# Justice First

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Political party in Venezuela

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Justice First Primero Justicia Leader Juan Pablo Guanipa President María Beatriz Martínez Deputy Leaders Richard Mardo Carlos Ocariz Coordinator Julio Borges Founded 3 March 2000 Split from Copei Headquarters Edif. Pofili, Urb. Los Palos Grandes, Caracas Ideology Humanism[1] Social conservatism[2] Liberalism[3] Decentralization[4] Political position Centre-right[5][6] National affiliation Unitary Platform (since 2021) Democratic Unity Roundtable (2008–2021) International affiliation Centrist Democrat International Colours Yellow Black National Assembly 0 / 277 Latin American Parliament 0 / 12 Mercosur Parliament 0 / 23 Governors 1 / 23 Mayors 12 / 335 Website primerojusticia.org.ve Politics of Venezuela Political parties Elections

**Justice First** ([Spanish](/source/Spanish_language): *Primero Justicia*) is a [centre-right](/source/Centre-right) political party in [Venezuela](/source/Venezuela). Founded in 1992 as a civil association, it became a political party in 2000. [Henrique Capriles](/source/Henrique_Capriles) was the candidate of the party in the [2013 Venezuelan presidential election](/source/2013_Venezuelan_presidential_election).

## History

Justice First was created in 1992 as a civil association by a group of university students under the leadership of Alirio Abreu Burelli. The group was concerned about what they saw as a deterioration of judicial power in the country, and sought a reform of Venezuela's legal system. Abreu Burelli was magistrate of the federal [Supreme Court of Justice](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Venezuela) and Vice President of the [Inter-American Court of Human Rights](/source/Inter-American_Court_of_Human_Rights) of the [Organization of American States](/source/Organization_of_American_States) (OAS). The association entered the political arena during the [1999 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela](/source/1999_Constituent_Assembly_of_Venezuela), in which they presented a draft for the country's [new constitution](/source/Constitution_of_Venezuela). Justice First became a political party in 2000, initially as a regional party, and registered as a national party with the [National Electoral Council of Venezuela](/source/National_Electoral_Council_of_Venezuela) on 1 March 2002.[7]

In the [July 2000 legislative elections](/source/2000_Venezuelan_parliamentary_election), five members of Justice First were elected as deputies to the [National Assembly](/source/National_Assembly_(Venezuela)) for a five-year term: [Carlos Ocariz](/source/Carlos_Ocariz), [Gerardo Blyde](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerardo_Blyde&action=edit&redlink=1) [[es](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerardo_Blyde)], [Julio Borges](/source/Julio_Borges), Ramón Medina and [Liliana Hernández](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liliana_Hern%C3%A1ndez_(politician)&action=edit&redlink=1) [[es](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliana_Hern%C3%A1ndez)]. Justice First participated in the [last minute opposition boycott of the 2005 elections](/source/2005_Venezuelan_parliamentary_election#Political_parties.27_withdrawal), so they had no representatives in the Assembly from 2005 to 2010. They contested the [2006 presidential elections](/source/2006_Venezuelan_presidential_election) with former [congressman](/source/Congressman) [Julio Borges](/source/Julio_Borges), but he dropped out of the race in support of [Manuel Rosales](/source/Manuel_Rosales), then governor of [Zulia State](/source/Zulia_State), and former Mayor of Maracaibo. [Henrique Capriles Radonski](/source/Henrique_Capriles_Radonski) was elected governor of [Miranda](/source/Miranda%2C_Venezuela) in 2008. The party had six deputies elected at the [2010 parliamentary elections](/source/2010_Venezuelan_parliamentary_election): Tomas Guanipa in Zulia, Juan Carlos Caldera and Julio Borges in Miranda, Dinorah Figuera in the capital district, Richard Mardo in Aragua, and Richard Arteaga in Anzoátegui.

In December 2019, in [Operación Alacrán](/source/Operaci%C3%B3n_Alacr%C3%A1n), the website [Armando.info](/source/Armando.info) published an investigation on corruption among opposition politicians, leading to the expulsion of deputies, including [Luis Parra](/source/Luis_Parra), [José Brito](/source/Jos%C3%A9_Brito_(Venezuelan_politician)) and [Conrado Pérez](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conrado_P%C3%A9rez_(politician)&action=edit&redlink=1) [[es](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrado_P%C3%A9rez_(pol%C3%ADtico))], from PJ.[8] In 2020, José Brito and Conrado Pérez filed a complaint in the [Supreme Tribunal of Justice](/source/Supreme_Tribunal_of_Justice_(Venezuela)) against the leadership of Justice First. The deputies asked to be restituted in the party, saying that there was no justification to be expelled, and that their due process and presumption of innocence had not been respected. They also asked the high court to appoint a new leadership "that was in Venezuela", since the current one was in exile, and to summon new internal elections.[9]

