National Court has decided to keep former Venezuelan general Hugo Armando Carvajal in preventive detention. Known popularly as El Pollo Carvajal, he has long been viewed as a significant flight risk, having been the subject of a search and capture operation for almost two years. The decision to extradite him to the United States is considered final, though it remains pending perfection of formalities.
The court rejected the request filed by the head of military counterintelligence from the administrations of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, who had sought his release after almost a year in a makeshift prison. Carvajal remains in custody while the United States pursues formal drug trafficking charges, a process that is now advancing through the legal channels.
The delivery order dates back to a 2019 ruling by the National Supreme Court and remains under appeal after Carvajal challenged the decision before the European Court of Human Rights.
In the issued instruction this Thursday, the Chamber reaffirmed that the ECtHR’s judgment does not introduce a new topic. It noted that prior deprivation of liberty had been weighed, and it highlighted that the court had prioritized the ECtHR’s stance not to extradite the individual until ongoing proceedings are resolved.
The judges reminded the former general that he has endured precautionary detention for less than a year while in the search phase for nearly two years, with no legal deadlines violated.
First, the Chamber pointed to the substantial flight risk, a risk that has never been eliminated. It indicated that the risk remains suspended only until the ECtHR issues its ruling, and that the risk may intensify given the finality of the extradition decision and the rejection of asylum and international protection requests. The ECtHR is the remaining determining authority in this matter.
Because of these considerations, the Court judged that it was not only prudent but necessary to continue Carvajal’s temporary imprisonment, a measure he described as proportionate.
Carvajal’s surrender initially granted in 2019 was not executed until September 2021, when the defendant was located in Madrid in an apartment with assistance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
After his arrest and subsequent imprisonment, the court temporarily halted the extradition process because the initial asylum claim remained unresolved and was eventually denied.
His legal team pursued multiple avenues to prevent the extradition, including a second asylum application, which the Internal Affairs department again rejected as the case progressed through appeal.
The United States is alleging charges that the former general played a role in a criminal organization operating in Spain and potentially aided terrorist activities, in addition to escalating drug-trafficking offenses. The case underscores the ongoing tension between asylum considerations and international criminal proceedings, as authorities coordinate across jurisdictions to resolve lengthy extradition processes.