VENEZUELAN ASSEMBLY APPOINTS NEW SUPREME COURT

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 003846

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014
TAGS: PGOV KJUS VE
SUBJECT: VENEZUELAN ASSEMBLY APPOINTS NEW SUPREME COURT
JUSTICES

Classified By: A/DCM ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d)

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Summary
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1. (U) Venezuela's National Assembly appointed 17 new
Supreme Court justices and 32 alternates December 13. The
appointments expanded the Court by 12 justices, and replaced
5 retired or removed justices. Opposition Deputies boycotted
the vote. Among those appointed are two Deputies from
President Chavez' Fifth Republic Movement and the National
Electoral Council President Francisco Carrasquero. These
appointments give President Chavez full control of the
Supreme Court. The pro-Chavez Assembly majority pressed
through legal procedures in record time, scheduling
controversial special sessions on days when the legislature
does not normally meet, to be able to approve the candidates
with the vote of a simple majority. End Summary

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TSJ Expansion

SIPDIS
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2. (U) Venezuela's National Assembly appointed 17 new
Supreme Court Justices and 32 alternate Justices December 13.
The appointments expand each chamber of the Supreme Court by
two members, from three to five, except for the
Constitutional Chamber, which goes from five to seven
members. The Assembly also replaced four justices who had
retired and one who was removed by the Assembly. These
changes to the Court follow the passage of the Organic Law of
the Supreme Court in May, which expanded the Court from 20 to
32 justices. Human Rights Watch called the Supreme Court law
a grave threat to the independence of the judiciary at the
time, among other reasons because the expansion of the court
would allow the GOV to stack the Court with partisan
justices.


3. (C) National Assembly Deputy Leopoldo Martinez
(Construyendo Pais) said the appointments also increase the
potential for corruption. He told A/DCM December 14 that the
practice is for the justices alternates to set up offices,
staffed with several lawyers, which then "advise" interested
parties on matters that they have, or may wish to bring,
before the court. The alternates receive no direct salaries,
only stipends when they actually sit in for the justices, so
they obtain income from their offices. The justices
themselves receive a monthly salary of 18 million bolivares
(approx.$9,300) and are paid 15 months per year.

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4th Time's the Charm
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4. (U) The Supreme Court law requires that the Assembly
make three attempts to obtain the two-thirds majority to
appoint justices called for in the constitution. If the
Assembly is unable to arrive at a consensus, however, the law
allows the Assembly to appoint the justices with a simple
majority on the fourth vote. The Assembly met three times
beginning the week of December 6, including special sessions
on idle days and days assigned to committee work, to elect
the justices. The pro-Chavez Assembly leadership staged no
votes during these sessions, nor did it reveal the name of
the proposed justices. They instead canceled the sessions on
confirming that they did not have the required two-thirds
majority. The opposition boycotted the culminating December
13 session as a consequence.


5. (U) The simple majority requirement meant that the
pro-GOV parties in the Assembly could appoint justices with
their 86 Deputies alone. They used the opposition boycott,
however, to bring in the pro-GOV alternates of some
opposition Deputies to bolster the vote. (Note: Some
opposition Deputies have pro-Chavez alternates, because they
were originally elected on a pro-Chavez ticket.) This led the
final vote on the judicial appointments to be 100 to 101
votes (depending on the candidate) in favor.

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Famous Faces
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6. (U) Among those appointed to the Court were former


Electoral Council president Francisco Carrasquero, pro-Chavez
Deputies Luis Franceschi and Luis Velasquez Alvaray, and the
chief military prosecutor, Eladio Aponte. Deputy Juan Carlos
Caldera (Convergencia) told reporters December 13 that
Carrasquero and Velasquez Alvaray were being "rewarded" by
the GOV for services rendered. Former Supreme Court Justice
Carlos Escarra, nominated for one of the positions, claimed
that many of the candidates had "excellent credentials",
including Carrasquero. Rafael Simon Jimenez (Vamos),claimed
that, "many of these persons do not have the qualifications
to occupy a seat on the Supreme Court."

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Comment
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7. (C) The National Assembly has given Chavez a tailor-made
Supreme Court. It did so with new-found characteristic
efficiency, using questionable parliamentary tactics and
absent an opposition to, at a minimum, make the process more
difficult. These appointments guarantee Chavez complete
control of the Supreme Court. The most significant change is
in the Penal Chamber, which until now has shown occasional
flashes of independence.
Brownfield


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2004CARACA03846 - CONFIDENTIAL