SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: "THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 000363

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2017
TAGS: PHUM KJUS VE
SUBJECT: SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: "THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN
VENEZUELA"

REF: A. CARACAS 243

B. 05 CARACAS 03350

C. CARACAS 147

D. 05 CARACAS 00813

E. 02 CARACAS 02558

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Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT DOWNES FOR 1.4 (D)

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Summary
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1. (C) Perhaps the sole remaining opposition-leaning Supreme
Court Justice Blanca Rosa Marmol bluntly told Poloff during a
February 13 meeting that justice no longer existed in
Venezuela, as the BRV had fired, intimidated, or co-opted
once independent judges, and packed the judiciary with
sympathetic, and often unqualified, magistrates. Marmol also
recounted instances of interference in political cases, and
indicated things would only worsen under Luisa Estella
Morales, Chavez' hand-picked Chief Justice. Marmol urged the
USG to lobby the region to pressure Chavez to respect
judicial autonomy. She presents an accurate description of
Chavez' systematic and successful destruction of judicial
independence within Venezuela. End Summary.

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Who is Blanca Rosa Marmol?
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2. (U) Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) Justice Blanca Rosa
Marmol discussed the recent election of Chief Justice Luisa
Estella Morales (septel) and painted a grim picture of
Venezuelan justice during a February 13 meeting with Poloff.
Marmol has been a judge for 31 years, the last seven of which
have been spent on the high court. Marmol, a member of the
TSJ Penal Chamber, is perhaps the sole remaining

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opposition-leaning justices on the TSJ, although the
Chavistas have tried to remove her twice for ruling in favor
of a Sumate appeal related to the conspiracy case against the
electoral NGO's leaders for accepting money from the National
Endowment for Democracy. She speculated that her survival
thus far is due to her strong record as a public defender,
judge, and law professor. Although she is eligible to
retire, she told Poloff she would stay on the court as long
as possible to fight for justice and the opposition. She
said she is usually treated with respect by her fellow TSJ
magistrates, although the Constitutional Chamber did try to
summon her once to question her Sumate ruling.

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"No Justice"
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3. (C) Marmol frequently stressed that "justice does not
exist in Venezuela." After the 2004 TSJ Law, which expanded
the number of TSJ justices from 20 to 32 and gave the
National Assembly power to remove justices, Marmol said the
mood in the TSJ changed. What was once a collegial
atmosphere became very tense as pro-Chavez justices began
keeping tabs on their fellow justices, looking for the
slightest evidence of less than full loyalty to Chavez.
Marmol learned that a particularly radical Chavista justice
had demanded to review her trash everyday before it was
disposed. (Note: Stories of intense surveillance are not
new. During a June 2006 meeting, then-Penal Chamber
President Eladio Aponte Aponte implied to Poloff that his
office was bugged by BRV authorities.)


4. (C) Marmol also explained that TSJ internal elections
were changed from a secret ballot to a public vote in 2004,
when radical Chavistas were put in as chamber presidents.
This year's election procedures changed again when some
justices demanded that the names of those who abstained from
voting be announced. Marmol said it was clear that Chief
Justice Luisa Estella Morales had been hand-picked by Chavez
when outgoing Chief Justice Omar Mora announced that he was
deferring to Morales, although he claimed to have 23 of the
32 justices' votes (septel). In addition, she noted that
neither the name nor the resume of the candidate to head the
Executive Directorate of the Magistracy (DEM) (the board that
administrates the lower court system) had been circulated
before the vote.

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Gutting the Justice System
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5. (C) Marmol stated that the Chavistas have completely
gutted the court system of any independent judges or
employees. Within the TSJ several hundred personnel,
including justices, legal assistants, and lawyers, were
forced to retire. Marmol thought the TSJ took this route to
avoid the potential scandal of mass firings. In the lower
courts, Marmol said judges have been either fired,
intimidated, or co-opted, and more Chavez-oriented
magistrates were brought in to fill out the ranks. Marmol
told Poloff she has seen letters sent to fired judges that
hint at political motivations for their dismissal. The
extent of the changes became especially evident for Marmol
during Mora's February address (Ref A) when she looked out
and, despite her 31 years in the judicial system, recognized
none of the assembled judges.


