US embassy cable - 04CARACAS1011

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 001011 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS USAID DCHA/OTI FOR RPORTER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/19/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, VE 
SUBJECT: GOV DAMAGE CONTROL OVERWHELMED BY BARRAGE OF 
INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM 
 
REF: A. CARACAS 560 
     B. CARACAS 634 
 
Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Political Counselor, for reasons 1.4 
(B) and (D) 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) The GOV attempted to supersede negative international 
media and NGO reports about alleged human rights violations 
by speaking directly to the international community in 
Caracas March 14 and 16.  Among the efforts, President Hugo 
Chavez called together Ambassadors to Venezuela March 5 and 
then European Union Ambassadors March 18 to refute the human 
rights allegations and to criticize the opposition's 
signature drive to unseat him.  International organizations 
and NGOs criticized the GOV's handling of a proposed 
presidential recall referendum before GOV security forces 
clashed with protesters from February 27 to March 5.  Most 
recently, the differences aired with a letter from the OAS 
regarding National Electoral Council (CNE) assertions of 
international bias.  Other criticism emanated from the EU and 
regional human rights organizations (see para 8).  End 
Summary. 
 
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GOV Counterattacks International Critics 
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2. (C) On March 16, the GOV responded to alleged &big lies8 
of GOV human rights abuses and unfair manipulation of the 
presidential recall process with a briefing for the 
international community headed by Vice President Jose Vicente 
Rangel.  "There is not one violation of human rights in this 
government,8 Rangel asserted.  "We would be the first to 
denounce it (human rights abuses), not the hypocrites and 
liars who always violated human rights in the past," Rangel 
said.  He blamed armed civilians for the deaths of nine (vice 
12) protesters and claimed that the accounts of high 
casualties, missing protesters, and GOV torture are a media 
invention.  The purpose of the meeting, Rangel asserted, was 
to counter alleged media and NGO misinformation because "we 
are certain one of our problems is how information is 
disseminated internationally."  He later admitted the 
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights' (IACHR) &campaign 
against the government8 is having an effect on international 
opinion and blasted Human Rights Watch as clueless 
bureaucrats. 
 
3. (C) Appearing with Rangel, National Assembly Deputy Luis 
Tascon explained the opposition's alleged &mega-fraud8 in 
the process to convoke a recall referendum on President Hugo 
Chavez.  He claimed the pro-GOV observers were not allowed to 
do their jobs during the opposition's signature drive, 
resulting in large numbers of signatures being forged.  He 
said the proof of fraud would &fill this room,8 but 
presented only a handful of examples.  Rangel later assured 
the GOV would allow a recall, but not under conditions of 
opposition trickery or violence.  Any attempt to overthrow 
Chavez &illegally8 would fail, he said, because the GOV is 
more powerful and organized than April 11, 2002, when Chavez 
was briefly deposed. 
 
4. (U) During his weekly televised program, March 14, Chavez 
also denied that the government had abused human rights and 
accused members of the opposition for protest-related deaths. 
 "There is no proof (of human rights violations), and if 
there was, you know that my government would investigate." 
Chavez said that his government "was forced to act to defend 
the Constitution, the law, and about all, public safety." 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Redirecting Blame to a Familiar Target: U.S. 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Chavez blamed the U.S. for Venezuela's problems during 
a March 5 address to the Diplomatic Corps, prompting DCM to 
walk out.  The harangue was a repeat of his February 29 
speech to a demonstration of his followers. In response to 
the March 11 EU Parliament resolution on Venezuela, Chavez 
 
 
summoned the European Union Ambassadors on March 18.  A Dutch 
diplomat told PolCouns that President Chavez verbally 
attacked the Ambassadors.  The diplomats thought they were 
going to have an opportunity to discuss the recent events 
with the President when Chavez dismissed the press a few 
minutes after the meeting began.  Chavez, however, then began 
a multi-hour monologue, criticizing European attitudes as 
fascist and warning the Ambassadors that if their countries 
were going to behave like the U.S. they could expect similar 
treatment.  One key element in both events was Chavez 
exhorting the ambassadors to tell their foreign ministries 
the truth, i.e. the Chavista version of events in Venezuela. 
 
6. (U) Chavez had previously attacked domestic human rights 
NGOs during his February 15 weekly televised program.  Chavez 
accused three prominent and respected Venezuelan human rights 
NGOs (Cofavic, Provea, and Red de Apoyo) of collaborating 
with the Washington-based Center for Justice and 
International Law to "threaten a legitimately established 
government."  He claimed the NGOs received funds from the US 
National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which he accused of 
being a tool for USG meddling in Venezuelan politics. 
Cofavic and two other Venezuelan organizations denounced 
Chavez's statements as "a threat to the work of human rights 
organizations in Venezuela."  Amnesty International agreed in 
its February 18 statement and demanded Chavez retract the 
allegations. 
 
