Department of Justice Invokes Immunity to Protect Venezuelan Leader
The Department of Justice has asked a federal judge in Miami to drop Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez from a $314 million torture judgment, arguing in a July 20 suggestion of immunity that she is entitled to head-of-state immunity while in office.
The seven-page filing, signed by Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, tells U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles that the United States has an interest in the case because Rodriguez, as Venezuela’s sitting head of state, enjoys immunity from the court’s jurisdiction while she holds office, according to El Espectador, which reviewed the document.
The submission followed a June 11 letter from then-State Department legal adviser Reed D. Rubinstein recommending immunity on foreign-policy grounds.
On July 14, Gayles entered $314 million in default judgments against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Colombian businessman Alex Saab, five other former Venezuelan officials, and the Cartel de los Soles under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, but declined to rule on the claims against Rodriguez.
His order stated that nothing in it adjudicates or decides the plaintiffs’ claims as to Delcy Eloina Rodriguez Gomez.
The judge’s 19-page opinion described the detentions as part of a criminal enterprise, The Associated Press reported.
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