Spain’s time has come to decide which side of the street it stands on regarding the crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela. After three years of hard work, a transcendental breakthrough has occurred in one of the universal jurisdiction cases in Argentina, in which Rosa Orozco is one of the driving victims behind this process for truth and justice. The case involves her daughter, Geraldin Moreno Orozco, a 23-year-old student and athlete who was murdered by agents of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) in February 2014 in Carabobo State. This took place during the first widespread crackdown on protests by the Maduro regime—now led by Delcy Rodríguez—which left 43 dead, at least 854 injured, and more than 3,100 arbitrarily detained.
The context of 2014 laid the operational and logistical foundations for the repression that subsequently intensified in 2017, 2019, and 2024. In addition to the organization of the repressive apparatus, the failure to punish mid- and high-level commanders served as an incentive of impunity for the repetition of crimes against humanity. Today, the criminal justice system in Venezuela is completely instrumentalized as a weapon of political repression, which nullifies any expectation of domestic justice and keeps social wounds wide open.
The lawsuit filed in Buenos Aires was submitted in June 2023 by the organization InterJust against 14 GNB officers. The case has broken world records, as the Argentine justice system decided to address the matter within days and adopted a series of measures to expedite the process. In February 2026, the Argentine judge issued an extradition order after receiving information that placed former GNB Colonel Ephraín Enrique Verdú Torrelles—one of the alleged perpetrators—in Spanish territory. In March 2026, Spain’s Council of Ministers approved the continuation of the proceeding, thereby implicitly recognizing the seriousness of the judicial claim. The case is currently under evaluation by the Investigating Court of the Central Court of First Instance No. 2 of the National Audience (Audiencia Nacional).
Various organizations, such as Justice, Encounter, and Forgiveness (Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón – JEP-VZLA), which leads the case from Venezuela, as well as Amnesty International and AlertaVenezuela, back the demand for the immediate approval of the extradition. Geraldin Moreno’s case portrays a consolidated pattern of violations in Venezuela: prosecuting low-ranking National Guard members to simulate justice, while ultimately protecting the chain of command. Therefore, this advancement represents a paradigmatic break in the architecture of impunity built by the Venezuelan state structure for over a decade under Madurismo, which now seeks shelter under the Rodrigato—the de facto government of the Rodríguez siblings.
Perpetrators, especially mid- and high-ranking officials involved in serious human rights violations, must know that no border will protect them. When crimes against humanity occur, they involve abhorrent acts that shock the international community as a whole; for this reason, they are prosecutable at any time and in any place. Given the deliberate lack of political will from Venezuelan courts—which act as an appendix to the National Executive—and the prevailing delays and limitations within international criminal justice, the courts of third states, by virtue of the principle of universal jurisdiction, are called upon to close the impunity gaps for relevant officers, such as those who directly executed or supervised operations.
Approving the extradition request is both a legal and ethical imperative. There is no legal obstacle to this end; furthermore, all required conditions are met:
- Dual Criminality: Extrajudicial executions and crimes against humanity are criminalized in both Spain and Argentina.
- No Political Exception: The case of the requested former colonel does not qualify for an exception based on political grounds; rather, it falls within an event of the gravest international severity.
- Guaranteed Due Process: Argentina holds an outstanding track record in universal justice and the prosecution of past atrocious crimes, ensuring due process guarantees under a justice system that enjoys the separation of powers and complies with international human rights treaties.
The National Audience faces a historic opportunity to fight the most serious international crimes once again and prevent Spanish territory from becoming a haven for alleged perpetrators. In a country marked by a history of atrocious crimes and a prominent vanguard trajectory in human rights and the application of universal jurisdiction, the expected response is more than obvious. In the Venezuelan case, those former mid- and high-level commanders of the repressive apparatus are now the ones who, amid apparent anonymity and lifestyle changes, intend to obtain the legal certainty they cruelly denied to their fellow citizens.
Spain holds the baton. The time has come to send a message of support to thousands of Venezuelan victims, organizations, and defenders operating within the country and in exile. The defense of human rights cannot be limited to diplomatic or public rhetoric; it requires concrete acts of judicial cooperation and political measures driven by States in accordance with the law. What is at stake is the possibility of establishing a precedent of justice with deterrent capacity for repressors in Venezuela and the entire world. From AlertaVenezuela, we support this request and will continue to follow the development of this cause.