US embassy cable - 04CARACAS1031

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 001031 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2014 
TAGS: ECON, KDEM, KPAO, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, VE 
SUBJECT: A PEEK BENEATH LARA STATE'S REVOLUTIONARY FACADE 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Charles S. Shapiro; reasons 1.4 (B) 
and (C) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  Information Officer traveled March 10-14 to 
Barquisimeto, Lara state to seek private media views on 
freedom of expression and on the state's economic and 
political landscape.  Most private media owners and 
managers maintain a low profile and present both pro- 
Venezuelan government (GOV) and opposition views in this 
nominally pro-Chavez state.  Many media outlets avoid 
confrontation because they rely on government advertising 
to keep afloat, and attacks on journalists and media 
installations are less frequent than in Caracas.  In spite 
of Barquisimeto's relatively tranquil facade, its residents 
are not immune to political confrontations, high 
unemployment from business failures, and threats that they 
will lose their jobs if they do not toe the Bolivarian 
revolutionary line.  End Summary. 
 
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The Who's Who of Lara Media 
--------------------------- 
 
2.  (C)  Information Officer (IO) traveled March 10-14 to 
Barquisimeto, the capital of Lara state, to meet with 
private print and broadcast media and solicit their views 
on freedom of expression and on the economic and political 
landscape.  Most private media owners and managers told IO 
that, because both Governor Luis Reyes Reyes and 
Barquisimeto Mayor Henri Falcon are MVR activists and 
Chavez confidants, they maintain a low profile and present 
both pro-GOV and opposition views on their pages and in 
their programs.  While some media owners and editors 
asserted they provide balanced coverage based on sound 
journalistic principles, others admitted that economic 
interests drive their decision.  They noted that private 
advertising had plummeted following the failure of hundreds 
of local businesses and industries and many media outlets 
relied on city, state and central government advertising to 
keep afloat. 
 
3.  (C)  Of Barquisimeto's three leading dailies, the 
largest and oldest is hundred-year-old "El Impulso," with a 
declared circulation around 60,000.  Its owners are the 
Carmona family.  Juan Manuel Carmona senior is President 
and his son Juan Manuel Carmona, with whom IO met, is 
Executive Vice President and an architecture professor at 
the Universidad Central (UCV) branch in Barquisimeto.  The 
family is related to Pedro Carmona, who proclaimed himself 
President in April 2002.  In part because "El Impulso" has 
other business ventures that subsidize lost advertising 
revenues, the paper regularly challenges the Chavez 
government in its editorials and general coverage. 
However, the paper takes a softer approach towards the 
governor and mayor, courting them to obtain state and city 
advertising, he explained. 
 
4.  (C)  The opposition-leaning Sigala and Gomez Tamayo 
families own the second oldest paper, "El Informador." 
Founded in 1967, its declared circulation is 35,000.  The 
paper prides itself in remaining out of the political fray, 
likely helped in part by Information Director Altidoro 
Gimenez, who is pro-Chavez, and according to one 
interlocutor, the leader of one of the city's Bolivarian 
Circles.  Gimenez said the paper focuses on local news of 
social and economic interest.  In response to IO's 
provision of information on Embassy Caracas and Department 
web sites and other USG materials, he expressed particular 
interest in receiving material on health, education, 
economic, and sports topics, as well as anything on visa 
application procedures. 
 
5.  (C)  Nine-year-old tabloid daily "Diario Hoy's" owners 
are the Montes de Oca (father of President Rafael Montes de 
Oca is Pepe Monte de Oca, a former interior minister during 
the Luis Herrera Campins presidency) and Gimenez families. 
Its declared circulation is 35,000.  The families also own 
regional television channel Telecentro (para 7).  The 
paper, which targets C, D, and E socio-economic classes 
(working class, poor, and extreme poor), prides itself for 
its objective, balanced reporting, as evidenced, Rafael 
 
Montes de Oca asserted, by one page each dedicated to pro- 
GOV and opposition views.  There are no "Talibanes" 
(radicals) in our paper or television station, he asserted. 
Largely steering clear of contentious political debate, the 
paper features sports, lottery results, and criminal 
incidents.  National, state, and local ads were 
commonplace, the bread and butter of the paper, explained 
Montes de Oca. 
 
