US embassy cable - 05CARACAS512

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 CARACAS 000512 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, KDEM, VE 
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA:  BIOS OF SELECTED GOVERNORS 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR 1.4 (D) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  Candidates backed by President Hugo Chavez won 20 of 
22 gubernatorial races on October 31, 2004, in addition to 
the Caracas mayoralty.  Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement 
(MVR) and allied parties picked up 7 states and lost only 
one.  The new governors' competence varies; some are career 
politicians, others have managerial experience, and a few 
have scant qualifications except for a long personal history 
with Chavez.  Nonetheless, all have in common a proven 
loyalty to the President.  Of the 20, nine are former 
military, at least five played a direct role in Chavez's 
attempted coup in 1992, and one, Barinas Governor Hugo de los 
Reyes Chavez, is the President's father.  Biographic data on 
selected governors follows.  End summary. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
Anzoategui:  Tarek William Saab Halabi (MVR) 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C)  Called the "most fervent militant of the revolution" 
by the opposition press, Tarek William Saab is a diehard 
radical.  A former human rights lawyer who has professed an 
admiration for Cuba since age nine, Saab earned the 
President's admiration when he visited Chavez in prison in 
1992.  Saab, of Lebanese Druse extraction, was denied a US 
visa in 1997 because of his links to terrorist activities. 
After violating the terms of a waiver he received in 2000 for 
an official visit to Washington, he had the National Assembly 
issue a decree exhorting the United States to review his visa 
renewal petition.  One of the administration's most 
vociferous critics of the United States, Saab oversaw debate 
about US "aggression" and "genocide" as chair of the National 
Assembly's foreign policy committee and boasted that 
Venezuela was the first country to overcome a CIA plot. 
During April 2002, Saab was detained briefly for resisting 
the Carmona government. 
 
3.  (U)  Saab, nonetheless, has demonstrated a commitment to 
improving the standard of living in his oil-rich state.  Upon 
running for governor on a platform of assisting the majority 
poor and countering the former administration's waste, Saab 
received 57 percent of the Anzoategui vote.  He brought the 
press into a dilapidated hospital immediately after taking 
office to show the neglect his administration had inherited 
from previous governors.  Saab has chastised the state's 
mayors for their poor track records and has singled out two 
pro-Chavez mayors for trying to undermine his leadership. 
Opposition members backing the mayor of an upscale Anzoategui 
suburb told poloff, however, that Saab has signaled his 
willingness to work with the opposition and has supported 
local efforts to provide better security and infrastructure 
repair. 
 
4.  (U)  Saab was born in El Tigre, Anzoategui, in 1963. 
Saab told the press he decided to study law because he was 
unjustly detained as a minor.  He entered Santa Maria 
University (USM) and the Central University of Venezuela 
(UCV), where he specialized in criminal law and human rights 
law, respectively.  Along with other administration notables 
such as Caracas mayor Juan Barreto and CNE director Jorge 
Rodriguez, Saab belonged to "Movimiento 80," a political 
student movement at UCV that opposed traditional parties. 
Saab headed the human rights office of the Caracas municipal 
council's public security committee (1994-98).  He served as 
delegate to the constitutional convention (1999), in which he 
headed the cultural and human rights committees.  In the 
National Assembly, he was vice president and then president 
of the foreign policy committee (2000-04).  Known as the 
"poet of the revolution," Saab has published eight books.  He 
and his wife, Francis, have three children. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Bolivar:  Francisco Rangel Gomez (MVR) 
-------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (C)  Francisco Rangel Gomez was born on April 4, 1953.  A 
classmate of Chavez's in the Venezuelan Military Academy 
(AMV), he graduated in 1975 with a degree in military arts 
and sciences.  In 1986, he received a degree from the Armed 
Forces University Polytechnic Institute (IUPFAN) in systems 
engineering.  He earned a master's degree in information 
systems from Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB) in 1988 
and a master's in national security studies and defense from 
the Armed Forces Institute of High Defense Studies (IAEDEN) 
in 1996.  He also studied at the School of the Americas.  As 
an active duty officer, Rangel directed the AMV and served as 
Chavez's Minister of the Secretariat of the Presidency from 
1999-2000.  After serving in the cabinet, he became president 
of the Corporacion Venezolana de Guyana (CVG), a state-owned 
mining and utilities parastatal until becoming governor in 
2004.  Both opposition and government contacts of the Embassy 
have credited Rangel with being a successful manager at CVG. 
Rangel is married with children. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Carabobo:  Luis Felipe Acosta Carles (MVR) 
------------------------------------------ 
 
