The head of the government’s parliamentary fraction in the National Assembly (AN), deputy Diosdado Cabello Rondón, assured that corruption is a crime that “does not prescribe”, therefore, the elements to deal with it “should not prescribe” either.
The parliamentarian’s assertion was made this Thursday at the exit of the ordinary session of the AN, where the project of the Organic Law of Domain Extension was unanimously tested.
“Corruption is a crime that does not prescribe (…) the elements to combat it should not prescribe, so there is no excuse for the one who stole it 20 or 15 years ago,” he replied when asked by journalists about the subject. .
Cabello specified that “this is an issue that has nothing to do with the criminal conviction of people, but with an issue of property, we mean property, the criminal process is separated from the civil one.”
Criminal and civil sanction
The PSUV legislator also reflected on the officials immersed in acts of corruption, who, in his opinion, “were not afraid of sanctions.”
“What happened is that people were not afraid of sanctions, a public official took the money and said: ‘they are going to penalize me for the comptrollershipthey’re going to fire me and that’s where it’s all,’” he recalled..
However, with the entry into force of the Organic Law of Asset Forfeiture, there will be a “criminal sanction”, and in civil matters it will be possible to recover all stolen assets “wherever they are, whoever has them.”
“Rest assured, Mr. Corrupt, Mr. Terrorist, drug trafficker, who has ill-gotten goods, they will pass into the hands of the people of Venezuela,” he sentenced.
Recovered Goods Service
In their statementsDiosdado Cabello reported that the Recovered Goods Service has already been created, an organization that will be in charge of managing all the goods and will have them for priorities: The issue of health, services, security.
“There is an extraordinary amount of assets that have been recovered that are being quantified and systematized,” he reported.
“Last week, more than 10,000 goods had already been transferred to the service of recovered goods (…) I am not talking about 10,000 chairs, nor 10,000 tables. I’m talking about great goods: A house with all its furniture; a building with everything in it; a fleet of vehicles,” he added.
Domain Forfeiture Organic Law
After the approval of the new legal instrument, the psuvista leader highlighted that it will allow the Venezuelan State to “compensate assets that have been subject to corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism, and money laundering. And it will allow the Venezuelan people, the true owner of these goods, to be able to enjoy them”, he highlighted.
“No one can be saying that Venezuela is arbitrary, there are other countries that have put it into practice, we are only taking that guide (…) It is a great step that is taken in this fight against corruption,” he emphasized.
The Organic Law of Asset Forfeiture will first be sent to the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), as it is an organic law. The Judiciary must ratify its organic nature and, subsequently, the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, will promulgate it so that it enters into force immediately.
Special Commission
On the other hand, the president of the National Assembly, deputy Jorge Rodríguez Gómez, announced this Thursday the creation of a Special Mixed Commission, made up of parliamentarians from the Internal Policy, Comptrollership and Economy commissions to review the Venezuelan legal framework on corruption .
In this regard, Deputy Cabello said that said commission will make “the necessary corrections” to make the laws “more energetic.”
“Many say that the penalties for these cases (of corruption) are minimal, that they should be increased (…) well, there will be the review that we will do in that commission,” he said.