------------------------------- 
Regional TV Seeks a Local Niche 
------------------------------- 
 
6.  (C)  Of Lara's two prominent regional television 
stations, Promar, which maintains a close news-sharing 
affiliation with national 24-hour news station Globovision, 
has suffered the most from attacks by GOV sympathizers, 
according to Promar President Jorge Kossowsky.  In December 
2002, armed Chavez sympathizers attacked Promar facilities 
with three explosive devices and several volleys of 
ammunition (IO observed a number of bullet holes in 
Promar's the front windows).  Since then, Promar had 
constructed a bunker-like steel-plated facility in front of 
its installations to buffer any future attacks.  According 
to Kossowsky, Promar had determined a "fifteen-minute 
rule," whereby the television station needed to defend 
itself from an attack for fifteen minutes before security 
forces could arrive on the scene.  Despite the occasional 
run-ins with the government, Promar gets some government 
advertising; Governor Reyes and Mayor Falcon appear on 
Promar programs and the channel covers their events. 
Kossowski expressed interest in increasing the Promar's use 
of USG programming and suggested that a 24-hour USG channel 
would be beneficial for Promar and other regional stations. 
 
7.  (C)  Lara's second largest television station, 
Telecentro, which is owned by "Diario Hoy's" Montes de Oca 
and Gimenez families, covers Lara, Yaracuy, Portuguesa, 
Cojedes states and parts of Falcon and Trujillo.  The 
owners pride themselves in the station's balanced 
reporting.  Governor Reyes Reyes, pro-opposition Yaracuy 
Governor Lapi, and Mayor Falcon have weekly programs on 
Telecentro.  Daily program, "Contrapunto" (counterpoint), 
includes the views of pro-GOV and opposition participants. 
State and local government ads are ample.  UNICEF recently 
awarded a prize to the station for its excellent children's 
programs, said Montes de Oca.  The worst enemy of the 
opposition had been the biased national private media, 
whose extreme stance against Chavez had served to fuel his 
regime rather than discredit it, opined Montes de Oca 
senior.  The media should focus on the facts and restrict 
its opinion to its editorial columns, he added. 
Telecentro's biggest challenge was monetary; the channel 
found the cost of access to international news feeds, such 
as CNN, Reuters, or BBC too expensive for its budget.  IO 
gave the station details on access to Worldnet and AETN 
channels. 
 
-------------------------- 
The Challenges of Cable TV 
-------------------------- 
 
8.  (C)  Media firm Intercable, with 70 percent U.S. 
investment (Hicks News) and the remaining investment 
primarily Argentine and Israeli, is struggling to survive 
in the state as it expands its operations in Caracas and 
other parts of Venezuela.  Intercable President Mario 
Seijas (who is also president of the National Radio and 
Television Chamber and former Vice Minister of Agriculture 
during the Ramon Velasquez government) noted that 
Intercable's primary challenges are to obtain dollars from 
the GOV exchange control agency, CADIVI, to pay its debt 
and to compete with local and foreign cable firms, about 
220 who operate illegally and who are not subject to 
stringent U.S. IPR and other laws.  (Note: Seijas claimed 
that Colombian narco-dollars funded many of these illegal 
firms.  End Note.) 
 
