US embassy cable - 04CARACAS651

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 000651 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS USAID DCHA/OTI FOR RPORTER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, VE 
SUBJECT: CIVIL REBELLION CHARGES SPARK PROTESTS IN MERIDA 
 
REF: A. CARACAS 552 
 
     B. CARACAS 3161-2003 
     C. CARACAS 2032-2003 
     D. CARACAS 1746-2003 
 
Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, A/DCM, for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Pro-GOV Merida State Governor Florencio Porras ordered 
an investigation against 24 opposition-aligned citizens in 
January, alleging civil rebellion stemming back to events in 
April 2002, when President Hugo Chavez was briefly removed 
from power.  Students led violent protests January 29 and 
February 12 in support of the implicated Meridans, which 
include student leaders and professors.  Opposition leaders 
have characterized the charges as a political witch hunt, 
timed to leave them leaderless during regional elections and 
distract attention from presidential recall efforts.  Pro-GOV 
contacts largely confirmed the political timing of the 
charges, although they defended the Governor's right to press 
them.  End Summary. 
 
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24 Opposition Leaders Accused of "Civil Rebellion" 
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2. (U) Pro-GOV Merida State Governor Florencio Porras (Fifth 
Republic Movement or MVR) started an investigation in January 
implicating 24 opposition-aligned political, business, and 
student leaders in civil rebellion during April 12, 2002. 
The alleged rebellious acts the morning after President Hugo 
Chavez was briefly removed from power involved opposition 
supporters gathering outside the statehouse to demand Porras 
also step down.  University of the Andes (ULA) professor and 
ex-Merida Mayor Fortunato Gonzalez told poloff February 5 
that prosecutor Danilo Anderson delivered summons January 22 
for 15 to 16 members of the group to attend a formal reading 
of the charges January 29, which also include conspiracy, 
assault, and deprivation of movement.  In addition to 
Gonzalez,  Porras is accusing student leader Nixon Moreno, 
Merida Chamber of Commerce President Cesar Guillen, Merida 
Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Carlos Belandria 
(Democratic Action or AD), and gubernatorial candidate and 
former governor Jesus Rondon Nucete (Christian Democrat or 
COPEI), among others. 
 
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Opposition Attacks Charges as Unconstitutional 
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3. (C) Guillen explained that he and seven other implicated 
Venezuelans filed a joint motion to throw the charges out on 
constitutional grounds.  The judge concluded February 4 that 
he was not competent to rule on the matter.  Anderson claimed 
Judge Aranbulo Brady was prejudiced against him and requested 
another judge February 3.  Convergencia party leader Luis 
Izarra told poloff February 17 that the appeals court 
rejected Anderson's argument February 12 and returned the 
case to Brady. 
 
4. (C) Dr. Marcos Avilio Trejo said when Anderson read him 
the charges he learned he was being singled out for comments 
published April 11, 2002, regarding the possible 
constitutionality of a coup outlined in article 350. 
According to Trejo, the Governor has repeatedly berated and 
implied the guilt of the implicated on his weekly radio show, 
for example saying "they should start working out to prepare 
for the penitentiary Olympics."  Trejo claimed the case 
should be thrown out on the basis of a document signed by 16 
public officials on April 12, 2002, including Porras, stating 
the Governor never resigned and was never detained. 
 
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Opposition: Charges are a Political Witch Hunt 
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5. (C) Seven implicated contacts told poloff Army Gen. Wilmer 
Moreno, who had taken control of statehouse security, 
summoned them and others to the statehouse April 12 to 
restore calm and discuss forming a transitional government. 
 
Gonzalez asserted that all 200 opposition-aligned Venezuelans 
who entered the statehouse at some point on April 12, 2002, 
could ultimately be charged, though he speculated many of 
them have already paid to get off the list.  He alleged that 
Gov. Porras intentionally accused a broad range of 
Venezuelans, including political, business, academic, and 
student leaders, to send the message that no one was beyond 
his reach, including three Venezuelans who were not "anywhere 
near the statehouse" during April 12. 
 
6. (C) Ultimately, Gonzalez said they will prove "that we did 
not ever detain, threaten, or attack" Porras.  Gonzalez 
lamented that having the law on their side might not matter 
because "this is a purely political process with an executive 
officer (Porras) controlling the judicial branch." 
Opposition contacts universally told poloff February 4 and 5 
that the real motive for the charges is to deflect attention 
from efforts to convoke a presidential recall referendum, 
install fear in the opposition, and leave them leaderless 
during regional elections. 
 
