Javier Alejandro Bertucci Carrero (born 16 November 1969) is a Venezuelan
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
pastor, philanthropist, and businessman. In 2016, he was linked to the leakage of the
Panama Papers
The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...
. He runs the Maranatha Christian Church, a religious congregation with more than 16,000 followers in Latin America that expands social work and evangelist through the Civil Association El Evangelio Cambia, of which he is a leader and founder. He was a candidate in the
2018 Venezuelan presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 20 May 2018, with incumbent Nicolás Maduro being declared reelected for a second six-year term. The original electoral date was scheduled for December 2018 but was subsequently pulled ahead to ...
.
Biography
Javier Bertucci was born on November 16, 1969, in
Guanare
Guanare () is the capital of Portuguesa State, Venezuela. It is where la Virgen de Coromoto is said to have appeared to a Coromoto Indian.
Guanare was founded on 3 November 1591 by João Fernandes de Leão Pacheco (1543–1593), a Portuguese ...
, Portuguesa, to a peasant family that subsisted on a banana and tobacco producing plantation. From 1993, with his wife Rebeca, Bertucci began to preach in squares, parks, and houses. In the 1990s, the Bertucci Barrios family moved to
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
, where they lived, and simultaneously formed a small evangelical church in the town of Tinaquillo (Cojedes, 48 km southwest of Valencia), which remained for the next five years.
House arrest
On July 2, 2010, Bertucci was charged with aggravated smuggling and conspiracy to commit a crime. He was detained for three days when he tried to move a 5,000-metric-ton tanker ship from the Ocamar dock in
Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello () is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the count ...
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
. The ship was thought to contain 5,000 tons of diesel disguised as paint thinner. The diesel, through its Tecnopetrol company, was referenced in file GP01-R-2010-000234 of the Court of Appeals.
During the presentation hearing, prosecutors Armando Galindo, Yolanda Carrero and Francisco Leal requested that Bertucci receive a custodial (incarceration) sentence. On July 4, the first judge in control of the Criminal Judicial Circuit, extension Puerto Cabello, Henry Chirino, ordered his house arrest. On September 30 of the same year he was granted a permit to leave his residence only to officiate at the Maranatha Church.
On December 20, Bertucci received a substitute measure of freedom with a filing system and was banned from leaving the country. His defense appealed and the court annulled the sentence, initiating a new trial that is still in progress under judge No. 2 of the Judicial Criminal Circuit of Carabobo state, Rosa Matute. The Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice does not have a record of a signature sentence on the case.
Panama Papers
Bertucci was linked to the leakage of the
Panama Papers
The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...
in 2016. According to a series of emails delivered to the German newspaper ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...
'' consulted for an investigation by journalist Katherine Pennacchio, Bertucci contacted the law firm
Mossack Fonseca
Mossack Fonseca & Co. () was a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider.
Desiré Obadia, an intermediary client of the company and the person in charge of negotiating with Mossak Fonsecca, denied that the transaction had been completed, stating that in order to import an import license and
Cadivi
The National Center for Foreign Commerce (, CENCOEX), formerly the Commission for the Administration of Currency Exchange (Comisión de Administración de Divisas CADIVI), is the Government of Venezuela, Venezuelan government body which administe ...
dollars ( National Center for Foreign Commerce) were needed, and that neither of the two were obtained. During the investigation, attempts were made to contact Bertucci on several occasions, but no response was received until five days after the report was published, when Bertucci explained that the initiative did not materialize and that he did not have the resources to possess accounts in tax havens.
Both the intermediary of Mossack Fonseca and Bertucci denied the accusations and rejected the investigative work done by the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C., with ...
. The journalist was subjected to
cyberbullying
Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...
and attacks on social networks headed by Bertucci himself.
Political career
In January 2018 he announced his presidential candidacy, in which he referred to his desire to be "the light among the darkness," to seek to electoral victory over Venezuelan leader
Nicolás Maduro
Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...
, and to affect change in the country.
As the Venezuelan constitution establishes a secular requirement for those running for office, Bertucci had to leave his occupation as a pastor.
Among his proposals as a candidate is the lifting of exchange control. He has also declared that he would not govern with
Chavismo
''Chavismo'' (from ), also known in English as Chavism or Chavezism, is a left-wing populist political ideology based on the ideas, programs and government style associated with the Venezuelan President between 1999 and 2013 Hugo Chávez that ...
or with the opposition. He has additionally expressed his desire to implement Sunday radio and television channels using the Bible, and converting Venezuelans into "devotional" Christians, and to implement "Christian values". He has positioned himself against
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
and is in favor of abortion only in medical cases or that compromise the life of the mother.