Time for a TSJ with serious people

While some politicians blabber and try to do their thing, the Venezuelan game board keeps moving. We seem to be heading toward an eventful end of the year, which will likely include key appointments meant to yield a decent representation with binding influence—finally, for the first time in decades—across two of the country’s major institutions. So let’s rewind a bit: on August 12, the working group in La Carlota (set up by the State Department and led by Jorge Rodríguez and Dinorah Figuera) agreed to start an overhaul of the entire judicial branch, not just the Electoral Chamber that oversees the performance of the CNE (the famous one that rubber-stamped Maduro’s fraud of the century in 2024).

If you want to revamp the Venezuelan institutions that chavismo started monopolizing in 1999, the Tribunal Supremo de Justicia is a good place to start, at least on paper. It acts as a watchdog over other institutions, ratifying or overturning decisions made by lower courts and perhaps even the National Assembly, as well as checking the many laws meant to muzzle civil society and keep non-governmental organizations under financial surveillance. Last week, Figuera reiterated that the opposition delegation is looking to repeal the Law Against Hate, the anti-NGO law, and others. For instance, there’s an asset-forfeiture law (Ley de Extinción de Dominio) chavismo has used as an instrument to seize the assets (including the family homes) of its opponents while accusing them of criminal activities. That law is likely to feature in discussions soon. The regime targeted members of the 2015 National Assembly using it.

This new platform called TSJ Ciudadano allows you to pitch professional lawyers and experts who you believe will do a solid job, as long as they have the necessary credentials. If appointed at the end of 2026, these justices will serve for the next 12 years. Some familiar names already appear in the mix. Someone has proposed Alfredo Romero, director of the political prisoner defense NGO Foro Penal; Jesús María Casal, who oversaw the primary election where María Corina Machado became opposition leader; and Claudia Nikken and Juan Manuel Raffalli, prominent lawyers who have been part of opposition delegations during negotiations with the Maduro regime.

Aside from the Electoral Chamber and its relevance in a purported transition to democracy, the Constitutional Chamber is the crown jewel of the Supreme Court and will be key in deciding on the legality of several decisions and reforms enacted during chavismo’s lengthy (and predominantly anti-constitutional) rule. However, as we enter an era of changes for the oil industry and other strategic sectors, keep your eyes on the Political-Administrative Chamber, too. This one is supposed to review contracts for private companies in the public sector (such as the ones PDVSA is starting to sign with small- and medium-sized oil companies) and public bidding for major infrastructure projects, including those needed to recover the national power grid.