Former Venezuelan Supreme Court judge, 'forced to sign Machado's ban'

The former judge of the Supreme Court of Venezuela, Bárbara César Siero, denounced that she was forced by the government of Nicolás Maduro to sign the sentence of proscription of the opposition leader María Corina Machado.

He did so through a long video published on social media in which he stated that, on 15 December 2023, Machado had presented a request to the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) to request the review of the ban from public offices and that "in conjunction with this event, that same day, my two brothers and my sister-in-law were arbitrarily arrested by agents of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim)".

"My three family members were used to force me to ratify Machado's proscription" added César Siero, thus claiming that "I was then forced to resign from my position on the Supreme Court".

The judge's family members were then convicted in 2024 for their alleged participation in a plot to kill Maduro, the same one for which the activist Rocío San Miguel was also sentenced.

San Miguel was acquitted last week, while the judge's family members (all members of the Armed Forces) were convicted of conspiracy.

The former magistrate now states that she fears for her life and that, from now on, she considers the Venezuelan state "responsible for any attack, threat, persecution, reprisal or damage to the integrity of me or other members of my family".