INTERNATIONAL EXTRADITION · LATIN AMERICA
Extradition from Venezuela to the United States.
Treaty and Additional Article Between the United States of America and Venezuela for the Extradition of Fugitives from Justice controls the request. The treaty does not require either party to surrender its own citizens. The arrest clock and local review path decide what happens next.
THE SHORT ANSWER
draft No reliable practical timeline is available. The United States closed Embassy Caracas operations in 2019, and bilateral criminal-cooperation timing is unpredictable.
Treaty and Additional Article Between the United States of America and Venezuela for the Extradition of Fugitives from Justice
Effective: 1923-04-14
WHAT COUNSEL CHECKS FIRST
The active paper. The country. The clock.
THE RESPONSE ROOM
What has to be established first.
FIRST HOURS
Identify the legal basis for custody
Record the arresting authority, court, case number, custody location, interpreter need, and any hearing date. Ask for counsel before discussing the foreign accusation.
WHO DECIDES
The local record controls
A request would ordinarily pass through diplomatic/central authorities, the Public Ministry, and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice for a legal opinion, followed by executive action. Current institutional and diplomatic conditions make practice difficult to generalize.
THE CLOCK
Deadlines are event-specific
A diplomatic/consular request may seek preliminary arrest. The treaty permits release if the formal requisition and evidence are not produced within two months. No reliable practical timeline is available. The United States closed Embassy Caracas operations in 2019, and bilateral criminal-cooperation timing is unpredictable.
DOCUMENT AUDIT
Build the file before the argument
Preserve the notice or warrant, charging papers, identity records, release terms, travel documents, medical records, and every dated communication. Do not alter or delete evidence.
FOR FAMILIES COORDINATING ACROSS BORDERS
Confirm the exact legal name, detention location, medication needs, next hearing, local lawyer, and one reliable contact channel. A consulate may assist with welfare and contact; it cannot cancel the local case.
02 · THE PROCESS
How the Venezuela process moves.
Judicial and executive stages
A request would ordinarily pass through diplomatic/central authorities, the Public Ministry, and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice for a legal opinion, followed by executive action. Current institutional and diplomatic conditions make practice difficult to generalize.
Appeal and review
Constitutional and criminal-procedure challenges may be available, but no reliable current official source establishing a standard appellate sequence for a U.S. request was located.
03 · DEFENSES
The request still has to survive the record.
ISSUE
Treaty coverage
The charged conduct, punishment threshold, documents, and identity must fit the controlling treaty and local implementing law.
ISSUE
Dual criminality
This is an old list treaty. The conduct must fit an enumerated offense and meet the requested state's evidence standard; it is not enough that both countries call the conduct criminal.
ISSUE
Political and protected offenses
Political offenses are excluded, and surrender may be denied where the request is politically directed. Pure military and fiscal offenses are not addressed with modern standalone clauses and must fit the enumerated list and current domestic law.
ISSUE
Evidence and process
The request can be tested against the treaty standard, authentication requirements, limitation rules, and procedural guarantees that apply locally.
ISSUE
Human rights and punishment
Venezuela constitutionally prohibits capital punishment and penalties exceeding 30 years. A U.S. request exposing a person to death or an incompatible sentence would require enforceable assurances and domestic constitutional review. Torture, persecution, prison conditions, and political-motivation claims are acute case-specific issues.
ISSUE
Specialty and assurances
The treaty limits detention, trial, and punishment to the offense for which surrender was granted until the person has had an opportunity to leave, subject to consent and later conduct.
04 · PUBLIC EXAMPLES
Recent public extradition records.
These examples come from public government records and are not presented as Spodek Law Group matters or results.
Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios
cocaine-importation and narcoterrorism conspiracies
Nicolás Maduro Moros and other Venezuelan officials
narcoterrorism, corruption, drug trafficking, weapons offenses
05 · THE CHARGES
What appears in the requests.
A Red Notice is not the extradition order.
A Red Notice asks police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person, subject to each country's law. It is not an international arrest warrant, and it does not replace the treaty papers or the local extradition case.
The notice, the provisional-arrest request, and the surrender proceeding are separate records. Each can carry different defects, deadlines, and remedies.
07 · THIRD-COUNTRY RISK
Transit can expose a person to another country's arrest rules, immigration powers, or provisional request. This page gives no route or evasion advice. Review the actual warrant, notice, release conditions, and jurisdictions with counsel before travel.
08 · QUESTIONS
What families and targets ask first.
IMMEDIATE EXTRADITION QUESTIONS
It can. Border screening may expose a national warrant, INTERPOL data, immigration authority, or a provisional request under another country's law. This is not travel or evasion advice; the actual records and jurisdictions require review before travel.
AUTHORITIESwww.interpol.int
Release depends on Venezuela's current law, the arrest authority, flight-risk findings, and the stage of the request. No general website answer can predict it. Local counsel should address custody while U.S. counsel verifies the federal matter and request.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
Not automatically. Extradition, asylum, immigration removal, and non-refoulement are separate legal systems that may interact. The forum, protected status, alleged conduct, treaty, and current human-rights evidence determine which arguments are available.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
COUNTRY PROCEDURE
Yes. The 1922 treaty entered into force April 14, 1923.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.govhistory.state.gov
The treaty does not require it, and Venezuela's Constitution prohibits extradition of Venezuelans.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.gov
No. The old treaty enumerates offenses.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.gov
Two months for the formal papers.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.gov
No. INTERPOL says each state decides the notice's legal effect.
AUTHORITIESwww.interpol.int
Yes, and political motivation is especially important in current practice.
AUTHORITIEShistory.state.gov
Yes. The treaty and law of the country where the person is found then control, as illustrated by Carvajal's Spain proceeding.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
No; diplomatic and institutional conditions make timing highly uncertain.
AUTHORITIESwww.justice.gov
09 · RESEARCH LIMITS
What the public record does not settle.
10 · SOURCES
Every material claim should have a file behind it.
11 · REGIONAL INDEX
Related country files.
WHO REVIEWS THE FIRST CALL
Start with the paper, the posture, and the first deadline.
Todd A. Spodek leads the firm's federal defense work. The team identifies the active U.S. matter, the country and custody posture, and where appropriately licensed local counsel is required. No webpage can replace review of the actual request.
Todd Spodek - biography and record →SECURE CONSULTATION REQUEST
Put the actual extradition record in front of counsel.
Tell us whether this is an inquiry, Red Notice, detention, hearing, or appeal. The intake team will identify conflicts and the right next step. Urgent custody and hearing matters should call.
212 300 5196 - urgent matters →