Transparency Venezuela questions candidates for Supreme Court of Justice

Transparencia Venezuela has voiced significant concerns regarding the profiles of candidates vying for positions on the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ). The organization reviewed a list of 561 nominees, questioning several individuals whose backgrounds and affiliations raise red flags amid the ongoing judicial renewal process.

Among the nominees highlighted by the NGO is Juan José Mendoza, a former magistrate of the Constitutional Chamber from 2010 to 2022, who is reportedly closely linked to President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Transparencia Venezuela also alerted the public to the nomination of Marjorie Calderón, known for being part of the "express magistrates" appointed by the pro-government National Assembly in 2014, just before the opposition secured a parliamentary majority.

The organization further pointed to lawyer Luis Ortiz Hernández, who claimed in 2016 to have been forced into early retirement to facilitate new appointments to the TSJ. Additionally, Transparencia Venezuela noted the inclusion of officials from other branches of government, such as Aime Nogal Méndez, a rector at the National Electoral Council (CNE) who endorsed the 2024 presidential election results despite alleged irregularities.

Profiles with military backgrounds, including Major General Jesús Emilio Vásquez Quintero, head of the Military Court from 2021 to 2024, and Captain Ramón Clemente Pires, who handled the case of former Defense Minister Raúl Isaías Baduel, are also among the aspirants. The NGO also cited former judges and prosecutors facing international sanctions or removed under controversial circumstances, such as Katherine Harrington, Zinnia Briceño Monasterios, Gilberto Landaeta, and Dinorah Bustamante. The inclusion of two relatives of legislator Pedro Carreño, his brother Julio Ramón Carreño Escobar and niece Carolina García Carreño, was also noted.

Transparencia Venezuela maintains that any restructuring of the TSJ should be conducted by a newly elected National Assembly resulting from free, transparent, and fair elections.