------------------------------------- 
International Criticism: Human Rights 
------------------------------------- 
 
7. (U) --The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
(IACHR) released a report March 18 that covers events up to 
October 2003.  It identified a "clear weakness" in 
institutions, criminal impunity, and a growing concentration 
of power in the executive. 
 
--Human Rights Watch criticized the GOV's denial of human 
rights violations March 14, stating that testimony and 
evidence collected by group prove National Guardsmen are 
"unquestionably" guilty of torture, including electrocutions 
and burnings.  Jose Miguel Vivanco also blamed "agents of the 
state" for nine deaths and warned the Chavez administration 
that it was "grave danger" of losing its democratic 
legitimacy.  He added that the majority of the detained were 
set free and denied any knowledge of "forced disappearances." 
 
--On March 12 the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) 
accused the GOV of systematic violations of freedom of 
expression and press and of attacking any media that "doesn't 
bend to his (Chavez's) conditions," which provokes attacks 
from Chavez supporters.  It also denounced the GOV's 
noncompliance with a "constitutional, democratic and 
electoral solution" to Venezuela's political crisis and 
expressed concern about recent Supreme Court statements 
discounting the authority of international institutions and 
the "absolute right" of freedom of expression. 
 
--The IACHR included Venezuela in a list of five American 
countries with serious human rights concerns March 12.  It 
reiterated concerns about protest related deaths, injuries, 
and detentions. 
 
--On March 8, Reporters Without Borders requested the 
government condemn attacks on journalists and order an 
investigation of 10 alleged attacks on journalists by GOV 
forces since February 27. 
 
--On March 6, the International Society for Human Rights and 
the Andrei Sakharov Foundation, two prominent European NGOs, 
issued a communique criticizing the GOV for "subterfuges and 
false arguments ... historically used by other despots that 
ended up killing millions of human being with the sole 
purpose of perpetuating themselves in power."  The statement 
calls for international public opinion to "categorically 
reject" the GOV's human rights abuses. 
 
--Human Rights Watch March 5 urged "a thorough investigation 
into allegations that state security forces have beaten and 
abused detained protesters."  The statement also raised 
concerns about opposition vandalism and violence and urged 
 
 
both sides to pursue peaceful avenues of reconciliation. 
 
--On March 3, Reporters Without Borders protested the failure 
of the GOV to prevent attacks on about a dozen journalists 
since February 27, implying that GOV security forces were to 
blame.  "If the media take sides against President Chavez, on 
occasion outrageously, this can still never justify the use 
of force against their reports." 
 
--A March 4 statement from Amnesty International criticized 
the GOV for "excessive use of force and detentions." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
International Criticism: Recall Referendum 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
8. (U) --OAS Observer Mission Chief Fernando Jaramillo 
released a letter March 19 responding to March 18 comments 
from National Electoral Council (CNE) President Francisco 
Carrasquero criticizing the OAS and Carter Center electoral 
observers as biased toward the opposition.  The letter 
outlined the OAS observer mission based on the May 29 
agreement, the OAS's objective and successful history 
observing electoral processes, and the GOV's invitation to 
observe the petition campaign and the verification process. 
Jaramillo asked the CNE President to share proof of OAS bias 
and state that the OAS observation delegation would leave 
Venezuela if asked to do so by the CNE. (Note: On March 23 
Jaramillo met with the CNE for a very tense two hours.  The 
CNE majority said the OAS/TCC were biased by applying 
independent criteria to the verification process. They did 
not, however, ask the OAS/TCC observers to leave.) 
 
--On March 15, the Group of Friends of Venezuela released a 
communique to express its concern about delays in the recall 
process.  They released a similar statement March 5. 
 
--The European Union March 4 lamented the protest violence 
and expressing solidarity with the OAS's March 2 opinion that 
the CNE was using technicalities to force signatures into a 
revalidation process. 
 
--The OAS and Carter Center released a joint statement March 
2 expressing disagreement with the CNE's decision to send 
over 800,000 recall signatures to a revalidation process. 
 
--The European Union expressed its concern over the delay of 
the signature authentication process February 23.  In a 
statement, the EU welcomed the CNE's February 28 deadline for 
completing the process and emphasized "the will of the 
signers must be respected." 
 
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Conclusion 
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9. (C) The GOV is struggling to repair significant damage to 
its international human rights reputation.  The GOV's 
wholesale denial of guilt amidst a plethora of charges makes 
it look ludicrous and disdainful.  The occasional handful of 
"mega-fraud" examples thrown out by Chavez and Tascon are 
mega-insignificant and are often errors the opposition admits 
to and included in its internal audit.  The GOV's blaming of 
the opposition for "attacking itself" and allegedly forging 
870,000 signatures, only worked to unite a recently fractious 
network of domestic human rights NGOs.  Complete text of many 
of the referenced statements from NGOs and international 
organizations can be found at the Caracas SIPRNet site: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/caracas/index .cfm 
SHAPIRO 
 
 
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      2004CARACA01011 - CONFIDENTIAL