US embassy cable - 04CARACAS3677

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 003677 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KJUS, VE 
SUBJECT: RESULTS OF JUDICIAL REFORM IN VENEZUELA: MOVING 
FORWARDS OR BACKWARDS? 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d 
) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  The administration of justice in Venezuela faces 
criticism on two principal grounds.  The first is the claim, 
voiced by the political opposition, NGOs, judges, and the 
World Bank, that the justice system is not politically 
neutral, and that prosecutors and judges are acting according 
to political orders from the Executive Branch.  The second 
complaint is that the justice system is not efficiently 
protecting citizens from crime, and that impunity can be 
bought through money or influence.  These complaints call 
into question ten years of judicial reform programs 
(described septel).  This cable looks at the present 
situation of Venezuela's justice system and areas for future 
improvement.  End Summary. 
 
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Judicial Independence 
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2.  (C)  Human Rights Watch released a report in June calling 
Venezuela's Supreme Court Law a danger to judicial 
independence. The law expanded the number of justices from 20 
to 32 and made it easier for sitting judges to be removed or 
suspended by other branches of government.  Given the 
structure of the Venezuelan judiciary, the law is widely seen 
as an attempt to ensure the political reliability of the 
judiciary.  The report also focused on the Supreme Court 
Judicial Committee's firing of temporary and provisional 
judges without due process.  The report cited the fact that 
over 80% of judges in Venezuela are provisional or temporary, 
and alleged that the Judicial Committee has removed many of 
them for apparently political reasons. 
 
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With Us or Against Us? 
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3.  (C)  Beatriz Perez, a trial judge in the penal courts of 
Caracas, told PolOff August 4 that a fellow judge, 
ideologically identified with the GOV, had asked her, "Are 
you with us, or against us?"  Perez speculated that she was 
asked the question because she had not signed the petition 
for the Presidential recall referendum.  Perez, who tried a 
case against Chavista street leader Lina Ron in 2000, 
described an atmosphere inside the Caracas courts where 
judges did not talk to their colleagues, for fear of 
political retaliation.  Vicente Mujica, alternate Appeals 
Court judge and a law professor at the Central University, 
told PolOff November 5 that judges went to work afraid, 
knowing they would have no support from their judicial 
superiors if they took decisions against the political 
interests of the GOV.  Mujica complained that only judges 
politically loyal to Chavismo are assigned to training. 
 
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This is Political! 
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4.  (C)  Caracas 9th Appeals Court Judge Cesar Sanchez told 
PolOff June 3 that, in reference to the cases arising from 
the Feb-March disturbances, a colleague had told him, "This 
is not judicial, its political."  Sanchez criticized the 
firing of tenured judges on a technicality, after a ruling 
freeing an opposition leader arrested in March.  Sanchez said 
judges get around the political pressure by delaying cases, 
and trying to get themselves taken off political cases. 
Caracas 2nd Appeals Court Judge Jesus Ollarves told PolOff 
June 21 that he received threats after ruling on the same 
case.  Ollarves, nonetheless, returned to the Court recently 
to take two high profile decisions against the apparent 
wishes of the GOV. 
 
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TSJ Solution 
 
SIPDIS 
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5.  (C)  Candido Perez, head of Administration at the Supreme 
Court, and Ricardo Jimenez, head of IT at the Court, told 
PolOff November 8 that corruption and the tenure of judges 
 
 
would be addressed in a new Judicial Reform proposal the 
Supreme Court was proposing to the World Bank.  Jimenez said 
the new proposal would solve the problem of provisional 
judges by creating a National School of Magistrature (ENM). 
All prospective judges would be evaluated to determine if 
they should be admitted, trained for 18 months, and then 
given an exam, on the basis of which they would be assigned 
as tenured judges, alternate judges, or judicial assistants. 
Edgar Lopez, judicial correspondent for El Nacional, told 
PolOff November 21 that Supreme Court Justice Ivan Rincon 
rejected a proposal to have a respected jurist lead the ENM, 
allegedly to reserve the position for himself, or someone 
else who would screen applicants politically as well as 
academically. 
 
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World Bank Doesn't Buy It 
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6.  (C)  David Varela, resident representative of the World 
Bank, told PolOff November 16 that a Supreme Court proposal 
for a Judicial Modernization project had been rejected by the 
Bank due to concerns about judicial independence.  Varela 
cited the Supreme Court Law, and the high percentage of 
provisional judges as reasons the plan was rejected.  Varela 
said that the Bank could not accept the idea that the Supreme 
Court would use the loan to solve these problems, when it had 
taken no steps to do so during this year.  He said there was 
no prospect of any but low level World Bank involvement with 
the Venezuelan courts until steps were taken to increase 
independence. 
 