6. (C) Not only are judges more politicized, but they also
seem to be less qualified, Marmol said. Although former
Chief Justice Mora celebrated the fact that almost 90% of the
judges are now tenured, Marmol questioned the quality of
their training, saying that many of the newer judges she has
encountered don't appear to have the legal knowledge
necessary for the positions they occupy. (Human Rights Watch
and domestic human rights NGOs Provea and Cofavic have made
similar observations to us.) She also accused many judges,
including those in the TSJ, of often making decisions based
on the financial benefits they can reap, a phenomenon she
alleged was less prevalent in the past.

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What to expect this year
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7. (C) Marmol said the BRV plans to revise the 2004 TSJ Law
to reduce the number of justices from 32 to 21 in order to
reduce power rivalries between the justices. Marmol claimed
that many of the pre-2004 justices feel threatened by their
post-2004 counterparts and want them removed. Other BRV
officials are reportedly upset with the newer group, too,
according to Marmol. Monica Fernandez, a former judge who
maintains contacts in the judicial system, had previously
predicted to Poloff that many of the older judges would
probably go because they had ties to former
Chavez-mentor-turned-nemesis Luis Miquilena. While there are
rumors that Mora might seek retirement, Marmol thought he
might stay on to continue profiting from corruption
opportunities. Ex-Penal Chamber President Aponte Aponte,
appointed after 2004, may be targeted for removal. A
Chavista group has reportedly lobbied for his dismissal for
overturning the convictions of a Bolivar State mayor and a
drug trafficker.

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Marmol Dishes on Political Cases
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8. (C) To further emphasize the degree of politicization in
the courts, Marmol shared some interesting insights into some
political cases that went before the TSJ in 2006, including
those of the political prisoners that Post cited for the 2006
Human Rights Report. For example, she called ex-Yaracuy
Governor Eduardo Lapi a political prisoner of his successor
Governor Carlos Gimenez. Marmol said Gimenez was responsible
for Lapi's prolonged pre-trial detention, although the
evidence and treatment of other officials with pending
corruption cases does not support his continued incarceration
(Ref B). When Lapi's lawyer filed an appeal with the TSJ to
have the defendant tried in liberty and to request a new
trial venue, Marmol revealed that Gimenez was at the TSJ
everyday lobbying the justices to reject both petitions.
Gimenez was ultimately successful in maintaining Lapi's
detention at a medical facility where he is undergoing
treatment for stomach problems, and the trial was eventually
moved to Lara State.


9. (C) Marmol also predicted that the other political
prisoners--former police commissioners Ivan Simonovis, Henry
Vivas, Lazaro Forero, and eight Caracas Metropolitan police
officers--will never be released from prison. The defendants
petitioned the TSJ in late 2006 to reverse the judge's
decision to continue their incarceration in violation of
Venezuelan law calling for defendants to be released from

CARACAS 00000363 003.2 OF 003


incarceration for the duration of the trial (Ref C). They
have been detained for more than two years. Marmol also said
that the eight generals whose acquittal for their role in the
April 2002 coup was overturned in 2005 are now being tried in
a lower level court (Refs D and E). Marmol speculated that
the BRV is pursuing the case at a lower level because it
controls the judges, however, the BRV may also be trying to
avoid negative publicity.

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The World Needs To Know
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10. (C) Marmol urged the USG to publicize the broken state
of justice in Venezuela and to seek to convince other
countries in the region to be more critical. She said the
TSJ has done a good job of selling its "official story" by

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channeling international inquiries to its International
Relations Secretary. This official, who appears to have more
of a public relations role than a protocol function,
frequently attends international conferences. Marmol, a
member of the International Association of Women Jurists, is
only occasionally able to travel and speak with her regional
counterparts, who are usually stunned to hear about what is
going on. She also agreed with the opposition's strategy of
contesting the BRV's legal measures in Venezuelan court as a
springboard for launching appeals in international courts,
such as the Inter-American Human Rights Court, and drawing
more attention to the absence of judicial freedom in
Venezuela.

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Comment
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11. (C) Marmol paints a grim, first-hand view of the
increasingly politicized judicial system and extremely
limited prospects for fair legal resolutions. Marmol's
accounts of intense scrutiny, power plays, and hollowing out
of the judiciary track with Chavez' consistent efforts over
time to destroy the independence and effectiveness of the
other branches of government in this increasingly
authoritarian state.

BROWNFIELD