Enrique Márquez calls for dismantling SEBIN and DGCIM over political repression

Political leader Enrique Márquez proposed on Friday dismantling the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) and the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim), which he described as instruments of political repression, according to the newspaper El Carabobeño. According to the report, the former rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE) said the country needs modern institutions that abide by the Constitution.

The proposal calls for replacing both agencies with new intelligence structures subject to democratic controls and judicial oversight, free of partisan interests. Previous reports by the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission have named these bodies in connection with human rights violations in the country.

In the same remarks, Márquez called a decision by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) to change the structure of the courts with jurisdiction over terrorism a step forward. The measure decentralizes the handling of this crime by ending the exclusive jurisdiction of four courts in Caracas and transferring cases to control courts in the country's states.

Despite the judicial change, Ali Daniels, co-director of the NGO Acceso a la Justicia, told EFE that the measure does not eliminate the terrorism courts but transfers their jurisdiction to the regions, calling it a limited decision given the structural problems of the justice system.

Márquez added that procedural reforms must be accompanied by the release of political prisoners and an end to precautionary measures such as travel bans, arguing that true freedom does not exist while restrictions on working and taking part in public life remain.