US embassy cable - 04CARACAS3929

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 003929 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/02/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KDEM, VE 
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH TUPAMAROS WORKING IN CARACAS 
GOVERNMENT 
 
Classified By: Mark Wells, Acting Political Counselor, 
for Reason 1.4(b). 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Alberto "Chino" Carias, a member of the urban 
guerrilla group Tupamaros (now a political party) and now a 
public security official for the Caracas metropolitan 
district, discussed with poloff December 21 the 
re-structuring the Metropolitan Police and the December 8 
street vendor riot in downtown Caracas.  Carias described his 
"constant" contact with Tupamaros and other groups in other 
countries, while denying any direct contact with the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  He predicted 
a calm political scenario for 2005, though a fellow Tupamaro 
warned that the "terrorists" in the radical opposition would 
be dealt with harshly.  End Summary. 
 
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Tupamaros in Charge 
------------------- 
 
2. (C) Poloff had lunch on December 21 with Alberto "Chino" 
Carias, a member of the Tupamaro urban guerrilla group that 
registered as a political party this year.  Fellow Tupamaro 
Oswaldo Rivero also attended.  Carias said he, like many 
early Tupamaros, was once a member of former guerrilla 
movement and now political party Bandera Roja, but joined the 
Tupamaros when Uruguayan exiles of the original group sought 
refuge in Caracas in the 1970s.  Carias acknowledged press 
reports that he tried to blow up a church in 1978 but denied 
responsibility for the 1979 killing of a policeman, for which 
Carias was imprisoned.  He described the Tupamaros as having 
functioned as a vigilante street gang in poor Caracas 
neighborhoods in the 80's and 90's in the absence of 
competent police forces.  Carias said the Tupamaros aided 
Chavez's 1992 coup by forcefully clearing areas around the 
Miraflores presidential palace to facilitate movement by 
dissident military units.  During the Chavez administration, 
the Tupamaros surfaced as Chavez supporters who occasionally 
engaged in violent street protests against opposition 
targets, at times led personally by Carias.  Carias led a 
protest at the Embassy in 2003 against U.S. interventionism; 
despite his boasts that there are more than 3,000 Tupamaros, 
only 17 showed for the event. 
 
3. (C) Carias made headlines recently, including in the Miami 
Herald, when in November he joined the administration of 
newly elected Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto as 
Sub-Secretary for Citizen Security.  Carias, who was 
Barreto's aide in the National Assembly prior to Barreto's 
election as mayor, said he joined the mayor's office to help 
re-structure the Metropolitan Police (PM) and serve as a 
political adviser.  Carias said his decision to join the 
Caracas district government caused six Tupamaro leaders to 
quit on the grounds the group risked losing its objectivity 
as an independent Chavez ally.  Carias noted that he is not a 
police officer but is usually armed and accompanied by 
bodyguards.  (Note:  The mayor's Office of Citizen Security 
has oversight for the Metropolitan Police and is headed by 
Reynaldo Garcia, Carias' boss and an alternate deputy in the 
National Assembly for Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement. 
Active duty National Guard General Manuel Escalona is the 
chief of the Metropolitan Police.  The Caracas metropolitan 
mayor has coordinating responsibilities for the five 
municipalities of the district and their respective police 
forces. 
 
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Reorganizing the Metropolitan Police 
----------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Carias is leaing a commission to re-structure the 
Metropolita Police and improve its image among Caracas 
resients.  Carias said the first steps of the commissin 
were to replace the head of the PM's elite brigde and two 
other zone commanders who he said wer involved in organized 
crime.  He noted that oneof the replacement commanders is an 
opposition mmber ("escualido") but is a respected officer. 
Te commission has also made changes to police cadet 
training, Carias added.  Carias told poloff previusly the 
 
 
commission is planning to introduce "social intelligence," 
whereby citizens can report on the misdeeds of police 
officers. 
 
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Tupamaros Mediate Fireworks Riot 
-------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Carias blamed the December 8 riot in downtown Caracas 
that left 52 injured on police from the Libertador 
Municipality (Policaracas).  Carias said the police stole the 
traditional Christmas fireworks from street vendors, who 
reacted by burning buses and attacking police.  Rivero said 
the police used only non-lethal force such as tear gas and 
rubber bullets.  He said the fighting deteriorated into 
shootings between rival street vendor associations.  Carias 
claimed he was forced to step in and mediate a solution 
between Policaracas, municipality officials, and the street 
vendors.  Carias said his office is developing a plan for 
managing the street vendors that is due out in January. 
 
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Repression of the Opposition 
---------------------------- 
 
6. (C) Carias denied his appointment portends a crackdown on 
the political opposition.  He said the coming year would be 
peaceful.  Rivero added, however, that the GOV would deal 
harshly with "terrorists" of the opposition that plant bombs 
or conspire to commit violence.  Asked if that included 
peaceful marches and demonstrations, Rivero said no, that 
they encourage peaceful protests.  Rivero said he considered 
the most radical and dangerous sectors of the opposition to 
be Primero Justicia and Bandera Roja, which he asserted are 
armed.  Carias had told poloff some weeks before that, under 
the administration of opposition Mayor Alfredo Pena, the PM 
used armed patrols to clear the way for opposition marches, a 
practice Carias considered to show political bias. 
 
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Foreign Contacts 
---------------- 
 
7. (C) Carias said he is in "constant communication" with 
groups bearing the Tupamaro name and other radical groups in 
Latin American countries, mentioning he had spoken that day 
with colleagues in Peru and Nicaragua.  Asked about the Armed 
Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), Carias denied he 
speaks with them, saying "FARC is really messed up."  He 
added, however, that he would not tell poloff about inner 
workings of the FARC in the same way poloff would not talk 
about how other USG agencies work.  Carias claimed the recent 
capture of FARC international leader Rodrigo Granda occurred 
in Caracas and not in Colombia as early press reports had it, 
asserting that Granda had been detained in a Caracas hotel 
(Note:  December 23 stories in mainstream Caracas newspapers 
appear to support Carias' version.) 
 
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Comment 
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8. (C) Carias is a street thug and hustler with a penchant 
for self-promotion and exaggeration.  It seems unlikely the 
Tupamaros have a coordinated international network as Carias 
implied.  They have, however, found allies in the GOV, 
notably Chavez and Barreto, who have in the past deployed 
these irregular street fighters when the political situation 
required it.  Politically, Carias is intent on stripping the 
opposition of critical PM street protection should the era of 
mass marches against the GOV return.  Carias and company have 
a broad influence in the Metropolitan Police, but the 
placement of a National Guard colonel as the police chief may 
be a recognition that the PM needs some measure of 
organization and discipline.  The fireworks riot is a 
reminder that the GOV, despite enjoying the support of the 
local authorities and a majority of street vendors, still 
face governance challenges among its constituencies. 
 
McFarland 
 
 
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      2004CARACA03929 - CONFIDENTIAL