----------------------------------- 
Frank Discussion with Radio Chamber 
----------------------------------- 
 
9.  (C)  In IO's meeting with thirteen members of the Lara- 
Yaracuy Radio Chamber, including President Victor Ferrer 
 
(O.K. FM 101.5), the members explained that representatives 
from 33 of 36 licensed radio stations in the two states 
belong to the Chamber.  The 17 illegal stations and three 
licensed pro-Chavez stations members did not participate, 
explained Ferrer.  An ironic touch was that, while licensed 
stations were forced to broadcast President Chavez's and 
other GOV nationally televised "cadenas," the illegal 
stations, most of which were pro-Chavez were not.  Illegal 
stations were also exempt from paying taxes and licensing 
fees, he added.  Typical programming on some of the illegal 
"community" stations, many which Ferrer alleged received 
support from telecom regulatory agency CONATEL, included 
instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails and to seize 
a company's installations. 
 
10.  (C)  Chamber members highlighted their frustration in 
maintaining good relations with Governor Reyes Reyes. 
Ferrer noted that during the only meeting the Chamber had 
held with the Governor, Reyes Reyes had taken the 
opportunity to blame the media for the rise in crime and 
kidnappings and for provoking political violence. 
(Comment: Intercable President Seijas told IO that the rash 
of kidnappings in Lara had abated late last year after five 
kidnappers were killed during the rescue of the daughter of 
a wealthy rancher.  Among the dead were two policemen, who 
were reportedly the ringleaders and had a list of targeted 
ranchers and their families, alleged Seijas.  End Comment.) 
Though attacks on radio stations were rare, two incidents 
occurred in December 2002, one on FM 106 and the other on a 
station in Lara's second largest city, El Tocuyo.  To date, 
the authorities had not investigated these cases.  Ferrer 
added that the lack of access to dollars through CADIVI 
posed another challenge, but despite these threats and 
limitations, the radio stations were determined to operate. 
 
 
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The CNP Keeps an Eye on Freedom of Expression 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
11.  (C)  According to Colegio Nacional de Periodistas 
(CNP) Lara branch President Nolberto Herrera, a confessed 
ex- Chavez militant, most Lara media outlets avoid direct 
confrontation with the state and city governments, largely 
out of monetary interests, as state and local governments 
are the primary advertisers.  Even so, occasionally the 
state and local government would accuse private media of 
waging a disinformation campaign against the Chavez regime 
and his state and local government supporters in Lara. 
That said, journalists usually had regular access to the 
governor's and mayor's events, which enabled the media to 
provide more balanced reporting.  Threats against 
journalists were more sporadic and less aggressive, e.g., 
graffiti against journalists or brief detentions and 
inspections at police and military checkpoints, than those 
occurring in Caracas, with a few exceptions (paras 6 and 
8).  In response to the state and local government's 
passive-aggressive approach to local media, many 
journalists wore bulletproof vests and practiced self- 
censorship to avoid outright confrontation with the 
government, explained Herrera. 
 
12.  (C)  According to Herrera, government administrative 
actions against the media were also less common in Lara 
than in Caracas.  The one prominent legal case was Lara 
former state security chief (Ret.) Major Arnaldo Certain's 
2002 defamation suit against "El Impulso's" managing 
editor, Jose Angel Ocanto.  During the March 11 meeting 
with the CNP, news arrived of the local court's ruling in 
favor of Ocanto for lack of evidence.  "El Impulso's" 
Carmona told IO that Ocanto had not accused Certain of 
corruption and that he had merely compiled information from 
a number of sources that linked Certain with acts of 
corruption when Certain was director of Maiquetia 
International Airport. 
 