The deputies were received by the president of the Constitutional Chamber and the meeting lasted a little more than an hour. Outside the Supreme Tribunal, a group of around two hundred people met in support of the deputies. *[El Pitazo](/source/El_Pitazo)* reported that earlier in the morning, some persons were handing out shirts of the party, most apparently new. Several demonstrators interviewed by the outlet expressed ignoring the reasons of the meeting or the contents of the complaint introduced. In some cases, they affirmed having been taken by bus, could not say for long they were part of Justice First, did not know that Luis Parra was not present or declared being paid for assisting.[10][11] The party's secretary general, [Tomás Guanipa](/source/Tom%C3%A1s_Guanipa), declared that the deputies sought to give the party's electoral card to Nicolás Maduro.[12] In January 2020, the disputed [2020 Venezuelan National Assembly Delegated Committee election](/source/2020_Venezuelan_National_Assembly_Delegated_Committee_election) took place to determine who would be the [President of the National Assembly](/source/President_of_the_National_Assembly_of_Venezuela) for the period 2020-21 period; pro-government MPs and the expelled PJ deputies voted for Parra while the remaining PJ deputies endorsed incumbent president [Juan Guaidó](/source/Juan_Guaid%C3%B3).[13]

## See also

- [Fernando Albán](/source/Fernando_Alb%C3%A1n)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Matheus, Juan Miguel. ["Nuestros dirigentes opinan - Juan Miguel Matheus: Primero Justicia, centro-humanismo y siglo XXI"](https://www.primerojusticia.org.ve/cms/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=item&cid=160:nuestros-dirigentes-opinan&id=12314:primero-justicia-centro-humanismo-y-siglo-xxi&Itemid=499). *www.primerojusticia.org.ve* (in European Spanish). Retrieved 15 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Diversas ONG rechazaron acuerdo sobre comunidad Lgbtiq+ aprobado en la AN"](https://www.elnacional.com/2020/05/diversas-ong-rechazaron-acuerdo-sobre-comunidad-lgbtiq-aprobado-en-la-an/). *EL NACIONAL* (in Spanish). 21 May 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Naranjo, Gabriel. ["Notas de prensa - Valores para hacer futuro"](https://primerojusticia.org.ve/cms/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=item&cid=159&id=150&Itemid=512). *Primero Justicia* (in European Spanish). Retrieved 15 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Capítulo III"](https://primerojusticia.org.ve/cms/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=category&cid=180&Itemid=516&limitstart=10). *primerojusticia.org.ve*. Retrieved 15 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Ryan Brading (2013). *Populism in Venezuela*. Routledge. p. 132.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Carlos Meléndez (2014). "Is There a Right Track in Post-Party System Collapse Scenarios? Comparing the Andean Countries". In Juan Pablo Luna; Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser (eds.). *The Resilience of the Latin American Right*. Johns Hopkins University. p. 182.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** (in Spanish) Nunez Munoz, Ingrid and Pineda Moran, Nury (2003), "Nuevos Partidos, Nuevos Liderazgos: Primero Justicia", *Cuestiones Politicas*, 30, Jan-Jun 2003, pp45-74

1. **[^](#cite_ref-involucrados12_8-0)** ["Venezuela: denuncian a siete diputados de corrupción"](https://web.archive.org/web/20191221160155/https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2019/12/21/venezuela-denuncian-a-siete-diputados-de-corrupcion/). *[Infobae](/source/Infobae)*. 20 December 2019. Archived from [the original](https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2019/12/21/venezuela-denuncian-a-siete-diputados-de-corrupcion/) on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Coscojuela, Sarai (16 January 2020). ["José Brito, Conrado Pérez y Luis Parra empiezan la pelea por la directiva de Primero Justicia"](https://runrun.es/noticias/396875/jose-brito-conrado-perez-y-luis-parra-empiezan-la-pelea-por-la-directiva-de-primero-justicia/). *Runrun.es* (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** González, Gabriela (16 January 2020). ["Comienza la batalla por el partido Primero Justicia"](https://elpitazo.net/politica/comienza-la-batalla-por-el-partido-primero-justicia/). *[El Pitazo](/source/El_Pitazo)* (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Hombre afirmó que recibió 15$ por asistir a concentración de Parra"](https://elpitazo.net/politica/hombre-afirmo-que-recibio-15-por-asistir-a-concentracion-de-parra/). *El Pitazo* (in Spanish). 16 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Leonett, Vanessa (16 January 2020). ["Tomás Guanipa: "Diputados expulsados buscan entregarle a Maduro tarjeta de PJ""](https://elpitazo.net/politica/tomas-guanipa-diputados-expulsados-buscan-entregarle-a-maduro-tarjeta-de-pj/). *[El Pitazo](/source/El_Pitazo)* (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 January 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Bloomberg_2020_13-0)** Saleha Mohsin (13 January 2020). ["U.S. Sanctions Venezuela's Parra Over National Assembly Rift"](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-13/u-s-sanctions-venezuela-s-parra-after-national-assembly-rift). *Bloomberg*. Retrieved 25 August 2020.

## External links

- [Official website](https://web.archive.org/web/20050826085255/http://www.primerojusticia.org.ve/) (in Spanish)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Justice First](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_First) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_First?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.