The new officials were backed by a large majority of the legislature. (Archive)
Mérida, April 14, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The Venezuelan National Assembly (AN) appointed Larry Devoe as the new Attorney General and Eglée González Lobato as the Ombudswoman during an ordinary session on Thursday, April 9.
The appointments were the result of a parliamentary selection process in the wake of the resignations of Tarek William Saab and Alfredo Ruiz, who previously held the positions, in February. The new officials will assume their roles immediately.
The National Assembly finalized the appointments following the review of a list of 71 candidates for Attorney General and 61 for Ombudsman. According to official reports, the selection focused on technical and academic backgrounds, while multiple deputies spoke of the need to select “consensus” candidates.
Devoe is a lawyer who has held various legal and diplomatic positions within the Venezuelan government, having served as the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Council. In recent years, he represented Venezuela before the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS) on human rights matters.
Devoe had taken over the Attorney General post on an interim basis following Saab’s resignation. Saab had served as the country’s top prosecutor since 2017. Following his appointment and swearing-in, Devoe used his official channels to vow that his office would be committed to “defending human rights” and “protecting our people.”
For her part, new Ombudswoman González is also an attorney and a university professor specializing in Administrative Law at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV).
She served as the Director of the UCV’s Democracy and Elections Chair and has worked as an institutional and electoral analyst. The parliamentary nominations committee highlighted González’s academic background and experience in human rights as primary factors for her selection to replace Ruiz.
Devoe and González were ratified on the posts with the approval of 275 of 285 National Assembly deputies, receiving the endorsement of the ruling Socialist Party (PSUV) and allies, as well as part of the opposition.
González, who has been identified as representing a sector of the moderate opposition, was proposed by David Uzcátegui from the Fuerza Vecinal party. Devoe’s candidacy was put forward by the PSUV.
Addressing the chamber, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez emphasized the importance of reaching political agreements and “respecting differences.”
The right-wing Libertad faction opposed the appointments, with legislator Henri Falcón stating that the appointees did not meet “autonomy and democratic plurality” criteria.
“In the past, the institutions have been used as politically partial spaces and ideological trenches,” stressed Falcón, a former presidential candidate.
The renewal of the Attorney General and Ombudsman’s Office coincides with the processing of thousands of amnesty requests currently under review by judicial authorities. According to the National Assembly, the Amnesty Law approved in February has benefited more than 8,000 beneficiaries in less than two months.
“The economy is the most important thing”
Parliamentary leader Jorge Rodríguez stressed the importance of “dialogue” among different political factions and working to “strengthen” state institutions in a recent interview with Spanish daily El País.
“We are rapidly pushing for changes so that people feel the country’s democratic institutions are functioning properly,” he stated.
When asked about the possibility of holding elections, Rodríguez argued that the country’s economy is “the most important thing right now.”
Since January, the Venezuelan legislature has fast-tracked a number of important new laws with support from the acting Delcy Rodríguez administration, including pro-business reforms to the country’s hydrocarbon and mining frameworks.
“The Venezuelan economy needs to gain enough momentum so that the population feels this entire process was worth it,” he added, in reference to the January 3 US bombings and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro which Rodríguez described as a “traumatic event.”
The Venezuelan official went on to argue that “there is much work to be done” ahead of an eventual electoral process, including the selection of an electoral authority that all political organizations can “trust.”
Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.
