TalCual: The Venezuelan Supreme Court Blew it

TalCual: The Venezuelan Supreme Court Blew It!

The Supreme Court's actions may increase the already painful numbers this crisis is costing us: besides making the already awful economic data look more abhorrent each day, the Court's decisions will likely encourage more protests and repression and therefore, the toll of victims will rise. The TSJ blew it, no doubt about it. 

By TalCual

CARACAS -- As has already been expressed by a lot of people who know Constitutional Law, the Supreme Court (TSJ) blew it regarding its decision curtailing the right to protest peacefully. We would also like to lay stress on how brutally inappropriate it was to give Hermann Escarrá the last word regarding this matter, especially in times of delicate peace talks when things needed to cool off in Venezuela.

We already know how and what the Supreme Court (TSJ) blew -- just remember that famous expression of the late Hugo Chávez when the same court ruled that the April 11, 2002 coup d'état was no such thing but a power vacuum, because of that mysterious resignation of the president that never took place in the end.

What we cannot stop saying is that the TSJ -- in cutthroat competition for the position -- has proved to be the most submissive of all public powers to the orders coming from the Miraflores presidential palace – the Ombudsman's Office doesn't count because it is body of questionable existence. The Court even went so far with Justice Luisa Estella Morales, assisted by constitutionalist lawyer Carlos Escarrá, "theorizing" that Montesquieu and his separation of powers were a "bourgeois waste," while speaking about a new endogenous conception of justice.

Many of the exploits of these two could be listed here, but it would be impossible in only a few characters. Let's just evoke them publically chanting their slogans in unison -- "Ooh, aah, Chavez no se va! (Ooh, aah, Chavez doesn't leave!) -- to show their passionate devotion to the Government in the meantime.

Or recall the heroes of their own such as former TSJ Justices Luis Velásquez Alvaray or the ineffable Eladio Aponte Aponte (who, seeking asylum in the US, has admitted judging cases as directed by Chavez the regime or for taking bribes and drug money to decide cases in the absence of official direction), among others. And lastly, the Court's latest affronts where they do or endorsing quick trials without having the slightest respect for due process, in which a parliamentarian and two mayors from the opposition coalition have been unfairly removed from office.

As has already been expressed by a lot of people who know of case law on the violation of the Constitution as to curtailing the citizens' right to protest peacefully along with, by the way, the distortion of the nature and functions of municipal police forces, we won't insist on this issue; instead, we recommend in this regard the comprehensive analysis made by Provea, or the Venezuelan Program of Education and Action on Human Rights.

But what we are going to lay stress on is how wrong it was to have given Escarrá the last word regarding this matter in times of delicate peace talks when things need to cool off in Venezuela, to the extent that the brave students protesting out in the streets were asked to become part of the negotiating table. And they were asked nicely, not by the repressive ways used by the Government over the past few months.

It must be stressed that being called a "murderer of students" is not very flattering for any government; what is more, this sounds like its own funeral if one takes a small look back at the history of our country. And what the TSJ just ruled does nothing but challenge and encourage protesters to remain in the streets.

Some of the backers of this ruling are, for instance, Jorge Rodríguez, a mayor who considers the Libertador municipality of Caracas his own private property, where only followers of chavismo are allowed in.

Last Friday, by the way, a small peaceful demonstration of bioanalysts, professionals that just wanted to be heard on the almost total lack of inputs for their work and what might entail serious consequences for the health and lives of thirty million Venezuelans, curiously coincided with the launch of this new legislation in that municipality. And it's worth mentioning that kind of petition is more than justified.

Lastly, there are even some reasons to believe the TSJ may pull the plug on the ongoing peace talks. And that way increase those already painful numbers this crisis is costing us: besides making the already awful economic data look more abhorrent each day, it will likely encourage more protests and repression and therefore, the toll of victims will rise. The TSJ blew it, no doubt about it.