US embassy cable - 04CARACAS882

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 000882 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR TSHANNON AND CBARTON 
USCINSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, VE 
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ'S LONG ARM CHOKES JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS 
 
REF: CARACAS 00620 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Charles S. Shapiro for Reason 1.4(d). 
 
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SUMMARY: 
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1. (C) Recently fired chief prosecutor Ramon Medina told 
poloff March 9 that the Attorney General's Office is 
increasingly focused on solidifying Chavez's hold on domestic 
institutions.  Medina, a long-time contact of the Embassy's 
LegAtt and PAS offices, said he was dismissed because he 
resisted GoV pressures to dismiss cases or bring charges 
against Chavez's political enemies.  One of the three trial 
judges dismissed by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) for 
ordering some detained anti-GoV protestors released told 
poloff March 10 that the court system was becoming more 
corrupt and open to manipulation by political pressure or 
threat.  The recent dismissals of prosecutors and judges 
signal greater GoV manipulation of the justice system and 
further centralization of power in the executive.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Top Prosecutor Fired For Resisting GOV Manipulation 
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2. (C) During a March 9 meeting with poloff, recently fired 
prosecutor Ramon Medina said he had received indirect 
warnings to change his political "attitude," warnings he 
regarded as blatant attempts to manipulate his decisions to 
support the Chavez regime's domestic political agenda. 
Medina was dismissed in late February from his position as an 
office director in the Office of the Attorney General 
(Fiscalia), where he supervised over 500 prosecutors, or over 
70 percent of the nation's public prosecutors.  (Note: Medina 
is a long-time contact of the Embassy's Legatt and 
participated  in a PAS-sponsored Voluntary Visitors program 
in 2003 in which representatives of several Venezuelan law 
enforcement offices traveled to the U.S. for meetings with 
counterparts to review practices for establishing an 
inter-agency anti-terrorism force.  End Note.)  The Attorney 
General's office also dismissed Director of Procedural Action 
Carmen Alguindigue and Human Rights Division director Magaly 
Malpica (reftel).  Medina and Alguindigue were fired 
outright.  Malpica was allowed to retire early. 
 
3. (C) Medina said Venezuelan Attorney General Attorney 
General Isias Rodriguez, applied pressure to dismiss cases, 
disqualify certain prosecutors, or bring specific charges 
against Chavez's political targets.  Medina said he himself 
was finally targeted because he would did not cooperate. 
When he saw the writing on the wall, Medina offered to resign 
his position as an office director, but instead he was fired 
completely.  Attorney General Rodriguez himself made the 
final decision.  Medina charged that the Attorney General's 
Office is now focused entirely on solidifying Chavez's hold 
on domestic institutions and eliminating any perceived 
domestic political threat.  Contacts with foreign governments 
are being reduced, hampering cooperation on issues such as 
international terrorism.  The Attorney General's Office, he 
said, is "armoring" itself from any influence from the 
outside. 
 
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Politics Dictates Charges, Stymies HR Investigations 
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4. (C) Medina said there are no formal criteria regarding 
charges to prosecute opposition protestors detained during 
the unrest stretching from February 27 through March 6. 
Instead, prosecutors are using their own judgment to bring 
charges such as disrupting public order or environmental 
(non-criminal) offenses for setting up burning street 
barricades.  Charges for civil rebellion, he said, are rarely 
supported by actions during street demonstrations and 
therefore are obviously politically-motivated. 
 
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Judges Dismissed with Pressure from Executive 
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5. (C) On March 10 Judge Maria del Carmen Trastory Hombre 
provided poloff with a copy of the order signed by TSJ Chief 
Justice Ivan Rincondismissing her from her position as a 
Caracas criminal judge.  Trastory is one of three trial 
judges dismissed by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) March 
2 for ordering some detained anti-GoV protestors released. 
Miguel Angel Luna, another of the dismissed judges, told 
poloff March 10 that speaking with a USG official could ruin 
his chances of getting his job back and woudl not agree to 
meet.  Petra Jimenez, the third dismissed judge, was 
unavailable. 
 
6. (C) Trastory said she ordered six detained opposition 
demonstrators released March 2 because the GoV had provided 
insufficient evidence to support the detentions.  Some 
detainees were arrested on charges of creating a "danger of a 
catastrophe," but the facts presented did not indicate any 
significant public danger.  Others were arrested for 
"resisting authorities," but the facts alleged only that the 
demonstrators were running away from GoV troops.  Trastory 
said this was insufficient under the law to support such a 
charge, and not nearly strong enough to overcome the 
citizens' right to demonstrate guaranteed under Articles 68, 
219 and 221 of the Venezuelan constitution.  Trastory also 
recalled that the detainees in question showed evidence of 
having been beaten by authorities after arrest.  One victim 
was severely bruised on his back from his neck down the 
length of his spine.  Trastory said she remains confident in 
her decision based on her fourteen years of criminal law 
experience (nine years as a prosecutor and her five years as 
a criminal judge). 
 
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Political Moves Against the Judiciary 
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7. (C) Trastory said that, as is the case in the U.S., when a 
prosecutor does not agree with a judge's ruling, the normal 
procedure is to file a motion to stay the order with a higher 
court pending a judicial appeal of the ruling.  In this 
instance, however, GoV officials resorted to a political 
move, dismissing the judges rather than going through legal 
channels to appeal the decisions. 
 
8. (C) The odd manner in which the decision was made makes 
Trastory sure the decision to dismiss her is politically 
motivated.  While the TSJ's Chief Justice signed the order, 
Trastory is sure the order came from a Chavez ally in the GoV 
executive branch such as Vice President Jose Vincente Rangel 
or Minister of Infrastructure Diosdado Cabello.  She noted 
that her court is located in Sucre State, where the local 
mayor is Jose Vincente Rangel Avalos, the Vice President's 
son.  She also said she signed the petition seeking the 
recall of Chavez in December 2003 and had since been targeted 
by Rangel and pro-Chavez activists seeking to purge the 
court. 
 
9. (C) Trastory asserted that the court system was becoming 
more and more corrupt and open to manipulation by political 
pressure.  Many corrupt judges, she said, were willing to 
received political favors or payments, or succumbed to 
threats, to rule in a manner preferred by the GoV.  The 
shrinking number of independent judges, she said, are 
increasingly afraid of retribution. 
 
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Comment 
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10. (C) Keeping a lid on trial judges and prosecutors will 
strengthen Chavez's hand as he tries to punish opposition 
demonstrators and discourage further protests by 
strengthening the public perception that GoV security forces 
can attack or imprison demonstrators with impunity.   Chavez 
clearly hopes this will make opposition activists think twice 
before challenging GoV forces in the streets.  Perhaps of 
greater concern, the recent dismissals of prosecutors and 
 
judges signal greater GoV manipulation of the justice system, 
willingness to force out officials who refuse to support the 
chavista political agenda, and centralization of power in the 
executive. 
 
SHAPIRO 
 
 
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      2004CARACA00882 - CONFIDENTIAL