As of March 2023, Transparencia Venezuela has registered at least 220 cases of embezzlement of Venezuelan public funds announced by organs of the justice system, but the amount of money involved is known in only 61% of the cases
During the first quarter of 2023, The Venezuelan Government and the Public Ministry have launched a “crusade” against corruption, which has reached high-level officials close to the ruling party, in what has been interpreted by some sectors as an internal purge given the lack of transparency in the process and the scant information on the charges and amounts involved in each of the cases.
Meanwhile, the investigations initiated by Transparencia Venezuela in 2018 to identify the mechanisms of and responsibilities for Grand Corruption in Venezuela have allowed the detection of at least 220 cases of embezzlement of Venezuelan public funds announced by organs of the justice system as of March 2023. Until now, the amount of money involved is known in only 61% of the cases, totaling 68,311,087,395.59 US dollars, roughly 7 times the international reserves of Venezuela, estimated at USD 9,532,000,000 US Dollars as of March 2023, according to figures from the Central Bank of Venezuela.
The listing and systematization of all these cases allow a better estimation of the transnational nature of corruption in Venezuela during the last 20 years. According to what has been identified so far, at least 146 of these cases are being processed in the justice systems of 26 different countries, while 74 are being investigated in Venezuela.
Regarding the cases under investigation in Venezuela, no official information on the status of the inquiry or the amount of money compromised is available and, in most cases, the indicted are individuals who oppose the government or have been in its ranks but are now treated as traitors, or people who have collaborated with the justice system of third countries.
In this context, international reports have evidenced the connection and impact of corruption on the guarantee of Human Rights in sectors such as healthcare, nutrition, education, and public services, as well as on development opportunities, poverty and inequality reduction.
The report Gran corrupción, impunidad y derechos humanos (Grand corruption, impunity and human rights) describes how the victims of corruption in Venezuela number tens of thousands of people who suffer serious deprivations as a result of more than two decades of misappropriation of resources that should have been destined to dignify their lives, and how corruption has fueled the largest migration in the region and one of the largest in the world. The investigation further addresses the role of the justice system at the service of impunity in massive corruption schemes and its contribution to the violation of rights in Venezuela.
Find the full report in Spanish HERE.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
