US embassy cable - 05CARACAS636

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000636 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, KJUS, VE 
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA: JUDICIAL CORRUPTION V. POLITICS 
 
REF: CARACAS 00577 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d 
) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  Venezuelan Supreme Court (TSJ) Justice Luis 
Velazquez Alvaray, in charge of the administration of 
Venezuela's court system, told poloff February 24 there is 
widespread mismanagement and corruption in the judicial 
system.  Velazquez said he intends to remove corrupt judges, 
whatever their political affiliation, adding that these 
problems reflect poorly on the previous TSJ leadership.  He 
said that the "judicial revolution", which TSJ President Omar 
Mora has talked about, means honesty and efficiency, and not 
political ideology.  He expressed interest in working with 
human rights groups to combat human rights violations and 
impunity, and with the Embassy on judicial training.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Who is Velazquez Alvaray? 
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2.  (C)  Luis Velazquez Alvaray was named Supreme Court (TSJ) 
Justice for the Constitutional Chamber in December, having 
served until then as a National Assembly Deputy.  The TSJ put 
Velazquez in charge of two of the most important bodies on 
the Court, the Judicial Committee, and the Executive 
Direction of the Magistrature (DEM).  The Judicial Committee 
acts as the executive authority over the lower court system 
in the name of the full Court, which has administrative as 
well as judicial responsibility for the lower courts under 
the Venezuelan constitution.   The DEM is responsible for the 
administration of the court system. 
 
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Corruption! 
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3.  (C)  Velazquez told poloff February 24 he had found 
several cases of serious corruption in the DEM in his first 
two months on the job.  These included overcharging for 
judicial training courses, and mismanagement of judicial 
pension funds.  Velazquez said there were many more such 
cases, and it was his intention publicize them all.  He also 
criticized the weak management of the regional DEMs in the 
states, and explained his plan to put officials he trusted in 
charge of regions, each composed of several states, to 
personally monitor the administration of the court system. 
Velazquez criticized the modernization project of former TSJ 
President Ivan Rincon, for buying an inefficient and 
expensive computer program from Spain.  Velazquez did not 
defend the pro-Chavez justices who until recently ruled the 
Court, and observed that they had paid more attention to 
improving the TSJ itself, rather than the national court 
system as a whole. 
 
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Judges under the microscope 
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4.  (C)  Commenting on reports that there was a list of 
judges who were going to be fired, Velazquez said that there 
were many judges engaged in corruption, especially involving 
drugs.  He said that all the judges would be examined by the 
Judicial Committee, and those who engaged in corruption or 
partisan politics would be removed.  He then added that he 
had been evaluating judges while he was in the Assembly, and 
already knew where the problems were.  Asked about rumors 
that some high profile Chavista judges were also going to be 
removed, Velazquez said politics had no place in the judicial 
system, and that corrupt judges would be removed whatever 
their political affiliation.  Velazquez said the ultimate aim 
of the "judicial revolution" to which TSJ President Omar Mora 
has referred, was an honest and efficient judiciary.  He 
denied that the intention was to politically control the 
justice system. 
 
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No politics, but plenty of evaluations 
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5.  (C)  Velazquez told poloff he did not agree with Mora's 
plan to give all judges tenure based on a one time 
examination for entry into the tenured judiciary.  He said he 
believed in a process of continual evaluation for promotion. 
Velazquez said he wanted to use the existing university law 
schools to construct a judicial course of post graduate 
study, through which the most experienced judges would teach 
newer judges.  He said he hoped that under his plan all 
judges would have a judicial degree within six to seven 
years.  This plan would substitute  former TSJ President Ivan 
Rincon's plan for the TSJ to set up a judicial school on its 
own. 
 
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Open doors 
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6.  (C)  Poloff asked Velazquez about the gap between the 
formal judicial system, and the allegations of widespread 
police executions of criminal suspects.  He said it was his 
intention to work with the other powers to reform the justice 
system in such a way that it could extend its reach into the 
poor neighborhoods where few people have real access to the 
system.  Asked about the human rights groups who had 
denounced these abuses for years, but now felt themselves 
under pressure from the GOV, Velazquez said he wanted to meet 
with the main human rights groups and work with them.  He 
said it was difficult at the moment, because they did not 
trust him.  Velazquez said that he would reach out to these 
groups in a month, when he had real achievements to show, 
which would prove his good faith.  He also suggested another 
meeting with the Embassy in a month, to talk about the 
possibility of judicial cooperation. 
 
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Comment 
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7.  (C)  Velazquez talks a good game.  He was instrumental in 
gaining passage of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court in 
May, which mandated the expansion of the Court by 12 
justices.  A deputy for the Movimiento Quinta Republica 
(MVR), he "resigned" shortly after the Assembly passed the 
law to overcome the constitutional prohibition against judges 
being active in partisan politics.  Nevertheless, Velazquez 
continued to work closely with the MVR deputies in the 
Assembly to draft the Partial Reform of the Penal Code, and 
to help choose the new TSJ justices.  Following President 
Hugo Chavez's referendum victory, Velazquez proposed removing 
the constitutional limit of two consecutive presidential 
terms. 
 
8.  (C)  Reports from judges suggest that there is little 
trust within the court system of Velazquez's intentions 
(reftel).  It seems likely that the plethora of corruption 
accusations are intended to weaken the position of the "old" 
TSJ justices, including TSJ President Mora.  Velazquez seems 
 
SIPDIS 
very confident that he has high level backing for what he is 
doing.  Velazquez may have been given the task to clean up 
the judiciary, but whether he really intend to hire competent 
independent judges is subject to doubt. 
Brownfield