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A Bit on Lara 
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13.  (C)  Located in central-northwest Venezuela and with a 
population of around 800,000, Barquisimeto is the fourth 
largest city in Venezuela.  With a total population of over 
1.5 million (according to 2001 census; current estimates 
 
range from 1.8 million to over 2 million), Lara is the 
fifth most populated state in the country.  Lara serves as 
a commercial, communications, transportation, and migration 
crossroads for central and western Venezuela.  Its economic 
activities include small and medium manufacturing 
industries, agriculture, and meat and dairy production. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Commercial, Industrial and Unemployment Woes 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
14.  (C)  Barquisimeto's wholesale foodstuffs center, 
MERCABAR, serves as a distribution hub for western and 
central Venezuela.  Its industrial base has not been so 
fortunate, however. Once a thriving center for small and 
medium industries, the city's three industrial zones were 
now on the verge of collapse, according to Chamber of 
Commerce president Lino Palencia.  He said that Lara's 
unemployment was over 20 percent, and 40 percent of the 
employed work in the informal sector.  With the closing of 
over 65 percent of the companies, many laborers had moved 
to the informal sector to eke out a living.  Others were 
still working in the formal sector but only part time, he 
explained.  According to Radio Chamber members, high 
unemployment and underemployment levels were exacerbated by 
the government's hiring of thousands of temporary laborers 
and teachers, who received no benefits and whose employment 
continuity depended on their loyalty to the national, 
state, and municipal governments.  Workers were told that 
if they signed the presidential recall petition, they would 
lose their jobs, alleged Ferrer. 
 
15.  (C)  The owner of a once-thriving foundry told IO that 
he had reduced his employee pool from 45 workers to 10 in 
the past two years.  Yet he was fortunate to have an 
industry that had survived; about two thirds of the firms 
in his industrial park (Industrial Zone 1) had shut down, 
he said.  He described the zone as a ghost town, roads were 
so rutted that the only access was by four-wheel drive; 
electrical service was sporadic and one of the most 
expensive in Venezuela.  Leading U.S. firms, including 
Nabisco and Proctor and Gamble, were also downsizing, 
according to Chamber of Commerce board members.  Proctor 
and Gamble had reduced its presence and Nabisco was down to 
half-day operations in comparison to three full shifts a 
few years ago. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Lara: Laboratory for the Revolution 
----------------------------------- 
 
16.  (C)  A large number of Lara residents traditionally 
supported leftist ideologies, according to "El Impulso's" 
Carmona; thus initial support for Chavez was 
understandable.  With its governor and all nine mayors 
belonging to pro-Chavez parties, Lara had become one of the 
Chavez revolution's principal laboratories, opined Carmona, 
a view echoed by a number of the other media interlocutors. 
Over 350 Lara residents had already returned from social 
worker training in Cuba; another 120 had recently departed 
for Cuba, he said.  Flights departed from the air base to 
and from Cuba on a daily basis; the governor traveled 
regularly to Havana.  According to Carmona and Seijas, 
about 3,500 Cubans were present in Lara; the Cubans worked 
as medical practitioners, sports trainers, social workers, 
and security advisers. 
 
17.  (C)  FM radio station owner Gelly Del Moral, whose 
daughter is married to one of Governor Reye's assistants, 
and who had a particularly contentious interview with then 
President-elect Chavez in December 1998, recounted an 
incident that sheds light on the complexity of Lara's 
political loyalties and affiliations.  Police detained and 
then jailed former Social Movement Party (MAS) Mayor 
Macario Gonzalez for his participation in an anti-GOV 
demonstration in early March.  He told Del Moral that, 
contrary to his fears the other prisoners would attack and 
perhaps try to kill him, they welcomed him with open arms, 
urging him to continue his fight against the Chavez regime. 
Meanwhile, as Del Moral attempted to persuade the police to 
release Gonazlez, several of the officers, even some with 
"the stern semblance of chavistas," approached her and 
confided that they opposed Chavez and respected her 
journalistic efforts to challenge the government. 
 
