US embassy cable - 05CARACAS485

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000485 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, VE 
SUBJECT: GRANDA DISPUTE UPDATE 
 
REF: A. A) CARACAS 00293 
     B. B) CARACAS 00471 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR 1.4 (D) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  One of five Venezuelan national guard officers in 
custody for his alleged involvement in the capture of FARC 
leader Rodrigo Granda has accused the GOV of torturing him 
and denying him due process.   GOV spokespersons have 
continued to rail against Washington for fomenting the crisis 
and have prevented the opposition from shifting the terms of 
the debate to terrorism.  Bilateral commerce remains 
disrupted as the Venezuelan military inspects commerce and 
indigenous groups block the border.  End summary. 
 
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Torturing the Accused? 
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2  (C)  One of five National Guard soldiers alleged to have 
participated in the capture of FARC international 
representative Rodrigo Granda on December 13 has protested 
ill-treatment and denial of due process by the government. 
The attorney for accused Lt. Col. Jose Humberto Quintero told 
poloff February 10 that his client was tortured by threat of 
asphyxiation into making a video confession.  He added that 
both military and civilian prosecutors were investigating 
Quintero for the same charge of treason.  The GOV had also 
charged Quintero with abuse of authority and illegal 
deprivation of (Granda's) liberty, the lawyer told poloff. 
The attorney said Quintero did provide the Colombians 
information on Granda but did not accept payment, adding 
sarcastically that "even if he had, you have to ask if the 
traitors are the those who gave Granda citizenship or those 
who gave him justice."  Quintero wrote a three-page statement 
outlining the success his anti-extortion and kidnapping group 
had had against guerrillas, refuting the charges against him, 
and asking whether it was a sovereignty violation for foreign 
armed groups to enter Venezuela to kidnap and murder. 
 
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Floodgates Open for Blaming the US 
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3.  (U)  Since President Hugo Chavez's remarks late January 
alleging US involvement in the Granda crisis (REF A), his 
administration's criticism of Washington has continued.  Vice 
President Jose Vicente Rangel told the press February 2 that 
the United States "played the devil's role" in the dispute. 
Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez warned the same day that the 
White House's statements of "concern" had been precursors to 
armed intervention in the past.  National Assembly deputy 
Luis Tascon (MVR) told the media in an interview that the 
only motive for Granda's capture was the US attempt to force 
Chavez from office.  Washington, he said, was trying to 
convert Colombia into the "Israel of Latin America." 
National Assembly Iris Varela excused the Colombian rebels, 
saying in an interview published February 9 she would have 
become a guerrilla if "gringos" had meddled in her country. 
 
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Opposition:  You Forgot About the Terrorists 
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4.  (U)  Challenging GOV charges that the Colombian list of 
guerrillas in Venezuela was not factual, a Miranda state 
legislator told the media he had obtained a report prepared 
in part by Venezuelan intelligence that outlined the 
locations and descriptions of FARC fronts and ELN networks in 
Venezuela.  The report, he said, also contained information 
about a guerrilla congress in Cojedes State attended by MVR 
National Assembly deputy Dario Vivas.  Separately, an Accion 
Democratica spokesperson asserted that the Granda case would 
remain unresolved until the GOV cleared up the issue of 
Granda's citizenship.  Granda, meanwhile, issued the media a 
handwritten note from prison that buttressed the opposition's 
claims.  He wrote that the "occasional members" of the FARC's 
armed wing were active in Venezuela, the continent, and 
beyond.  The identity documents he used in Venezuela, he 
averred, were authentic and legally issued by government 
authorities without the use of intermediaries. 
 
5.  (U)  The GOV has curtly dismissed the opposition charges 
while keeping rhetoric focused on the sovereignty issue. 
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said February 3, "it is 
not easy for people--much less terrorists--to enter 
Venezuela."  Minister of Interior and Justice Jesse Chacon 
told the media that military and civilian intelligence 
patrols were verifying that there were no guerrilla camps in 
the country.  The GOV has also benefited from media neglect 
of the terrorism issue over the past few days as the press 
has focused on the destructive rains plaguing the Venezuelan 
coastline (REF B).  Indeed, the capture of FARC 10th front 
"comandante" Cristobal Guillen by Venezuelan intelligence 
went unnoticed except by a Tachira State newspaper, which 
mentioned the arrest briefly on February 11. 
 
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Border Trade Still Sticky 
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6.  (C)  On February 10, a leading customs broker advised us 
that the border at Paraguachon (Zulia State) remained closed 
to international commerce and that at San Antonio (Tachira 
State) goods were being cleared only with lengthy delays. 
(DAO contacts affirmed that members of the local Wayuu indian 
tribe had not fulfilled their agreement to remove their 
roadblock on the border between La Guajira Department, 
Colombia and northern Zulia in protest of the crackdown on 
gasoline smuggling, and that a heavy National Guard presence 
at the border crossing at San Antonio continued to cause long 
lines.)  The customs broker added that, given the 
interruption to operations at Venezuela's main seaports, 
Puerto Cabello and La Guaira, freeing up commerce on the 
Colombian border could become important in coming days to 
avoid shortages in some supplies.  According to the 
Colombia-Venezuela chamber of commerce, the Granda dispute 
has shrunk bilateral trade 15 percent. 
Brownfield