(CNN Spanish) - The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) decreed on Tuesday a precautionary measure of constitutional protection that suspends the national leadership of the opposition party Voluntad Popular, and appointed an ad hoc board of directors led by José Gregorio Noriega, Vice President of the National Assembly chaired by Luis Parra, whom the ruling party and some dissident opponents recognize in that position.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Voluntad Popular rejected the decision. “The most corrupt and violent dictatorship that has ever been seen in the entire history of Venezuela, acting like the criminals and thieves that they are, has tried to steal the symbols of our party, and to impose as false authorities ex-militants expelled for corruption in their desire to move towards a totalitarian regime, ”says the statement. They described the decision as "something recurrent from the dictatorship" that it has done "systematically, through various electoral frauds and constant political persecution against those who think differently, and today it has taken another step in that direction."
Voluntad Popular is the political organization led by Leopoldo López and to which Juan Guaidó belonged before resigning his membership in January to dedicate himself to the "interim presidency".
According to the TSJ statement, this directive "may use the electoral card, the logo, symbols, emblems, colors and any other concept typical of Popular Will, in addition, the acts of expulsion or partisan exclusion are provisionally suspended." The ruling gave rise to a request for constitutional protection from Noriega and Lucila Ángela Pacheco Bravo, both expelled from Voluntad Popular. In her January appeal, Noriega alleged that the party lacks a democratization process to elect its authorities.
In a series of tweets, Leopoldo López rejected the decision. "The dictatorship has always wanted to steal the Popular Will. He has tried to do it through electoral fraud, political persecution, unjust prisons and now he is trying to do it through traitors to the Venezuelan people supported by criminals in robes, ”he wrote. In this sense, the Guaidó communication center also expressed itself on Twitter: “By means of an irritating decision, they intend to seize the card, logos and symbols of the political organization to give it to two expelled for corruption and simulate false opposition for their next electoral trap. "
Noriega is one of 11 sanctioned by the European Union at the end of June for his role in "acts and decisions that undermined democracy and law enforcement" in the South American country. In January, he was also sanctioned by the United States for "blocking the democratic process in Venezuela."
In June the TSJ had already suspended the directives of two other important opposition political parties, Primero Justicia and Acción Democrática.
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