 
---------------------- 
Political Inclinations 
---------------------- 
 
18.  (C)  Despite the prominence of Chavez loyalists in the 
state and local governments, media owner Kossowski opined 
that only about 10 to 12 percent of Lara's population was 
die-hard pro-Chavez.  He estimated that an additional 20 to 
25 percent supported Chavez out of self-interest. 
Unequivocal opposition support was probably less then 20 
percent; the remainder of the population favored a regime 
change but it was not convinced that the formal opposition 
under the Democratic Coordinator (CD) had either the 
leadership or the agenda to offer the population a viable 
alternative that was neither chavista nor elitist.  "El 
Impulso's" Carmona decried the passive stance of most of 
Lara's opposition, commenting that their idea of 
participating in a march was at home seated comfortably in 
front of a television, glass of scotch in hand. 
 
19.  (C)  Local support for Governor Reyes Reyes had also 
declined, according to Carmona; only around 44 percent of 
the population favored the governor.  Mayor Falcon's 
support was around 68 percent, estimated Carmona, largely 
because the mayor had beautified Barquisimeto; mere 
cosmetic touches, but visible to the public eye.  (Comment: 
A July 2003 University Fermin Toro poll (1,470 respondents; 
3.5 percent margin of error) conducted in the greater 
Barquisimeto area, produced similar results to Carmona's 
assertions.  Almost 60 percent of the respondents said they 
would vote against President Chavez in a recall referendum; 
31 percent would support Chavez; and 9 percent were 
undecided.  About 59 percent either did not support or had 
nothing positive to comment on Governor Reyes Reyes.  Over 
70 percent of the respondents either supported or had no 
negative comment on Mayor Henri Falcon.  End Note.) 
 
 
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Students - A New Force to Reckon With 
------------------------------------- 
 
20.  (C)  According to a number of interlocutors, almost 20 
percent of Barquisimeto residents are students at one of 
the city's eleven institutions of higher learning. 
Barquisimeto has surpassed Merida as the country's leading 
university city.  (Note: Merida's Binational Center 
Director estimates that about 26,000 students study at 
Merida's principal university, the University of the Andes 
(ULA) and that the city of Merida's population is about 
250,000.  End Note.)  "El Impulso's" Carmona and Promar's 
Kossowsky underscored what they termed the reawakening of 
the city's university population following the late 
February early March opposition and student demonstrations 
and the especially brutal crackdown -- including assault, 
unlawful detentions, torture, and murder -- on students in 
Caracas and in Carabobo, Merida, Tachira, Zulia, and other 
states.  Following these incidents, students approached the 
local media and requested a forum to express to views 
against alleged GOV brutality.  According to Carmona, 
Kossowsky, and other media owners, media outlets were now 
printing student articles and interviewing student leaders 
on talk shows.  "El Impulso's" March 8 editorial was 
titled, "Youth's Triumphant Return," in recognition of 
student protests against the National Electoral Council's 
(CNE) alleged theft of the Venezuelan people's right to 
conduct a recall referendum against President Chavez. 
Venezuelan university student participation in Venezuela's 
political process would turn the tide in favor of the 
opposition, predicted Carmona. 
 
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Comment 
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21.  (C)  Notwithstanding its relatively tranquil facade, 
Lara's media and other sectors have not been immune to 
political confrontations and tensions.  On March 15, 
Molotov cocktails were lobbed at pro-opposition Democratic 
Action Party (AD) headquarters in Barquisimeto. 
Retaliatory threats against government workers who signed 
the presidential recall petition are also commonplace. 
According to the Radio Chamber, Reyes Reyes has threatened 
 
 
to fire 18 state-run electrical company (ENELBAR) mid and 
upper-management employees, who had signed the recall 
petition unless they retract their signatures.  Though 
nominally a pro-Chavez state, much of the loyalty in Lara 
appears to be merely "employment-deep," driven in part by 
economic interests rather than a commitment to Chavez's 
Bolivarian revolution.  With a large and increasingly 
active university student population, recently awakened to 
the country's political crisis and by the targeting of 
students by GOV security forces, student partnership with 
the private media suggests Lara's days of relative calm may 
be numbered.  End Comment. 
SHAPIRO 
 
 
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      2004CARACA01031 - CONFIDENTIAL