US embassy cable - 04CARACAS3583

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 003583 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
HQ SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2024 
TAGS: PHUM, KDEM, PGOV, VE 
SUBJECT: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PRESSES FORWARD ON MEDIA LAW 
 
REF: A. STATE 223273 
     B. CARACAS 03365 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASON 1.4(d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) Veneuela's National Assembly approved 17 more articles 
in sessions on November 9, 11, 15, and 18. A top priority of 
President Hugo Chavez, the GoV seeks to complete the 
legislation by December 15. Beginning November 8, opposition 
parties withdrew from negotiations begun on September 23 with 
Minister of Communication Andres Izarra. Deputies postponed 
discussion of articles establishing the criteria for 
independent producers, which is likely to stir the most 
heated debate. With a total of 36 articles to discuss prior 
to approval, and a month to finish discussion, most observers 
and participants in the debate expect passage of the law, 
incorporating a few, relatively insignificant changes, by the 
end of the 2004 legislative session in December.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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PRESSURE FROM THE TOP 
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2. (U) Minister of Communication and Information Andres 
Izarra is leading the government's public campaign in support 
of the media content law. Seeking to undermine media and 
opposition claims that the law is meant to censor the media 
and help strengthen President Hugo Chavez's control of the 
country, Izarra has sought to portray the law simply as a 
measure to protect children, parents, and families from 
inappropriate language, violence, and sexual content. On 
September 23, Izarra installed a "technical committee" to 
discuss the law's provisions, and come to agreement on 
priorities and specific bill language. 
 
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COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER ADMITS LAW IS "IMPOSSIBLE TO APPLY" 
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3. (U) In an interview with daily "El Universal" published on 
10/17, Izarra admitted that the law is impossible to apply at 
the present time. He said implementation would have to be 
gradual until enough national independent producers (NIPs) 
come on-line and can fulfill the NIP quota as prescribed in 
the law. Izarra admitted that in the meeting deputies 
convinced him that some articles need to be "refined and made 
more precise" because they are "not viable" as currently 
written. He also called the law's requirement that NIP's have 
no connection what-so-over to the media "an aberration" and 
"unsustainable." 
 
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THE VIEW FROM THE LEGISLATURE 
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4. (U) The National Assembly is two-thirds of the way through 
the second required reading of the bill. In a sign of how 
emotional the debate has been, attempts to begin this reading 
were marred by a near fist-fit, televised from the assembly 
floor. 
 
5. (C) Opposition legislators echo concerns raised by the 
media, particularly regarding the national telecommunications 
 
agency's (CONATEL's) role in the implementation of the law. 
The National Assembly's Media Committee President, Luis 
Berdugo (Accion Democratica), told Poloff he believed the 
strong push for the law before the October 31 regional 
elections was a move to "turn up the heat" and change the 
subject of the national debate away from allegations of fraud 
in the recall referendum.  He told Poloff that the 
opposition's only tactics are to "denounce, delay, and 
distract," but thinks the effort is futile, predicting 
passage of the law (with a few changes) before year's end. 
 
6. (C) In a conversation with Poloff on October 25, Primero 
Justicia deputy Gerardo Blyde expressed optimism that 
Communications Minister Izarra was willing to negotiate in 
good faith to improve the law, incorporating some modest but 
important changes favored by the media. Blyde, who says he 
has known the minister for many years (since "before he was a 
Chavista") regarded Izarra as a reasonable interlocutor and 
negotiator. Blyde said the test would be to see if President 
Chavez continued to allow Izarra to negotiate, or forced a 
harder line. Citing a new lack of GoV willingness to 
negotiate, on November 8 Blyde announced that the Primero 
Justicia party would withdraw from the "technical committee." 
The following day, first Accion Democratica (A.D.), then 
Copei and La Causa R also withdrew from the discussions. 
 
7. (C) Pro-GoV proponents of the law have been unwilling to 
discuss it with Poloff. Appointments were twice canceled and 
not rescheduled. However, one MVR deputy who is a proponent 
of the law, when approached in another setting, repeated the 
GoV's talking points about the "protection of children and 
families" nature of the law, and when challenged about the 
"no violence" journalism concerns, sought to reassure Poloff 
that the language was being changed to loosen those 
restrictions and that the news media had nothing to worry 
about. 
 
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CONDEMNATION AND CONCERN FROM NGO'S 
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8. (U) In November, several NGO's that deal with press issues 
have expressed their serious concern over the intent and 
likely effects of the law. Chief among them are the 
Inter-American Human Rights Commission (under the 
Organization of American States), the Inter-American Press 
Association (IAPA), and Reporters without Borders.  IAPA 
released a strongly worded statement after their annual 
conference in Guatemala, while the IAHRC statement provoked a 
quick reply from the Minister of Communications, who termed 
it unwelcome interference in domestic affairs. While Human 
Rights Watch has not recently commented on the law, their top 
Venezuela expert in Washington told Poloff earlier this fall 
that the content law and the overall issue of freedom of the 
press is the organization's top priority in Venezuela 
presently. 
 
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COMMENT 
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9. (C) The National Assembly is pressing article by article 
to pass the media content law. Pro-GoV deputies have the 
simple majority needed for passage. For their part, much of 
the media now seem resigned to their fate. Union Radio, the 
largest news radio station in the country, last week 
announced a revamped broadcast schedule, which they said 
 
would include less opinion-based programming. 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2004CARACA03583 - CONFIDENTIAL