Extradition from Venezuela to the United States—Denied

A Dominican man who was being held in Venezuela for extradition to the United States has had his extradition declared “null and void, for lack of assurances of a conviction under 30 years.”^[1] Mateo Juan Holguín Ovalle was detained “during an anti-drug operation in western Barinas state,” in November 2003, and in 2004, his extradition to the United States was authorized.^[2] However, the court added a proviso: it was authorized only if the United States could provide assurances that Mr. Ovalle would receive no more than 30 years in prison.^[3] Because “US government authorities have consistently said that they cannot provide assurances as to the number of years in the sentence to be imposed on the defendant in case of conviction, [the court resolved to] safeguard the defendant's constitutional rights and stop the extradition procedure."^[4]

There is nothing in the bilateral extradition treaty between the US and Venezuela that forbids Venezuela from extraditing an individual on a lack of assurances, and there is nothing that explicitly allows it either. However, like most Latin-American countries, Venezuela does not impose life sentences, and it is apparent that its Constitution forbids the extradition of an individual if he will be sentenced to a longer prison sentence than would be allowed in Venezuela. The US, on the other hand, has no problem extraditing individuals to other countries where that individual faces a harsher sentence than he would receive in the US.^[5]

This decision comes at an extremely tense time for US-Venezuelan diplomatic ties. Venezuela is agitating for the extradition of Jose Luis Posada Carriles, whose deportation from the United States ended in some confusion; he will not be able to stay in the United States, but he will not be sent to either Cuba or Venezuela because of fears that he would be tortured. Not being deterred by that decision, Venezuela then requested Mr. Posada’s extradition, saying that “it makes no sense to continue holding a man accused of terrorism, [calling Mr. Posada the ‘Osama bin Laden of Latin America,’] on immigration charges.”^[6] US President George W. Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez often exchange verbal barbs with Mr. Bush calling Mr. Chavez a “demagogue” and Mr. Chavez calling Mr. Bush a “donkey” and a “drunkard.”^[7]

The US seemingly has no plans to extradite Mr. Posada. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials have announced that they are seeking a suitable country to which Mr. Posada can be sent, hoping to receive assurances that that country will not then extradite Mr. Posada to Venezuela.^[8]

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[1] Supreme Court Releases Dominican; Nullifies Extradition, El Universal, Mar. 27, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] See, e.g., our post on Suwit Prasoprat.
[6] Fabiola Sanchez, Venezuela Hopes U.S. Will Decide on Request by End of April, Associated Press (via kvia.com), Mar. 20, 2006.
[7] Id.
[8] Curt Anderson, U.S. to Keep Cuban Militant in Custody for Now, Associated Press (via kvia.com), Mar. 23, 2006.