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Political Prosecutors? 
---------------------- 
 
7.  (C)  The role of judges in political cases is most 
important in terms of their willingness to confront 
prosecutors who are pursuing weak cases, and their 
willingness to order suspects be detained.  Under Venezuelan 
judicial procedures, prosecutors initiate investigations and 
accuses suspects.  There are persistent claims of political 
prosecutions in Venezuela, largely associated with a small 
group of prosecutors who are assigned all controversial 
cases.  Speaking to PolOff November 10, Danilo Anderson, one 
of the most active of the political prosecutors, rejected the 
notion that there is a political directorate in the Attorney 
General's office (Note: Anderson was killed November 18 - 
Caracas 03577).  Prosecutors simply follow the orders of 
Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez, Anderson said.  Anderson 
maintained that the prosecutions are simply based on the 
evidence, and that it was up to the judges to decide if cases 
have merit.  Ali Marquina (protect), a prosecutor presently 
suspended, told PolOff August 30 that Rodriguez had removed 
prosecutors who were not considered loyal to the GOV.  (Note: 
The A/G is nominally part of an independent branch of 
government, the Citizen Power, but Rodriguez was Chavez' Vice 
President in 2000.) 
 
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Or Just Scared? 
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8.  (C)  Carmen Alguindigue, number three in the Attorney 
General's Office until February, told PolOff November 4 that 
there was virtual sit-down strike in the Attorney General's 
office, as prosecutors were afraid to take on any cases, 
since they did not know what connections those involved might 
have.  Alguindigue claims to have been fired for failing to 
show loyalty to the GOV.  She alleged that the chaotic 
internal organization of the Attorney General's Office 
encouraged corruption and incompetence, as there was no way 
to track cases to make sure they were receiving the correct 
treatment, or to verify that necessary investigations were 
being done.  The result of this situation, according to 
Alguindigue, was ineffective criminal prosecutions, 
corruption, and a breakdown in public faith in prosecutors. 
 
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Police Deficiencies 
------------------- 
 
9.  (C)  Alguindigue also said problems with the police 
affected the administration of justice.  They are not 
generally competent to carry out investigations, she 
 
 
asserted, or control a crime scene.  Anderson made the same 
complaint to PolOff, and also complained about the lack of a 
ballistic archive in Venezuela.  Alguindigue suggested that 
basic criminal investigative techniques should be focus of 
training for Venezuelan police forces. 
 
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Prisons 
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10.  (C)  Beatriz Perez noted that one of the principal 
causes of delayed justice in Venezuela is the corruption in 
the prisons, where prisoners are forced to pay guards to take 
them to their hearings.  If they cannot pay, according to 
Perez and others who have voiced these concerns, the suspects 
miss their hearings, which can extend cases by months. 
Interior Minister Jesse Chacon has acknowledged this problem 
in the press, and promised to solve it. 
 
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What Can Be Done? 
----------------- 
 
11.  (C)  Rogelio Perez Perdomo, Deacon of the Metropolitan 
University Law School, told PolOff November 4 that any money 
invested in the judicial system would be wasted in the 
present political situation.  Perez Perdomo studied the first 
Judicial Modernization Project the World Bank financed 
(septel), and found that it did improve the efficiency of the 
courts, and improved public service.  He said, however, that 
it did nothing to speed justice or improve its transparency, 
alleging that real problems are in the Attorney General's 
Office.  Ligia Bolivar of the Human Rights Center at the 
Catholic University Andres Bello, also called on the World 
Bank to demand serious reforms before agreeing to finance any 
project. 
 
12.  (C)  The Ambassador, meeting with Attorney General 
Isaias Rodriguez, suggested continued collaboration between 
the Embassy and the Attorney General's Office to mprove 
training and organization.  The Ambassado also suggested 
that the Embassy would like to etablish ties with Venezuelan 
law schools to help increase understanding f the adversarial 
system.  Rodriguez strongly endorsed both ideas.  Rodriguez 
also suggested that the Embassy talk to Interior and Justice 
Minister Jesse Chacon about collaborating on projects to 
improve the prison system. 
 
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Comment 
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13.  (C)  After 10 years of overlapping, ill-coordinated, 
incomplete reforms, the Venezuelan justice system faces a 
crisis of confidence over its political independence, and its 
overall effectiveness.  The failure of judicial reform to 
produce a strong, effective and respected administration of 
justice system is a result of the politicization of the 
judiciary and the Attorney General's Office, and of the 
failure to effectively reform institutions to comply with the 
Penal Procedures Code.  The key issue, as the World Bank 
found, is to what extent there is political will to institute 
an independent judiciary. 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2004CARACA03677 - CONFIDENTIAL