Luisa Marvelia Ortega Díaz (born 11 January 1958) is a Venezuelan lawyer. Between December 2007 and August 2017, she served as the Prosecutor General of

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. A proponent of the

Chavismo ''Chavismo'' (from ), also known in English as Chavism or Chavezism, is a left-wing populist political ideology based on the ideas, programs and government style associated with the Venezuelan President between 1999 and 2013 Hugo Chávez that ...

ideology, Ortega Díaz was fired as Prosecutor General on 5 August 2017 by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice and the Constituent National Assembly (ANC) promoted by

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

, following a breaking with the Maduro government as a result of the

2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis On 29 March 2017, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela), Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela took over legislative powers of the National Assembly (Venezuela), National Assembly. The Tribunal, mainly supporters of President Nic ...

in the context of the

crisis in Venezuela An ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened during the presidency of successor Nicolás Maduro. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation, disease, c ...

. This dismissal was rejected by the opposition-led

National Assembly of Venezuela The National Assembly () is the federal legislature of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was first elected in 2000 under the 1999 constitution. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by a ...

, arguing that only that institution had the power to carry out said removal according to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, and cataloging the Prosecutor as the only legitimate authority of the Public Ministry. As a result, she is called by the National Assembly, the

Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela in exile The Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ) in exile is an institution that some, including the Organization of American States, consider to be the legitimate highest court of law in Venezuela and the head of the judicial branch, as oppos ...

and some media outlets as the Prosecutor General of Venezuela in exile.

Early life and career

Ortega Díaz was born in

Valle de la Pascua Valle de la Pascua is the capital city of the autonomous municipality of Leonardo Infante, Guárico, Venezuela . The city is located in the central plains of Venezuela and was founded on February 25, 1785, by Father Mariano Martí. Along with Z ...

, in

Guárico Guárico State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Juan de Los Morros and the largest city is Calabozo, other important city centers include Valle de la Pascua and Zaraza. Guárico State covers a total surface ...

State, on 11 January 1958. She was educated at the University of Carabobo, in

Carabobo Carabobo State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about two hours by car from Caracas. The state capital city is Valencia, which is also the country's main industrial center. The state's area is and ...

, graduating in law. She then chose to specialize in criminal law and in procedural law and moved to

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

. She studied criminal law at the Universidad Santa María and procedural law at

Andrés Bello Catholic University Andrés Bello Catholic University () is a private university in Venezuela. One of the largest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas (main campus), Los Teques, Guayana Region, Guayana, and Coro region, Cor ...

, both in the capital. Ortega later became a law professor at the Universidad Santa María and still holds the title. She also served as a legal consultant to the state TV channel,

Venezolana de Televisión Corporación Venezolana de Televisión (Spanish for: ''Venezuelan Television Corporation'') or VTV is a state-run television station based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the capital and surrounding areas on channel 8. Programs ...

Prosecutor General

In April 2002, Ortega joined the public prosecution service, in the ''Ministerio Público''. She was Prosecutor General under

when arrest warrants and indictments were issued against opposition leader

Leopoldo López Leopoldo Eduardo López Mendoza (born 29 April 1971) is a Venezuelan opposition leader. López was elected mayor of the Chacao Municipality of Caracas in the 2000 Venezuelan regional elections, regional elections held in July 2000. He is the N ...

. After her dismissal as Prosecutor General, Ortega stated that she was pressured to bring about trumped up charges against López. Ortega denounced the rupture of

democracy in Venezuela Democracy in Venezuela refers to the system of governance that has prevailed in Venezuela since direct election at the presidential level and later in the 1990s at the regional level. Democracy as a system of government in the country has had a hist ...

when the Venezuelan Supreme Court, in a move broadly, both nationally and internationally, considered a power grab, assumed powers constitutionally attributed to the National Assembly. The move was seen as a betrayal by the Maduro government and resulted in subsequent accusations by the Maduro government and the Venezuelan Supreme Court. On 29 June 2017, the Supreme Court barred her from leaving the country and froze her assets, due to alleged "serious misconduct" in office. She was dismissed as Prosecutor General by the newly established National Constituent Assembly on 5 August 2017.

Later life

Tarek William Saab Tarek William Saab Halabi (, ; born 10 September 1962) is a Venezuelan politician, lawyer, and poet. He was a leader of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party founded by Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela, who publicly called him "The poet o ...

, the replacement Prosecutor General appointed by the Constituent Assembly, stated on 16 August 2017 that Ortega and her husband, German Ferrer, operated an extortion group. The Constituent Assembly ordered their arrest the next day and the couple fled to Colombia. Ferrer said the charges were political in nature. Ortega and Ferrer fled from Venezuela by speedboat to

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

and then flew into Colombia. Ortega stated that the Maduro government would "deprive me of my life". In late August 2017, Maduro said he was seeking an international arrest warrant for both Ortega and her husband because they had been involved in serious crimes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortega Diaz, Luisa 1958 births Living people People from Valle de la Pascua Venezuelan women lawyers 21st-century Venezuelan women politicians 21st-century Venezuelan politicians Universidad Santa María (Venezuela) alumni Venezuelan defectors People of the Crisis in Venezuela University of Carabobo alumni Andrés Bello Catholic University alumni

Early life and career

Prosecutor General

Later life

See also

References

External links