In a historic decision with international implications, this Monday (23), the Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires ordered the “immediate arrest” of the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, and Diosdado Cabello, the second strongman of Chavismo, so that they can be interrogated as part of a process “for serious human rights violations”. It was also requested that Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) be notified of the decision, to ask that all member countries issue red alerts against President Maduro.
The decision was taken unanimously by the Federal Chamber of Buenos Aires, after hearing testimonies from victims.
Under the principle of “universal jurisdiction”, in which the nature of the crime prevails over the jurisdiction in which it was committed, the Chamber ruled that the evidence collected reveals several actions carried out by the Venezuelan State, since at least 2014, which make up a “systematic plan” of repression, forced disappearance of people, torture, homicides and persecution against a portion of the civilian population.
The resolution also covers more than 30 Venezuelan military personnel and high-ranking officials, including members of the Armed Forces, Security Forces, the Bolivarian National Guard and intelligence agents serving the regime.
“The arrest warrants, for extradition purposes, will serve so that all nations that, for ideological or economic reasons, still maintain ambivalent positions on what is happening in Venezuela, can no longer ignore the serious crimes against humanity that the government led by Nicolás Maduro is committing systematic actions to generate terror among the civilian population and thus perpetuate itself in power”, said lawyer Tomás Farini Duggan, legal representative of the Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy (FADD), to Clarín in Spanish.
“This is an achievement for the victims, who with great courage gave their testimonies and persisted in the search for the justice that was denied to them in Venezuela, so that once and for all the perpetrators pay for the crimes committed”, said Elisa Trotta, Secretary General of FADD, for whom the Argentine justice decision also sends a strong message to the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court. “It is time to act and take appropriate measures to end impunity for crimes against humanity in Venezuela,” he added.
The Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice, in turn, requested the arrest of Argentine President Javier Milei, his sister and general secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei, and the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich.
The Chavista court accepted the request of the Venezuelan Public Prosecutor’s Office, chaired by Attorney General Tarek William Saab, who last week announced the beginning of the process, which includes charges such as aggravated robbery, money laundering, illegal deprivation of liberty and illegal interference with security civil aviation operations, among others.
The decision by the Chavista judicial system is due to the seizure, by the United States, of a Venezuelan-Iranian plane that was in Argentina.
In June 2022, the plane of the Venezuelan airline Emtrasur Cargo, with 19 Venezuelan and Iranian crew members, was prevented from leaving Argentina due to suspected links between its crew and terrorism. The United States Department of Justice suspected that the aircraft was being used for covert operations in the region.
Prosecutor Saab announced last Wednesday (18) that Milei “has become a brutal danger for the entire hemisphere” and raised the possibility of accusing the Argentine president of alleged crimes against humanity for, according to him, “attacks” on retirees and young people during recent demonstrations against the Argentine government in Buenos Aires.
Numerous testimonies were included in the process, but so far only those authorized by the victims have been released.
At the time, Argentina’s former Ministry of Justice and Human Rights provided information on 29 cases of crimes against humanity committed by the Venezuelan government.