6.  (U)  According to press reports, Chavez asked former 
Brigadier General Acosta Carles to run for governor in 2004, 
but Chavez himself has said Acosta surprised him by seeking 
permission to hang up his uniform and seek election. 
Acosta's colorful persona has become evident from his 
relatively few public appearances to date.  He is remembered 
for burping in a televised confrontation with a Coca-Cola 
distributor in December 2002 during the general strike.  He 
also received publicity for defending one of his 
non-commissioned officers who struck a female anti-Chavez 
protester and having officials detained for blocking workers 
from their places of business during the strike.  In one 
pre-election interview, he listed unconventional means of 
increasing employment, including hiring dwarfs to form a 
"Snow White" theater act.  In February 2004, he said on 
Chavez's weekly "Alo Presidente" television and radio program 
that he was "already the governor" because of his role in 
providing new housing for the Carabobo poor.  Campaigning 
with the help of the national guard, Acosta harnessed the 
support of poor residents to wrest Carabobo from opposition 
Governor Henrique Salas Feo with 50.4 percent of the vote. 
In his first months as governor, Acosta has faced media 
criticism for rampant property invasions in his state, which 
he has been unable, and unwilling, to control despite having 
retained national guard officers on his staff. 
 
7.  (U)  As a child, Acosta wanted to be a priest, but he 
dropped out of seminary to join the National Guard Academy 
(EFOFAC).  He ascended to become head of the National Guard's 
second regional command.  Acosta's brother, who died in the 
February 1989 riots over gasoline prices, was a classmate of 
Chavez and a founding member of Chavez's five-person 
clandestine military group Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement 
200 (MBR-200).  Acosta is married.  He speaks broken English. 
 
 
----------------------------- 
Lara:  Luis Reyes Reyes (MVR) 
----------------------------- 
 
8.  (C)  Former Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Luis Reyes Reyes 
has strong, long-standing personal and political ties to 
Chavez and his Bolivarian Revolution.  He attended the same 
junior high school as Chavez and was a founding member of the 
MVR.  A US-trained F-16 pilot, Reyes Reyes became famous for 
breaking the sound barrier over Caracas during Chavez's 
attempted coup in 1992.  He described the mission in a press 
interview as an attempt "to frighten enemy forces."  Some 
Embassy opposition contacts describe Reyes Reyes as a 
competent governor despite his promises to "deepen the 
revolution."  Upon his second inauguration, he said he 
opposed the administration's plan for creating anticorruption 
police, contending that each public official should have the 
personal conviction to watch over public resources, according 
to press. 
 
9.  (U)  Reyes Reyes was born in Punta de Mata, Monagas on 
June 11 1952.  He joined the Venezuelan Air Force (FAV) in 
1970.  He received a bachelor's in military arts and sciences 
from the Military Air Force Academy and a bachelor's in 
public accounting from the Lisandro Alvarado University.  He 
also earned a bachelor's in aeronautical science and received 
fighter pilot training in the United States.  He served as an 
assistant air attache to the United States and headed the 
FAV's air acquisitions office in Dayton, Ohio, from which he 
returned in late 1991 to begin plotting to overthrow then 
President Carlos Andres Perez.  According to his official 
resume, Reyes Reyes was a member of the National 
Constitutional Assembly in 1999.  In Chavez's administration, 
he concurrently headed the Transport and Commerce ministry 
and the Ministry of Urban Development, which Chavez fused 
into the Ministry of Infrastructure shortly before Reyes 
Reyes became governor in 2000.  He was elected to a second 
term in October with 72 percent of the vote.  Reyes Reyes 
speaks fluent English. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Merida:  Florencio Antonio Porras Echezuria (MVR) 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
10.  (U)  Former Army Major Florencio Porras participated in 
Chavez's coup attempt in 1992 and was jailed for not 
accepting the rule of Pedro Carmona during Chavez's 46-hour 
ouster in April 2002.  Porras's public works projects have 
earned him praise from even some members of the opposition. 
For example, his government is building a hydroelectric 
complex, constructing the country's largest artificial lake 
along with the Tachira government, and has established a 
trolley bus system with Spanish Government and international 
financial institution loans.  Fancying himself a man of the 
people, Porras prefers to talk with the peasants and ride 
horses and burros in the Merida countryside.  The Governor, 
who says he only goes to the office for protocol and 
administrative duties, spends five days a week talking to the 
people and supervising public works, according to press. 
 
