<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ)  Constitutional Chamber has upheld an Appeal Court decision to life an arrest warrant against 7 former Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) executives & managers but it also rules that the Attorney General's Office could continue on the case, provided it stuck to the law. 

The Appeal Court threw out the arrest warrants because it reached the conclusion that the Attorney General's Office did not charge the men ... there was an evident subversion of the legal order originating from the Attorney General's Office." 

TSJ president, Ivan Rincon says the Attorney General violated due process and has to start all over again, adding that the Appeal Court does not have the faculty to apply the wordy control of the Constitution.  

• However, the case can begin again only if the Attorney General considers there are sufficient elements to charge the seven. 

Former PDVSA leader Juan Fernandez says he's pleased with the result and will abide by the law.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, May 29, 2003 By: David Coleman

Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) Constitutional Chamber has just ruled that complaints filed against President Hugo Chavez Frias alleging corruption with funds from the Monetary Stabilization Fund (FIEM) and Concertina (illegal Presidential campaign funding from Spain's Banco Bilbao Viscaya) should be set aside as unsubstantiated.

According to Chief Justice Ivan Rincon, the ruling by 20 top judges was 19 in favor of acquittal and 1 vote reserved.

Complaints against the President had been raised by National Assembly (AN) deputies Elias Matta, Enrique Marquez and Alejandro Armas who had accused the Head of State of malfeasance of financial resources properly belonging to FIEM.  The TSJ Court of Substantiation had earlier said there was no case to answer, whereupon an appeal was launched to the Constitutional Chamber in plenary session.  A similar ruling was handed down in the complaint raised by Constitutional lawyer Tulio Alvarez that the President had received undeclared Presidential election campaign funds from Spain's Banco Bilbao Viscaya.

At the same sitting of the nation's top-20 judges, Magistrate Alejandro Angulo Fontiveros was authorized to proceed in the trial of National Guard (GN) Brigadier General Carlos Alfonzo Martinez after the TSJ found sufficient cause to try him for exciting to rebellion, disobeying special security regulations and for having abandoned his command.  Authorization was given on the basis of a 12-8 vote to proceed under Article 373 of the Organic Penal Process Code.  Magistrate Angulo Fontiveros has been given 10-15 days to bring the case to oral hearing.  The Prosecutor General's Office must bring specific charges against Alfonzo Martinez within the next five days.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, May 29, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

According to newspapers reports, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) Constitutional Chamber has been discussing the composition of the new National Electoral College (CNE) in view of the fact that debate in the National Assembly (AN) has peaked to stalemate. 

• The magistrate charged with drawing up a presentation paper, Jesus Eduardo Cabrera says he hopes to have everything prepared within a week. 

Sources indicate that 2 magistrates initially disagreed with the proposal that the TSJ should appoint the CNE board ... one contending the AN should do it and the other suggesting giving the deputies a 10-day deadline but in the end they voted to open a debate in the Chamber. 

National Electoral College (CNE)

It seems that Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR)  deputy, Omar Mezza is behind the proposal to leave the matter to the TSJ since the House has reached deadlock on how to select the fifth and decisive member. The opposition does not support the initiative because it maintains that the government bench has more TSJ magistrates in its favor than the opposition and therefore, the fifth CNE board member will be a government favorite. 

Political observers are divided on the issue with a majority favoring a parliamentary compromise. Neither side is budging on the issue and MVR has taken advantage of its parliamentary majority as the opposition would do, if it was in power.

Caracas, May 19 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's Supreme Court overturned a government decision to charge value-added tax on private medical costs, which may widen the budget deficit as federal revenue declines.

The Supreme Court ordered an injunction on collection of the tax on private surgical, dental and hospital expenditures, saying it violated individual rights. The 8 percent tax went into effect Jan. 1 as part of a government plan to increase revenue.

``This constitutes a real threat to (an individual's) right to health,'' Supreme Court Chief Justice Ivan Rincon said, announcing the decision.

The injunction is a setback to government efforts to narrow the deficit, which some analysts estimate will be as high as 5 percent of gross domestic product this year amid an 18 monthlong recession. The Venezuelan economy may contract 17 percent this year after a strike choked off oil exports, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Venezuela has already reduced its estimates on non-oil tax revenue by about 900 billion bolivars for the year ($563 million) to 13.4 trillion bolivars. Last Updated: May 19, 2003 16:07 EDT

14 May 2003 22:13:51 GMT (Adds general's comments, background)

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 14 (Reuters) - Venezuela's Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the trial of a dissident general charged with rebellion for taking part in a protest against President Hugo Chavez, his attorney said.

National Guard Gen. Carlos Alfonzo would be the first dissident officer to go on trial following the April 2002 coup that toppled left-winger Chavez for 48 hours and triggered months of political turmoil over his rule.

"It's a political decision bent on sending an innocent man to a prearranged trial," his lawyer Alberto Arteaga said.

Alfonzo, who was sacked as Inspector General of the National Guard for his alleged role in the coup in the world's No. 5 oil exporter, told reporters he did not accept the Supreme Court ruling and would appeal.

"I am innocent of the charges they are trying to pin on me," he told reporters.

The court ruled the attorney general had presented enough evidence for Alfonzo to be tried for rebellion and incitement for participating in an anti-Chavez protest in December 2002.

The general has been under house arrest since security police detained him at the Caracas rally.

Alfonzo had also joined scores of other officers who camped out for months in a Caracas plaza after launching a civil disobedience campaign against the president in October.

"I don't believe in the revolutionary project President Chavez is trying to implant," Alfonzo said Wednesday.

Since last year's coup, former paratrooper Chavez has purged from their posts more than 150 senior officers, including Alfonzo, who were allegedly involved in the short-lived uprising against him.

Chavez's opponents accuse him of trying to introduce Cuba-style communism in Venezuela.

"I am a democratically-minded officer. I am not, have never been, nor ever will be, a coup monger," Alfonzo said.

Last year, radical Chavez supporters rioted in Caracas when four other senior officers were allowed to walk free after the court ruled they could not be tried for rebellion for their alleged leadership of the April coup.

In April six lower-ranking dissident military officers asked for asylum in Peru, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic, saying they feared persecution and death threats.

Chavez, who led a failed uprising himself six years before his 1998 election, has threatened to jail foes who organized a general strike in December and January meant to pressure him out of office. No trial date has been set for Alfonzo. (Additional reporting by Silene Ramirez)