--- title: Venezuelan Supreme Court Judge Defects to U.S. over Election description: A former Venezuelan supreme court justice has fled to the U.S. and denounced an election that will keep President Nicolas Maduro in power canonical: https://time.com/5495476/venezuela-supreme-court-justice-flees-us/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-07T08:09:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:25:51.594Z article:section: World og:title: A Venezuelan Supreme Court Judge Has Fled to the U.S. og:description: Judge Christian Zerpa disavowed the government of President Nicolas Maduro og:url: https://time.com/5495476/venezuela-supreme-court-justice-flees-us/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7d5d1525d9a045b/698942c822fb85b691e2787b/gettyimages-1072209412.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: VENEZUELA-POLITICS-MADURO og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Venezuelan Supreme Court Judge Has Fled to the U.S. twitter:description: Judge Christian Zerpa disavowed the government of President Nicolas Maduro twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7d5d1525d9a045b/698942c822fb85b691e2787b/gettyimages-1072209412.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Venezuelan Supreme Court Judge Has Fled to the U.S. to Protest President Maduro's Rule by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jan 7, 2019 8:09 AM CUT  Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela on Dec. 12, 2018. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela on Dec. 12, 2018.Federico Parra—AFP/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jan 7, 2019 8:09 AM CUT A former Venezuelan Supreme Court justice has fled to the U.S. and denounced the results of an election last year that will keep President Nicolas Maduro in power. Judge Christian Zerpa’s [renunciation](https://www.straitstimes.com/world/americas/venezuelan-supreme-court-justice-flees-country "undefined") of the Venezuelan government comes as Maduro prepares to be sworn in to a second six-year term Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports. Zerpa also reportedly told a Miami-based broadcaster in an interview Sunday that he is prepared to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors investigating corruption and human rights violations in the South American country. “I’ve decided to leave Venezuela to [disavow the government](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics/former-venezuela-supreme-court-judge-flees-to-us-denounces-maduro-idUSKCN1P00OU "undefined") of Nicolas Maduro,” Zerpa said in the interview with EVTV, according to Reuters. “I believe \[Maduro\] does not deserve a second chance because the election he supposedly won was not free and competitive.” Venezuela’s Supreme Court confirmed that Zerpa had left Venezuela, and said that he is currently under investigation for allegedly sexually harassing women in his office. News of Zerpa’s departure came a day after members of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled but powerless National Assembly were sworn into office. Its new president, Juan Guaido, [questioned the legitimacy](https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/venezuelas-assembly-rejects-legitimacy-maduro-second-term-doc-1c00gq3 "undefined") of Maduro’s incoming administration, while other lawmakers have called for a transitional government and new elections. In a statement, U.S. State Department spokesperson Robert Palladino called the Assembly “[the only legitimate](https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2019/01/288342.htm "undefined") and last remaining democratically elected institution that truly represents the will of the Venezuelan people.” Maduro won Venezuela’s May 2018 election, which was called by the regime-backed Constituent Assembly, a new super-body intended to rewrite the country’s constitution. Most leading opposition figures boycotted the poll or were [disqualified](http://time.com/5058003/venezuela-nicolas-maduro-opposition-banned/ "undefined") from contesting it, and a consortium of regional countries warned was ‘[illegitimate](http://time.com/5277367/venezuela-election-lima-group-nicolas-maduro/ "undefined") and lacking in credibility.” On Jan. 4, the Lima Group, a consortium of 12 Latin American countries, as well as Canada urged Maduro not to take office this week. Venezuela [charged the group](https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/venezuelas-assembly-rejects-legitimacy-maduro-second-term-doc-1c00gq3 "undefined") with “encouraging a coup d’etat” backed by Washington, AFP reports. **Read more**: [_It’s Time to Plan for Civil War In Venezuela_](http://time.com/4931053/its-time-to-plan-for-civil-war-in-venezuela/ "undefined") Maduro has become increasingly unpopular as a [spiraling economic crisis](http://time.com/4637285/venezuela-bolivar-currency-inflation/ "undefined") and hyperinflation is driving desperate Venezuelans to [emigrate](http://time.com/5359503/brazil-venezuela-roraima-migrants/ "undefined"). Last year, Caracas was roiled by months of [violent protests](http://time.com/4880093/venezuela-election-deadly-protests/ "undefined") in opposition to the Constituent Assembly, and in September, the U.S. [imposed sanctions](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-venezuela/u-s-sanctions-venezuela-officials-trump-slams-maduro-idUSKCN1M51WC "undefined") on several members of Maduro’s “inner circle.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5495476/venezuela-supreme-court-justice-flees-us/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5495476/venezuela-supreme-court-justice-flees-us/"},"headline":"A Venezuelan Supreme Court Judge Has Fled to the U.S. to Protest President Maduro's Rule","datePublished":"2019-01-07T08:09:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:25:51.594Z","description":"Judge Christian Zerpa disavowed the government of President Nicolas Maduro","url":"https://time.com/5495476/venezuela-supreme-court-justice-flees-us/","keywords":["Venezuela","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7d5d1525d9a045b/698942c822fb85b691e2787b/gettyimages-1072209412.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7d5d1525d9a045b/698942c822fb85b691e2787b/gettyimages-1072209412.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"VENEZUELA-POLITICS-MADURO","caption":"VENEZUELA-POLITICS-MADURO","creditText":"Federico Parra—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/venezuela/","name":"Venezuela"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5495476/venezuela-supreme-court-justice-flees-us/","name":"A Venezuelan Supreme Court Judge Has Fled to the U.S. to Protest President Maduro's Rule"}}]}] ```