11.  (U)  Porras was born in Guarenas, Miranda, in about 
1962.  He was a member of the National Constitutional 
Assembly (1999).  He has served as President of Corpoandes, a 
local development parastatal.  In 2000, Porras squeaked by 
former Governor William Davila (AD)--who claimed fraud--to 
become governor with only a plurality of votes.  He won a 
second term more handily, beating Davila with 59 percent of 
the vote.  Porras enjoys cartooning. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Miranda:  Diosdado Cabello Rondon (MVR) 
--------------------------------------- 
 
12.  (U)  Former Army Lieutenant Diosdado Cabello's 
relationship with the President goes back to his student days 
in the AMV, when Chavez played on his baseball team, 
according to press reports.  During the 1992 coup, Cabello 
led four tanks to the Presidential palace.  He joined 
Chavez's presidential campaign early, while Chavez was still 
low in the polls, press reports note.  When Cabello was part 
of the Chavez administration, the opposition accused him of 
leading the Bolivarian circles, which he has defended as an 
unarmed social movement. 
 
13.  (U)  Named for the head of the Masons and then 
Philippine President, Diosdado Macapagal, Cabello was born in 
El Furrial, Monagas on April 15, 1963.  He graduated from the 
AMV in 1987 with honors.  He has degrees in engineering 
project management from UCAB and in systems engineering from 
IUPFAN.  He served as general director of the national 
telecommunications commission (CONATEL) from 1999-2000. 
Having held more positions in Chavez's cabinet than any other 
official, Cabello has been Minister of the Secretariat of the 
Presidency (2001-02), Vice President (2002), Acting President 
(a few hours during the 2002 coup), Minister of Interior and 
Justice (2002-03), and Minister of Infrastructure (2003-04). 
Upon entering office as governor in 2004, he declared a state 
of emergency in the Miranda health sector.  He and his wife, 
Marlene, have three children. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
Monagas:  Jose Gregorio Briceno Torrealba 
(MVR/MIGATO/PODEMOS) 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
14.  (U)  Jose Gregorio Briceno is the popular governor of 
the oil and gas-rich rich state of Monagas.  Briceno left the 
National Assembly in 2004 to defeat two-term opposition 
governor Guillermo Call, whom the National Assembly was 
investigating for corruption and human rights violations, 
with 57 percent of the vote.  Mauro Marcano, a journalist 
known for exposing corrupt public officials before his 
assassination in 2004, had also denounced Briceno for 
favoring friends and family with PDVSA contracts as a 
National Assembly deputy. 
 
15.  (U)  Briceno studied law at USM, as did Tarek William 
Saab.  He became Latin America's youngest mayor at age 26, 
when he won office in Monagas's Cedeno Municipality, 
according to his official resume.  He was reelected with the 
third-highest percentage of votes in the country.  Briceno 
joined the Radical Cause (Causa R) party after leaving Accion 
Democratica (AD) in 1991, accusing AD of impoverishing the 
state.  In 1997, his wing of the party splintered to form the 
now pro-Chavez "Fatherland for All" (PPT) party.  Briceno was 
elected to the National Assembly in 1999.  In 2001, Briceno, 
nicknamed "El Gato," formed MIGATO, a party whose acronym 
expands to translate "The Independent 'We All Win' Movement." 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
Tachira:  Ronald Blanco La Cruz (MVR) 
--------------------------------- 
 
