US embassy cable - 04CARACAS2387

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 002387 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
USAID DCHA/OTI FOR RPORTER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, VE 
SUBJECT: COMANDO MAISANTA: A MID-CAMPAIGN UPDATE 
 
Classified By: ACTING DCM ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (U)  Since its formation, President Hugo Chavez's 
anti-recall referendum campaign committee, Comando Maisanta, 
has balanced its activities between concentrated lobbying and 
widespread propaganda dissemination.  Comando Maisanta has 
pushed for redistributing voting centers and purifying the 
electoral registry in their meetings with the National 
Electoral Council (CNE).  Finalizing the formation of citizen 
electoral patrols has most recently been a central component 
of the campaign, with President Chavez traveling around 
Venezuela to induct the members personally.  End Summary. 
 
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REDISTRIBUTION AND PURIFICATION 
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2.  (U)  President Chavez's Comando Maisanta, the campaign 
committee established to win the recall referendum, has 
continuously called for the redistribution of and an increase 
in the number of voting centers around Venezuela.  On June 
22, Maripili Hernandez, national director of events and image 
for Comando Maisanta, publicly asserted that there is a 
profound disequilibrium in the distribution of voting centers 
that negatively affects the poorer, more populous areas. 
Despite a July 13 decision by the CNE to not add 1000 
additional voting centers in poorer neighborhoods, the issue 
continues to resurface.  During their July 16 meeting with 
members of the CNE, Minister of Information and Communication 
Jesse Chacon and Samuel Moncada, a member of the Comando 
Maisanta brain-trust, once again called for an increase in 
the number of voting centers. 
 
3.  (U)  In his July 16 meeting with the CNE, Moncada also 
questioned the purity, transparency and trustworthiness of 
the national electoral registry.  He claimed that although 
the CNE removed 160,000 deceased persons from the registry, a 
significant, but unnamed, quantity of the dead still needed 
to be removed.  Moncada also contended that more than 5,000 
Venezuelans living abroad had effectively renounced their 
citizenship and should also be removed from the registry. 
 
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ELECTORAL PATROLS 
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4.  (U)  To reach into the communities, Comando Maisanta has 
established electoral patrols.  These groups of ten 
individuals are a central component of the President's 
anti-recall campaign.  President Chavez has conducted rallies 
in major metropolitan areas across Venezuela to induct 
members personally.  Patrol members are responsible for 
mobilizing voters for the August 15 referendum and organizing 
local-level events in support of Chavez.  Comando Maisanta 
hopes to establish 130,000 patrols with a total 1.3 million 
members; the ideal number, they say, needed to manage 13 
million voters.  On July 14, Fifth Republican Movement (MVR) 
deputy and national director of organization for Comando 
Maisanta, William Lara claimed that only 100,000 patrols had 
been established.  He further admitted that all of the 
existing patrols were not completely efficient and that 
Comando Maisanta would be conducting an audit of the patrols 
to evaluate their performance. 
 
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PROPAGANDA AND SMEAR TACTICS 
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5.  (U)  Comando Maisanta's campaign strategy is focused on 
maintaining a steady flow of electoral propaganda.  Members 
of the patrols hand out leaflets that claim Venezuelan 
sovereignty is under attack by the United States and also 
tout the successes of Chavez's presidency, focusing 
specifically on PDVSA, the social missions and improvements 
to the health system.  Additionally, Chavez supporters have 
 
hung large "Vote No" signs every 15 feet in the median of the 
central highway in Caracas.  The blanket coverage of "Vote 
No" signs took place the day after the National Guard 
prevented pro-opposition activists from placing their 
propaganda in the very same locations. 
 
6.  (U)  The Comando Maisanta has also used unfounded 
allegations to discredit and defame the opposition.  During a 
July 4 public address on Margarita Island, William Lara 
accused the opposition of formulating a plot to sabotage the 
voting machines that will be used for the August 15 
referendum.  In the July 11 episode of "Alo Presidente", 
President Chavez asserted that the National Endowment for 
Democracy funded the Coordinadora Democratica's "Plan 
Consenso Pais" (National Consensus Plan).  On July 13, Samuel 
Moncada publicly stated that the font and color scheme used 
by the opposition for its "Si" propaganda are identical to 
the format used by the United Self-Defense Forces (AUC) in 
Colombia, and therefore was evidence of links between the two 
groups. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.   (C)  As the date of the referendum approaches, the 
campaign is picking up momentum and will continue to 
intensify.  Members of Comando Maisanta have latched on to a 
number of key issues, which they believe will help determine 
the outcome.  The issue of "insufficient" numbers of voting 
centers in poorer neighborhoods, in concert with 
complications that may arise from the voting and fingerprint 
machines, potentially provides Chavez and Comando Maisanta 
with ammunition should they choose to contest the results of 
the referendum if the results are in favor of the opposition. 
 For now, the issue has been sidelined as the National 
Electoral Council contemplates the addition of voting 
machines at established centers instead of opening new ones. 
That said, however, it does not mean that the Comando 
Maisanta has abandoned it.  A for the electoral patrols, 
where they operate, they appear to be effective.  The test 
for Comando Maisanta will be how many they eventually 
constitute and the breadth of their coverage across the 
nation. 
McFarland 
 
 
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      2004CARACA02387 - CONFIDENTIAL