US embassy cable - 05CARACAS855

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 000855 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, VE 
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA:  ACCIDENTALLY COMBATING TERRORISM 
 
REF: BOGOTA 1531 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR 1.4 (D) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  Venezuelan national police captured FARC official 
Gentil Albis "El Chiguiro" Patino in Bolivar State during a 
February 18 operation to rescue the kidnapped mother of a 
Venezuelan major league baseball player.  Although the GOV 
initially did not admit to Chiguiro's capture and refused to 
confirm his identity, it later cooperated with Colombian 
police and welcomed the GOC to submit an extradition request. 
 Involving a Venezuelan cultural icon's relative plus 
President Hugo Chavez's recent agreement to help Colombia 
fight terrorism could help prevent the GOV from freeing 
Chiguiro, but the GOC will have to apply consistent public 
pressure to keep the GOV on task.  End summary. 
 
2.  (U)  Venezuelan national criminal police captured Gentil 
Albis "El Chiguiro" Patino, a senior member of the FARC's 
16th front, in Bolivar State February 18.  The police 
discovered Chiguiro--and 600 kilograms of cocaine--during a 
successful raid to rescue the mother of Venezuelan Detroit 
Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina.  Chiguiro had been sought by 
Colombian authorities for terrorism, arms smuggling, drug 
trafficking, and the 1995 kidnapping and murder of two US 
missionaries.  Interpol also had an arrest warrant against 
him. 
 
3.  (C)  The press reported the capture on February 23, 
noting that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had apprised 
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe of the operation by 
telephone.  (Comment:  The GOC had gotten wind of the capture 
and moved to prevent Chiguiro's release by publicizing his 
presence in Venezuelan custody.)  The GOV later refused to 
confirm that the captured official was indeed Chiguiro, but 
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel offered his extradition if 
his identity could be established, according to February 26 
press reports.  The GOC sent fingerprints, which the 
Venezuelan police alleged did not match those of the 
detained.  Complicating the matter further were the many 
names which surfaced purportedly belonging to the captured 
guerrilla.  Opposition figures protested that one of El 
Chiguiro's aliases appeared in the electoral registry. 
 
4.  (C)  The GOV began to allow working-level Colombian 
officials into Venezuela toinvestigate the Chiguirocase, 
according to DEA. On March 15, Venezuelan officials declared 
that hey had confirmed Chiguiro's identity, and Interio 
Minister Jesse Chacon told reporters that the GV was waiting 
for the GOC's extradition request. Chacon cautioned, 
however, that it would be theVenezuelan Supreme Court that 
decides Chiguiro's ate, noting that the FARC member faced 
Venezuela criminal charges, as well.  The GOV announced 
Mrch 21 that the GOC had presented th extradition 
documents. 
 
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The Guerrillas' Kidnapping M.O. 
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5.  (C)  Separately, a federal prosecutor who had been 
working in Bolivar State before resigning in December 2004 
told poloff March 15 that the Coordinadora Anti- Extorcion y 
Secuestros (CAES), a Bolivar State anti-kidnapping squad, 
contracted local criminals to kidnap victims.  The former 
prosecutor noted that the FARC itself did not kidnap; rather, 
such police and other urban criminals sold victims to the 
FARC, which could evade detection for longer periods of time 
by holding hostages in the countryside.  An ex-ELN guerrilla 
describing a "non-aggression" pact between the ELN and 
Venezuelan authorities added that the Venezuelan National 
Guard allowed the armed group to kidnap ranchers, according 
to late February press reports. 
 
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Comment 
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6.  (C)  Regional leaders successfully pressured Chavez to 
agree to cooperate against terrorism to end the dispute with 
 
Colombia over the capture of FARC leader Rodrigo Granda 
(REFTEL).  Because of the involvement of the big-league 
hurler's mother, the GOV will have to wager that it cannot 
free Chiguiro without a major public outcry.  Still, the GOC 
must keep public pressure on the GOV to ensure his 
extradition.  Chavez's sympathy with the FARC probably will 
continue to lead to GOV foot-dragging on such issues as long 
as the Venezuelan President can evade public accountability. 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2005CARACA00855 - CONFIDENTIAL