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Most MVR Sources Agree Charges are a Political Tool 
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7. (C) Two out of three pro-GOV Merida contacts that 
discussed the issue with poloff agreed that the charges were 
political in nature.  National Assemblyman Luis Velazquez 
(MVR) told poloff February 11 that the events of April 12 
constituted an "extreme" lack of respect for the Governor, 
but that they did not rise to the level of civil rebellion 
and Porras knows it.  He said the charges, almost two years 
after the event, were timed for "political effect" and that 
the case would fall apart after the August regional elections 
before any of the implicated spends any time in jail. 
Nevertheless, he defended Gov. Porras' right to press charges 
because "they hit him" and entered his offices without 
consent. 
 
8. (C) MVR state representative Guevara told poloff February 
4 that the crowd's actions in 2002 did not constitute 
rebellion and that most of them gathered because "it was 
ambiguous what to do in this situation and people had heard 
that the Governor resigned."  However, he argued that Porras 
had every right to exaggerate the charges and time them to 
his greatest political advantage as "a question of strategy." 
 
 
9. (C) Gov. Porras' Secretary, Luis Martin, defended the 
substance and legality of the charges, claiming the crowd 
intended to kill Porras and his inner circle.  Martin 
admitted to poloff February 5 that media video and photos 
were the prosecution's only evidence, but argued that was 
enough "to prove all those implicated were there or we 
wouldn't have cited them."  He also maintained that it was 
normal to have a special prosecutor in special cases, citing 
precedence in murder cases. 
 
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Charges Spark Violence in Student Protests 
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10. (C) Student-organized protests broke out January 29 and 
February 12 in Merida in support of the implicated. 
University of the Andes (ULA) student president Nixon Moreno 
told poloff February 17 that other students protested across 
Venezuela February 12 to show solidarity with the Merida 
students, protest decisions made by the National Electoral 
Council (CNE), and celebrate the Day of Youth (ref a). 
Moreno claimed five students, one opposition protester, one 
reporter (Victor Ferra with newspaper Cambio de Siglo), and 
16 police were injured during the February march.  He 
explained the February march was peaceful until state police 
started firing tear gas.  Moreno, one of the implicated, said 
he also faces similar charges of civil rebellion and public 
damage for organizing the protests. 
 
11. (C) Moreno claimed 12 students and four police were 
injured in the January 29 protest.  Moreno was one of five 
students seriously injured with plastic bullets after he 
urged protesters to cross police barricades from the roof of 
a police paddy wagon.  Moreno maintained the January 29 
protest was necessary to prevent Gov. Porras from imprisoning 
 
the implicated after they formally received the charges at 
the state prosecutor's office the same day, a common 
sentiment in opposition circles.  (Note: Tachira state 
Governor Blanco La Cruz imprisoned nine opposition leaders 
similarly charged with civil rebellion during April 12, refs 
b and c).  However, Chamber of Commerce President Guillen 
told poloff February 4 that the "demonstration was important, 
but wouldn't have changed the outcome." 
 
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Chavistas Attack AD Headquarters While Leaders March 
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12. (C) AD state legislator and gubernatorial candidate Lubin 
Diaz told poloff February 5 that during the January 29 
demonstration, a group of about 80 pro-GOV "Chavistas" 
ransacked the Merida headquarters of the Democratic Action 
(AD) party.  Most of the AD leaders and staff were 
participating in the march at the time.  Police showed up in 
advance, but did not attempt to restrain the crowd until they 
broke up the looting at about 2:30 p.m., said Diaz.  He 
claimed the group burned a wooden door and AD documents, 
destroyed two nativity scenes, destroyed or stole office 
equipment and computers, and removed a large steel door. 
During the looting Esthela Lacruz, a local radio reporter, 
told poloff that she had to use a filing cabinet drawer for 
protection from projectiles from the crowd, who "did not want 
me to cover the story."  Diaz estimated about $7,000 of 
damaged. He claimed a similar attack on AD headquarters 
occurred February 12, 2003. 
 
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Comment 
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13. (C) The defense by the Merida Governor's Secretary of the 
charges seemed particularly hollow, especially when he failed 
to recall how many people were implicated or summoned ("20 
something").  Additionally, when asked about the details of 
the case, he replied only in blank stares and uttering the 
mantra "they beat" the Governor.  Once again, Danilo Anderson 
has been handed a dubious political case, confirming what his 
fellow prosecutors told us in June about his role as GOV 
hatchet man (ref d). 
SHAPIRO 
 
 
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      2004CARACA00651 - CONFIDENTIAL