16.  (C)  Former Army Captain Ronald Blanco La Cruz is one of 
Chavez,s closest allies.  Blanco was one of the ideologues 
behind the 1992 coup attempt.  As governor, Blanco ordered 
the controversial arrest of nine Tachirans--three of whom 
remain in prison--for their alleged involvement in the events 
surrounding Chavez's brief ouster in April 2002.  Blanco, 
however, privately disagrees with Chavez on the subject of 
relations with the United States because he believes US 
investment in Venezuela is necessary to alleviate poverty, 
according to DAO.  Blanco also told the DAO he fondly 
remembers his time at the school of the Americas at Fort 
Benning and thus is a proponent of US training for Venezuelan 
officers.  Blanco has become popular among Tachira residents 
as a result of the many social projects he has implemented. 
Blanco was reelected governor in 2004 with 57 percent of the 
vote. 
 
17.  (U)  Blanco was born in Caracas on April 12, 1959.  He 
received a master's in military arts and sciences from the 
AMV in 1981.  In addition to his studies at Fort Benning, 
Blanco received a master's in international relations and 
business management from Troy State University in Alabama. 
The University of the Andes has named him a tenured 
professor.  Blanco chaired the border subcommittee of the 
Constitutional Assembly in 1999.  He was elected governor in 
2000.  He has a weekly television program, but unlike the 
President, Blanco never talks for more than a few minutes on 
his show.  Blanco and his wife, Guadalupe, have three 
children.  He speaks fluent English. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Vargas:  Antonio Rodriguez San Juan (MVR) 
----------------------------------------- 
 
18.  (U)  Former National Guard Major Antonio Rodriguez was 
born on April 12, 1957 in Zulia State.  In 1979, he entered 
the National Guard Officer Training Academy.  He holds 
bachelor's degrees in military arts and computer science. 
Rodriguez left the Guard in 1992 and worked in the computer 
industry until joining Chavez to help found the MBR-200 in 
1994.  He served as deputy to Congress for the state of 
Vargas and delegate to the constitutional convention (1999). 
He was elected governor in 2000 after the MVR decided to 
withdraw its backing from the former PPT Governor.  Rodriguez 
and his wife, Yolanda Galvan de Rodriguez, have two 
daughters. 
 
------------------------------- 
Zulia:  Manuel Rosales (UNT/AD) 
------------------------------- 
 
19.  (U)  Opposition Governor Manuel Rosales has enjoyed high 
approval ratings in Zulia state, opinion polls show.  Zulia, 
which has a reputation for having an independent streak among 
Venezuelan states, elected Rosales for a second term with 55 
percent of the vote.  Rosales, a longtime AD member and one 
of two current opposition governors, formed the "New Era" 
(UNT) party in early 2000 when then-Governor Arias Cardenas 
left office to run for President.  AD and 20 other parties 
and organizations supported Rosales's candidacy.  The radical 
pro-Chavez press has accused Rosales, the only governor to 
have signed the "Carmona decree," which endorsed the 2002 
coup against Chavez, of having plotted Chavez's overthrow, 
his assassination, and Zulia's secession from the Republic. 
20.  (U)  Rosales was born on 12 December 1952.  According to 
press, he did not complete a university degree for personal 
reasons, but has broad educational experience in Venezuela 
and abroad.  He has participated in a number of courses and 
seminars on administration and public service, including 
representing Venezuela at a seminar at Kansas University, 
according to his official resume.  Rosales, who helped found 
the local Universidad Sur del Lago, taught from 1975-79.  He 
served as internal auditor of the council in Colon 
municipality (1973-74), town councilor (concejal) in Colon 
(1979-82), principal deputy in the state legislature 
(1983-94), and mayor of Maracaibo (1996-2000).  Rosales is 
married. 
 
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Comment 
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21.  (C)  Most governors, who share Chavez's radical 
ideological streak, will move quickly to try to "deepen the 
revolution" in their states.  None will stray far from 
Chavez's dictums, given state reliance on funding from the 
federal government and the President's penchant for 
marginalizing politicians viewed as disloyal.  Even the 
opposition governors of Zulia and Nueva Esparta have been 
reluctant to show independence; both Governors have supported 
the President's land reform initiative this year. 
Nevertheless, the near sweep of the regional elections is a 
mixed blessing for Chavez because his administration now 
lacks the opposition to blame for state and local 
governments' chronic failure to provide security, services, 
and economic development. 
Brownfield