US embassy cable - 04CARACAS1723

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 001723 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MARR, PINS, KDEM, VE 
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ CALLS FOR CITIZEN SOLDIERS 
 
REF: A. CARACAS 1646 
     B. CARACAS 1543 
 
Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Political Counselor, 
for Reasons 1.4 (d). 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) President Hugo Chavez addressed a pro-GOV mass march 
on May 16 against the alleged Colombian paramilitaries 
detained near Caracas May 9.  Outlining a new strategy for 
the "integral, popular defense" of the country, Chavez 
pledged to increase the size and budget of the armed forces, 
root out of "traitorous" military officers, and begin 
organizing civilians units under military command to defend 
the country.  Regarding the alleged paramilitaries, Chavez 
revealed that he had anticipated their presence and had 
placed 5,000 troops on the streets prior to May 9 for 
protection.  Chavez blamed the paramilitary plot on 
"right-wingers in Washington" and said it was he who ordered 
the MILGP out of its offices on Fuerte Tiuna.  Opposition 
parties denounced the citizen militias as "legalized 
paramilitaries."  The proposal is a radical push, under 
constitutional cover while the opposition's attention is 
diverted, by which Chavez hopes to be able to better defend 
himself and his revolution.  End summary. 
 
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March Against Paramilitaries 
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2. (U) Perhaps more than a 100,000 Chavez supporters marched 
from eastern Caracas to the downtown area on May 16 to 
protest foreign interventionism and the alleged presence of 
Colombian paramilitaries in Venezuela (refs a and b). 
Marchers carried signs saying "Paramilitaries and the CIA out 
of Venezuela," "Bush is an assassin and coup-plotter," and 
"Yankee Go Home, Bush Go To Hell."   GOV officials speaking 
to reporters chimed a recurring theme that the march was a 
demonstration that all Venezuelans, Chavistas or no, had 
turned out to reject the "terrorism" propagated by 
paramilitaries.  President Chavez addressed the march at the 
end point on Avenida Bolivar.  Private media showed images of 
the dozens of buses parked nearby, suggesting that the GOV 
employed its usual practice of bringing supporters from 
outside of Caracas. 
 
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"An Integral, Popular National Defense" 
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3. (U) Chavez told the crowd that his "Bolivarian Revolution" 
had entered an anti-imperialist phase, announcing three new 
strategic objectives for ensuring the "integral, popular 
defense" of the nation.  The first of these objectives, 
Chavez said, is the strengthening of the military through an 
increase in size and operational capacity.  This will include 
greater intake into the military and, if necessary, the 
acquisition of weapons, Chavez said.  The President said he 
is still considering whether to create a special "theater of 
operations" in the center of the country to better coordinate 
the military.  To this end, Chavez said he had added that he 
had approved a 20 billion bolivar increase (about USD 10 
million) to the Army and National Guard. 
 
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Chavez Orders U.S. MILGP Off Base 
--------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) The second objective, he said, is to root out 
"traitors" in the military, an operation he called "deepening 
the civil-military union."  Chavez said he had ordered 
Minister of Defense Gen. Jorge Garcia Carneiro to warn 
garrison commanders not to associate with traitors.  Chavez 
also noted the need to improve education of military 
personnel and be sure of the reliability of those military 
trainers.  Chavez digressed to say he had ordered the MILGP 
 
out of Fuerte Tiuna to make room for the government 
employment program "Mision Vuelvan Caras."  Chavez said 
Fuerte Tiuna is a "sovereign space" and he could not permit 
any international presence, especially that of the U.S. 
"empire." 
 
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Citizens Organized for Defense 
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5. (U) The third objective, Chavez said, is to incorporate 
the Venezuelan people into the defense of the nation.  "Every 
citizen should consider himself a soldier," Chavez declared. 
Earlier attempts at building reserves have been insufficient, 
he said, and proposed organizing citizen groups that would 
receive informal military training. The groups should be 
formed in every "poor neighborhood, canyon, island, 
countryside, university, factory, jungle, in every place 
where there is a group of patriots."  Chavez called on his 
military cohort, including active duty, retired and cashiered 
officers such as Minister of Information Jesse Chacon and 
Tachira Governor Ronaldo Blanco La Cruz, to lead Venezuelans 
in the formation of these groups to defend the country. 
 
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More Paramilitaries, GOV Was Ready 
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6. (U) President Chavez reported the GOV had 120 alleged 
Colombian paramilitaries in custody (up from 89 a few days 
earlier).  Chavez said that nine of those in custody are 
minors and pledged either to return them to their families in 
Colombia or, if they desired, to place them in a Bolivarian 
school in Venezuela.  The President also said that his 
security forces were expecting some type of subversive 
activity before May 9 when the first group of alleged 
paramilitaries was detained.  Chavez said he had ordered 
5,000 troops to patrol Venezuela in anticipation. 
 
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Opposition Reacts to "Militias" Proposal 
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7. (U) Opposition parties on May 17 roundly rejected Chavez's 
call to give military training to citizen groups.  Leopoldo 
Puchi, Secretary General of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), 
charged that the GOV is introducing "legalized 
paramilitaries" to Venezuela to serve the political interests 
of the Chavez administration.  Representatives of COPEI 
accused the government of creating an "artificial" civil war 
in order to avoid the presidential recall referendum. 
Solidaridad Deputy Ernesto Alvarenga said Chavez's call for 
armed citizenry gives tacit approval to existing Venezuelan 
armed groups such as the Tupamaros, Carapaicas, Bolivarian 
Circles, and the Bolivarian Liberation Forces (FBL). 
 
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Comment 
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8. (C) Although the GOV is using the "paramilitaries" 
incident to distract from the presidential referendum and 
discredit the opposition, the incident is also giving Chavez 
cover as he takes one further radical step.  In his proposal 
to make civilians into defenders of the country, carefully 
basing it on an article in the Constitution, Chavez has made 
"country" and his "revolution" interchangeable.  He never 
used the phrase "peoples militias," but it sounded ominously 
like militias.  Whether the idea ever really flourishes can 
be questioned.  Chavez's grandiose push for a substantial 
reserve corps has not yet met its mark, as he himself 
admitted when he told his audience that so far they had 
incorporated half of the 100,000 men and women they hope 
would comprise the reserves.  By giving the military a 
leading role, however, Chavez has craftily avoided giving the 
impression that he is creating a competing armed force, a 
step that would likely rankle institutionalists in the 
officer corps.  The promise of additional resources to the 
military also serves to mitigate jealousies that could erode 
 
loyalties or prod challengers.  At a minimum, the plan will 
legitimize Chavez supporters who already have links to armed 
irregular groups.  No doubt it will also serve as one more 
income distribution tool for the government to dole out 
stipends to the needy defenders of the Bolivarian revolution. 
 
 
SHAPIRO 
 
 
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      2004CARACA01723 - CONFIDENTIAL