Elvis Eduardo Hidrobo Amoroso (born 4 August 1963) is a Venezuelan politician and lawyer who currently serves as the Comptroller General of Venezuela as of 23 October 2018. He also holds the presidency of the Republican Moral Council (Spanish: Consejo Moral Republicano), also known as the Moral Power (Spanish: Poder Moral).[1] In August 2017, he was elected as first and second vice president of the 2017 Constituent National Assembly and served until October 2017. He also served as a deputy to the National Assembly for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
Elvis Amoroso | |
|---|---|
| President of the Republican Moral Council | |
| Assumed office 7 February 2019 | |
| President | Nicolás Maduro |
| Preceded by | Tarek William Saab |
| Comptroller General of the Republic | |
| Assumed office 23 October 2018 | |
| President | Nicolás Maduro |
| Preceded by | Manuel Galindo Ballesteros |
| Second Vice President of the National Constituent Assembly | |
| In office 27 October 2017 – 23 October 2018 | |
| President | Delcy Rodríguez Diosdado Cabello |
| First Vice President of the National Constituent Assembly | |
| In office 18 August 2017 – 27 October 2017 | |
| President | Aristóbulo Istúriz |
| Preceded by | Isaías Rodríguez |
| Succeeded by | Gladys Requena |
| Member of the 2017 Constituent National Assembly | |
| Assumed office 4 August 2017 | |
| Deputy to the National Assembly of Venezuela | |
| In office 5 January 2006 – 5 January 2016 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Elvis Eduardo Hidrobo Amoroso 4 August 1963 Cagua, Aragua, Venezuela |
| Political party | Radical Clause (LCR) Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) |
| Alma mater | Bicentenary University of Aragua |
Political career edit
In the parliamentary elections of 1993 he was elected Deputy to the Congress of the Republic of the Radical Cause by circuit 2 of the Aragua state within the VIII Legislature . He was re-elected in 1998 with the support of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) and Fatherland for All (PPT).[2][3]
He served as secretary of the Commission Legislative National of 2000, where Alejandro Andrade served as undersecretary.[4] He was a member of the parliamentary group of 2002 Group Boston[5] and deputy of the National Assembly since 2006 of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), where he served as chairman of the Permanent Commission for Internal Policy of the Assembly in 2012 and as first vice president from 2015 to 2016.
In 2015, he ran as magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) after losing re-election in the parliamentary elections of 6 December. However, the Venezuelan constitution and the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice establish that to be a magistrate the lawyer must be at least 15 years old in the exercise of the law, a requirement that Amoroso did not meet because he graduated as a lawyer at the Bicentennial University of Aragua in 2006.[6]
He was elected as first vice president of the 2017 National Constituent Assembly from 18 August to 27 October of the same year when he is appointed second vice president.
He is appointed by the ANC as Comptroller General of the Republic of Venezuela on 23 October 2018.
Personal life edit
His son, Elvis Junior Amoroso is the Permanent Secretary (in charge) of the Council of Ministers of Venezuela.[7]
Controversies edit
On Juan Guaidó edit
Following Juan Guaidó's Latin American tour in February 2019, Amoroso alleged in March that Guaidó had not explained how he paid for the trip, and stated there were inconsistencies between his level of spending and income.[8] Amoroso said that Guaidó's 90 trips abroad had cost $94,000, and that Guaidó had not explained the source of the funds.[9] Based on these alleged financial discrepancies, Amoroso said Guaidó would be barred from running for public office for the maximum time allowed by law—fifteen years.[8][10] Leopoldo López and Henrique Capriles had been prohibited from holding office by the Maduro administration on similar pretexts.[10]
Guaidó responded that "The only body that can appoint a comptroller is the legitimate parliament."[10] The comptroller general is not a judicial body; according to constitutional lawyer José Vicente Haro, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in 2011, after Leopoldo López was barred from holding office, that an administrative body cannot disallow a public servant from running. Constitutional law expert Juan Manuel Raffalli stated that Article 65 of Venezuela's Constitution provides that such determinations may only be made by criminal courts, after judgment of criminal activity. The decision would also breach Guaidó's parliamentary immunity.[11]
Sanctions edit
Canada edit
On 22 September 2017, Canada sanctioned Amoroso due to rupture of Venezuela's constitutional order following the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election.[12][13]
United States edit
On 9 November 2017, Amoroso was sanctioned by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control after the 2017 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election.[14]
Panama edit
On 29 March 2018, Amoroso was sanctioned by the Panamanian government for his alleged involvement with "money laundering, financing of terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction".[15]
European Union edit
On June 29th 2020, the EU imposed personal restrictions on Amoroso due to his direct and active involvement in undermining and eroding democracy and rule of law in Venezuela for his role in running the non-recognized ANC in various positions of high authority and taking repressive actions against opposition actors.[16]
References edit
- ^ "Designan a Elvis Amoroso como nuevo contralor general de la República". 23 October 2018.
- ^ blogservices (6 January 2015). "AN recibió a nueva junta directiva". Diario Qué Pasa (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 February 2019.
- ^ Poderopedia, Equipo. "Elvis Amoroso" (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 February 2019.
- ^ "Gaceta Oficial del 28 de marzo de 2000". Página web del TSJ. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
- ^ Henríquez, María C. (27 June 2013). "Pedro Díaz Blum: creación del Grupo Boston en el 2002 está dando sus frutos". Noticias 24 Carabobo. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
- ^ "Elvis Amoroso no cumplía con uno de los requisitos para ser magistrado". NTN24. Informe21. 23 December 2015. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "Hijo de Elvis Amoroso nuevo secretario del Consejo de Ministros".
- ^ a b "Venezuela bars Guaido from holding public office for 15 years". Reuters. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Rueda, Jorge (28 March 2019). "Venezuelan gov't bars Guaido from public office for 15 years". Yahoo. Associated Press. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ a b c Sequera, Vivian and Luc Cohen (28 March 2019). "Venezuela blocks Guaido from office as the opposition scoffs". Yahoo. Reuters. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ Diaz Landazabal, Jackelin (28 March 2019). "Inhabilitación de Juan Guaidó podría desencadenar medidas ante el CNE" [Disqualification of Juan Guaidó could trigger measures before the CNE]. El Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ "Venezuela sanctions". Government of Canada. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ "Canada sanctions 40 Venezuelans with links to political, economic crisis". The Globe and Mail. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ "Treasury sanctions ten Venezuelan government officials" (Press release). U.S. Department of the Treasury. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- ^ "Estos son los 55 "rojitos" que Panamá puso en la mira por fondos dudosos | El Cooperante". El Cooperante (in European Spanish). 2 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
- ^ "COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2023/2500 of 10 November 2023 implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2063 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Venezuela". EUR-Lex.