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(CNN Spanish) - The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) suspended the board of directors of the opposition party Primero Justicia, to which the two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles belongs, and appointed an ad hoc board headed by deputy José Brito, dissident of the organization.
Brito is suspected of having received money in exchange for taking a position at the convenience of the government of the questioned government of Nicolás Maduro.
A journalistic investigation by the Armando.info portal assured that Brito and other deputies had acted to wash the image of businessmen accused of corruption in exchange for money and favors.
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Such complaints are investigated by the National Assembly.
Among those mentioned is the Colombian businessman Alex Saab, arrested on Friday June 12 in Cape Verde accused of money laundering. Saab, through one of his lawyers, denied in May that he had participated in corrupt schemes.
Brito, now the national coordinator of Primero Justicia, denies the accusations against him and considers the decision of the Judiciary as a historic achievement for a political change through the electoral route, from which - he assures - they should never have departed. He stresses that they are an instrument for the rescue and democratization of the party.
The decision of the Constitutional Chamber authorizes the use of the electoral card of the political party in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Henrique Capriles called the highest court "official and useless" and that in his opinion only deals with "the sick ambition for power" of Maduro. He considers that "the party was handed over to rubbish and that, with or without a sentence, First Justice is and will be of its people."
For his part, Julio Borges, until Tuesday the national coordinator of Primero Justicia, warned that "they will not be able to confiscate their struggle." The debate on electoral participation was open in the party, which evaluated the conditions of those elections as well as the transparency and legality with which a new electoral body was appointed. They do not know the current CNE and so far they have not announced the actions that they could promote.
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On Monday night, the country's highest court had taken a similar measure against Acción Democrática (AD), one of the country's oldest parties, founded almost 79 years ago.
In this case, Bernabé Gutiérrez, national secretary of Organization, was appointed president of the ad hoc board.
Gutiérrez considers that the ruling of the TSJ is historic and that it will allow leaving behind "an internal dictatorship that had been imposed", as well as resuming the electoral path. He announced that "the new AD" will participate in the parliamentary elections.
Henry Ramos Allup, until Monday the secretary general of Democratic Action, described the judicial action that put the party in the hands of his right-hand man, Bernabé Gutiérrez, as a maneuver of assault, kidnapping, robbery and robbery. He assured that they will not abide by irritic decisions and that the objective of this decision is to try to give credibility to the "electoral farce they are planning to mount this year". The also deputy warned that he is not willing to participate in the elections and that the current Assembly will be in force under the principle of continuity until clean, fair and transparent elections are held. It is expected that it will shortly offer more details on the actions to follow.
Bernabé Gutiérrez is the brother of José Luis Gutiérrez, one of the five new rectors of the National Electoral Council appointed by the TSJ and not by the National Assembly, as established by the Constitution. To make this decision, the highest court took refuge in the lack of political agreement in Parliament to appoint the shortlist.
The decisions against AD and Primero Justicia, two of the four most voted opposition parties, were made in less than 24 hours in response to constitutional protection appeals requested earlier this year by members of those parties.
This Wednesday the deputy of Un nuevo Tiempo, Chaín Bucarán, filed an appeal before the TSJ requesting the suspension of the current Board of Directors of his party and to be appointed president of that political organization. It also asks to include the deputy Adolfo Superlano, who - along with Brito and other legislators - was pointed out by the National Assembly of having received money and benefits in exchange for political favors for the ruling party. Superlano denies the veracity of such allegations. He believes that in this way a new leadership would be forming that provides solutions in the country. In response, Deputy Nora Bracho rejected the action and warned that Bucarán and those who accompany him represent the interests of Maduro and that their objective is to steal the card and colors from the party, as happened with AD and Primero Justicia.
AD and Primero Justicia, along with 11 other political groups, denounced on Sunday that the appointment of the new list of the National Electoral Council through the TSJ was illegal and unconstitutional. They also warned then of an alleged plan to, "they said," steal their cards and symbols for the use of false opponents. "
Both parties, with the support of other political forces such as Popular Will in the National Assembly, chaired by Juan Guaidó, agree in affirming that these measures seek to create an appearance of legitimacy for Nicolás Maduro, confuse the militancy before the parliamentary elections and make believe the international community that the Venezuelan opposition will participate in these elections.
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To the decisions against these opposition parties, a new action was added this Friday against Voluntad Popular, the political organization led by the opposition Leopoldo López and to which Juan Guaidó belonged before resigning in January from his militancy to dedicate himself to the “presidency interim ”.
The deputies to the National Assembly José Goyo and Lucila Pacheco, who had been expelled from this party, asked the Supreme Court on Friday to be reinstated as militants and also obtain the party's leadership.
"In light of the decisions of the TSJ in regards to the Democratic Action and First Justice parties, which were appointed by the AD-Hoc Boards, we also ask that to lead VP (Popular Will)," Pacheco published on Twitter.
The party downplayed this performance, insisting that it will not affect its political activism.
"They go to the Maduro TSJ, which intends to call us terrorists, to try to steal our symbols by means of a sentence, but they will not be able to obtain the #Political Will of our people," said the organization.
The TSJ is already evaluating an appeal for interpretation that the Public Ministry introduced on Tuesday to determine whether Voluntad Popular can be considered a “criminal organization for terrorist purposes” and therefore proceed to its dissolution.
Since 2012 there have been eight political parties intervened by the TSJ: Podemos, PPT, Red Flag, MIN Unidad, MEP, Copei, AD and Primero Justicia.