Government denies extradition of Venezuelan Carrillo Delgado due to political persecution

The national Government denied the extradition of Venezuelan citizen Gabriel José Carrillo Delgado, requested by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for the crime of intentional homicide, following the unfavorable opinion of the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. The decision was recorded in Executive Resolution number 438 of 2026, signed on September 28, 2026, and published in the Official Gazette number 53,642 on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.

The resolution was issued by the President of the Republic, Abelardo de la Espriella, and endorsed by the Minister of Justice and Law, Iván Alfonso Cancino González, based on article 491 of Law 906 of 2004. The Government acted after the Criminal Cassation Chamber issued an unfavorable opinion on September 2, 2026, a binding pronouncement pursuant to article 501 of the same law. The Court based its decision on article 35 of the Political Constitution and article IV of the Bolivarian Agreement, the extradition treaty signed in Caracas on July 18, 1911, which remains in force between both countries as certified by the Directorate of International Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Case Chronology

• On September 16, 2025, Carrillo Delgado was detained by the Criminal Investigation and Interpol Directorate of the National Police, based on an Interpol red notice.
• On September 23, 2025, the Attorney General of the Nation decreed his arrest for extradition purposes.
• On November 27, 2025, the Embassy of Venezuela formalized the request through Verbal Note M/EC/number 01151/2025.
• On December 12, 2025, the Ministry of Justice and Law forwarded the case file to the Criminal Cassation Chamber.
• On September 2, 2026, the Supreme Court of Justice issued an unfavorable opinion regarding the surrender.

The requested party, identified with Venezuelan identity card number V-21.075.171, is claimed by the Twelfth (12th) Criminal Court of First Instance Acting as Control Court of the Criminal Judicial District of Zulia State, under the arrest warrant issued on April 1, 2017.

Proven Political Persecution

The Chamber concluded that the request does not stem exclusively from the legitimate exercise of criminal action, but is linked to a context of political persecution derived from the requested party’s activism as a member of the Voluntad Popular party since June 10, 2014. The certification of this membership, Police Investigation Report SIP number 032-16 of February 12, 2016, and the context of political confrontation documented by national and international organizations were assessed in an integrated manner.

According to the case file, the record certifies that the authorities of the requesting State detained him during the People’s Liberation Operation, as he was considered a strategic target of interest due to his militancy and to verify his status in military intelligence monitoring profiles. The sworn statement of Kenny José Barrios Troconiz provided the link between the political surveillance of 2016 and the homicide charge of 2017.

The Court also cited the findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (A/HRC/45/33), according to which the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Corps was the security force most involved in the examined cases, with 45.4% between 2014 and 2018. For the Chamber, the second hypothesis of Article IV of the Bolivarian Agreement is established: an ordinary crime is used to cover up judicial harassment of a political nature.

Scope of the decision

• Article 1: deny the extradition of Gabriel José Carrillo Delgado.
• Article 2: personally notify the interested party, with a motion for reconsideration within the following ten (10) days.
• Article 3: send a copy to the Directorate of International Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Attorney General of the Nation.
• Article 4: the resolution takes effect from the date of its execution.

The Court specified that its ruling does not resolve the request for recognition of refugee status currently pending before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nor the SC-2 safe-conduct derived from it, and that the Government retains full autonomy to decide on that process.

The case sets a precedent regarding the limits of judicial cooperation with Venezuela: the Court warned that the prohibition of extradition for political or related crimes also prevents any measure, such as expulsion, that leads to the same result. The decision reinforces the doctrine according to which the concept of the Criminal Cassation Chamber operates as an effective guarantee against requests based on the persecution of political activism.

Source: Official Gazette, number 53,642 of September 29, 2026, section I (Executive Resolutions), pp. 14-15 (official reference: Executive Resolution number 438 of 2026).