech:"...The decisions of this National
Assembly are taken by the body, that is to say by the deputies in the Chamber.
The powers of the Board of Directors are duly regulated in our Rules of
Procedure and in the Constitution.....Mr. SG of the OAS knows that this is a
democratic Board of Directors and he knows that the President of the NA,
Congressman Omar Barboza, does not
have the competence to hear any court rulings, because in this case, if a
sentence reaches the National Assembly, the competence for its decision would
be the body... (Because the GS of the OAS) did not use the formula of
cooperation, of diplomacy, to pick up a phone and communicate with the
representative of our Board of Directors and Parliament to see what the status
of the so-called Supreme Court ruling was, which
for the information of the Venezuelan people in a formal way we do not know and
do not know the terms of it. And according to what has been published
in the media, there is a sentence ordering the arrest and imprisonment of the
President of the Republic, and as Deputy Delsa Solórzano said, that is the
competence of the State security agencies because nowhere in the Constitution
is that competence of the National Assembly”. (highlighted by us) (see National
Assembly meeting in rejection of economic measures, intervention by Congressman
Simón Calzadilla, Progressive Movement of Venezuela, MPV at https://youtu.be/GsTrD9xDZkI, min 44:33).
To say only
that a deputy, not even the President of the National Assembly, or any deputy,
is not responsible for the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice in relation
to the body in which they are collegiate, which is to say at least an outrage.
If the legitimate Supreme Court delivers a sentence such as that of May 3,
2018, urging "the National Assembly to initiate the procedure that allows for
the constitutional transition of the Presidency of the Republic, in accordance
with Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela", each and every one of them are collectively
responsible for the execution of that sentence (underscored by us) (see https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zzbu6gBkNSe0jKLwxRvlvxAeqTsSxiDe/view).
The insistence of Congressman
Calzadilla and the President of the National Assembly, Omar Barboza, to
disregard the ruling of the High Court in relation to Maduro's sentence in
Bogotá, aims to take Venezuelans for idiots. All of Latin America saw through
the digital media when Magistrate Rommel Gil read the full sentence, with
semicolons, from the place where Nicolás Maduro Moros was sentenced orally. The
National Assembly can watch Judge Gil on YouTube at any time in the video
"TSJ in Exile Sentences Maduro to 18 Years in Green Branch", read by
Judge Rommel Gil. https://youtu.be/FOABxN8BfKY. If they want to ignore a public, notorious and communicational fact
because they are waiting for a paper with the signature of the judges of the
legitimate Supreme Court of Justice in the 19th century so that they can deign
to solve what Venezuela urgently claims to survive this tragedy, then those are
not the representatives we need to solve the crisis, because they are
deliberately delaying its solution.
It is clear that what corresponds to
the security forces in relation to Maduro's detention is their absolute and
proper responsibility, as Congresswoman Solórzano pointed out in her speech
paraphrased by Congressman Calzadilla. But what falls to the National Assembly,
which is nothing other than the appointment of an Emergency Government to
replace the regime, as a result of Maduro's trial and sentence, is the absolute
responsibility of the National Assembly. And that is what OAS Secretary General
Luis Almagro rightly pointed out in his communication, saying: "Compliance, as well as the support and
confidence of the National Assembly (NA) towards the legitimate TSJ, are
essential steps for a transition to democracy in Venezuela through justice and
re-institutionalization. Failure to comply would place you on the margins of
democratic institutions and make you an accomplice to a dictatorship that has
destroyed the country”. And that's why they didn't like being told harshly,
which is exactly what happened. After this contempt, they formally became
accomplices to the dictatorship.
And it was not "a false
assumption" on which Luis Almagro's letter was based, as Omar Barboza said
in his speech (see in Spanish National Assembly, session in rejection of
economic measures, speech by Deputy Omar Barboza, President of the National
Assembly, closing of the speeches, at the end of the debate at https://youtu.be/GsTrD9xDZkI, min 1:13:22), nor did he say "things that have a totally false foundation", because he
could not assume anything when he is referencing a public, notorious and
communicational sentence, which apparently those who want to ignore it are precisely
those in whom the people of Venezuela placed their trust on 6D-2015.
Almagro does not say that the
President of the NA has not wanted to execute a legitimate TSJ sentence, but
what he does is warn that if he does not do so for "the slight use of formalities to turn his back on the body of
evidence presented and analysed by the TSJ through the Oral and Public Trial
initiated on 2 August, it is to excuse the AN from the dictatorship despite its
criminal actions already judged by the legitimate judiciary". (highlighted by us)
Well, that's exactly what happened.
They lightly and deliberately used legal formalities to turn their backs on
Venezuelans and avoid the appointment of a new Emergency Government as expected
by the Venezuelan people. Unfortunately, Luis Almagro's communication was
premonitory and extraordinarily accurate. It was not surprising then that the
Deputy President of the National Assembly had previously felt that he had been
referred to in a warning that became a reality, not when the communication was
sent to him, as he himself pointed out, but after that regrettable
extraordinary session, since Secretary Almagro's warning was shown to be a
bluntly true fact. It would be that he felt guilty before he knew it was going
to happen. It is now up to the people of Venezuela, who, unlike those who
represent them, if they maintain the principles cited by the Secretary General
of the OAS, to assume in their place with courage they did not want to face
today in the National Assembly, making use of the tools and constitutional
resources available for the restoration of order and legality in Venezuela.
Caracas,
July 21, 2018
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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