New Prosecutor General in Venezuela: Continuity or Reform?

Venezuela is rebuilding its institutions at a pace that suggests urgency—but the question of whether the new structures serve the rule of law or merely dress the old power arrangements in better clothes remains unanswered.

The Asamblea Nacional permanently confirmed Devoe as Fiscal General on April 9, six weeks after he had been named acting prosecutor following Saab’s resignation. Devoe is a lawyer who graduated from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB) with specializations in criminal sciences and criminology, and a master’s degree in democracy, human rights, and rule of law from Spain’s Universidad de Alcalá de Henares. Before joining the Fiscalía, he served as secretary of the Consejo Nacional de Derechos Humanos, the government’s own human rights body. His nomination was proposed by oficialista diputada Carolina García Carreño, who told parliament that Devoe “impeccably meets all academic, ethical, moral, and civic credentials to lead the Ministerio Público,” as reported by CNN en Español, Infobae, Semana, and El Estímulo.

The Credibility Problem

Devoe’s human rights credentials are contested. In November 2016, he was part of Venezuela’s delegation to the UN Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, where he assured the Human Rights Council that the Maduro government was meeting international standards—a claim directly contradicted by the UN’s own Independent Fact-Finding Mission, which subsequently documented systematic patterns of extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention. He is a PSUV militant and has been identified by Infobae as a “close collaborator of the chavista leadership and ally of Delcy Rodríguez.” His rival for the post, Magaly Vásquez González, was nominated by opposition leader Henrique Capriles and received only 10 votes. Human rights organizations Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón and Un Mundo Sin Mordaza criticized the appointment, stating that Devoe “represents the continuity of impunity shielding and political control of the Ministerio Público.”

The Ombudsperson: Academic Turned Loyalist?

González Lobato’s appointment is more nuanced. She is a UCV law graduate with a PhD in Sciences, a specialist in administrative law, a constitutional law professor, director of the UCV’s Cátedra Libre Democracia y Elecciones, co-founder of Proyecto Mujeres 2030, and a former UNDP consultant. For years she was identified with civil society and institutional reform initiatives critical of the government. But El Nacional and El Diario report that her positions have shifted significantly in recent years: she has praised Delcy Rodríguez’s “conciliatory attitude,” publicly attacked María Corina Machado’s opposition as “radicalized,” and told state broadcaster VTV that those who called for foreign military intervention were “traitors.” She was nominated by David Uzcátegui of the opposition-aligned Fuerza Vecinal party, and her rival was former Primero Justicia deputy Marialbert Barrios. She replaces Alfredo Ruiz, who resigned during the implementation of the Amnesty Law. Upon her swearing-in, she pledged: “The doors of the Defensoría are open for our people.”

What the Appointments Signal

The dual confirmations continue a pattern that has defined the Rodríguez government since Maduro’s fall on January 3: rapid institutional restructuring that moves toward investor-friendly frameworks (the hydrocarbon law in January, the mining law last week, the prosecutor general and ombudsperson this week) while keeping political control firmly within chavista hands. The concession of the Defensoría to a nominally opposition-linked figure gives the process a veneer of pluralism. But the 275-to-10 vote on the Fiscalía—the office that decides who gets prosecuted—tells the real story of where power sits. Meanwhile, the opposition led by María Corina Machado has not accepted the Rodríguez government’s legitimacy and is presenting its own energy investment proposals to international markets, creating a parallel competition for foreign capital between two Venezuelan authorities—each claiming legitimacy, each offering investment frameworks, each backed by different foreign powers. For investors evaluating Venezuela’s $2.2 billion annual gold output, its 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, and the Arco Minero’s untapped mineral wealth, the question is not whether the assets justify capital deployment. It is which government will be standing when contracts are enforced.

Related Coverage: Venezuela Mining Law Opens Sector to Foreign Investment