US embassy cable - 05CARACAS1285

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 001285 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, VE 
SUBJECT: VENEZUELAN LEGISLATIVE AGENDA: SO MUCH TO DO, AND 
SO LITTLE TIME 
 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d 
) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  The Venezuelan National Assembly plans to pass a 
number of important laws before the summer recess August 15, 
according to Movimiento Quinta Republica Deputy Calixto 
Ortega.  Ortega and other deputies cited the National Police 
Law, the Organized Crime Law, and the Drug Law as priorities 
this session.  The Housing Law was recently passed with 
opposition support, and a law to regulate municipal 
government may soon pass with similar support.  Also on the 
agenda are the Land Law, the Armed Forces law, the Foreign 
Service Law, and the Foreign Exchange Crimes Law.  Given the 
legislative elections due in December, it is unlikely that 
all of these bills will pass this session.  End Summary. 
 
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Legislative Rush Before Elections 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C)  The pro-government faction of the National Assembly 
will push hard to pass as many laws as possible prior to the 
August 15 summer recess, Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) 
Deputy Calixto Ortega told poloff March 31.  Ortega said 
deputies will be focused on the December legislative 
elections when the Assembly returns in September, making it 
unlikely that much will get done in the second half of the 
year.  MVR Deputy Luis Tascon told poloff April 5 the summer 
recess might be put off to September to allow more time to 
pass laws.  MVR Deputy Cilia Flores, the pro-GOV block leader 
in the Assembly, told reporters April 19 that the discussion 
of new laws would be accelerated, and special sessions called 
on Wdnesdays and Fridays, to pass all the priority laws by 
August.  Opposition legislator Pedro Pablo Alcantara (Accion 
Democratica) told PolCouns that the additional two sessions 
per week are indeed resulting in expeditions movement of 
bills in the Assembly. 
 
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National Police Law 
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3.  (C)  Tascon said the priority for the pro-government 
legislators in this session was the National Police Law.  He 
said the law would be modified from its current version to 
restrict the responsbilities of the regional and municipal 
police, ad give the to-be-created National Police sole 
reponsibility for preventive policing.  Ortega alleged that 
many regional and municipal police forces continued to act as 
private militias, and that there could not be overlapping 
responsibilities among national, regional and municipal 
police.  He said the Internal Politics Commission of the 
Assembly would rework the National Police Law to address this 
issue, thus delaying it but not beyond August. 
 
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Organized Crime Law 
------------------- 
 
4.  (C)  Ortega said the Organized Crime Law and the Drug Law 
were also priorities, and would be ready soon. The Organized 
Crime Law was ready for a floor vote, but was withdrawn when 
a flaw was detected, according to Ortega.  Proyecto Venezuela 
Deputy Pedro Diaz Blum told poloff April 18 that the 
Organized Crime Law would be passed in this session as part 
of a strategy, suggested by Venezuelan Ambassador to the U.S. 
Bernardo Alvarez, to improve bilateral relations. Tascon also 
cited the Organized Crime and Drug Laws as priorities, though 
Flores cited only the Drug Law, and not the Organized Crime 
Law. 
 
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Opposition Support for Some Laws 
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5.  (C)  MVR Deputy Roberto Quintero said a number of the 
laws under consideration this session have opposition 
support.  He cited the recently passed Housing Law, the 
Municipal Law, the Drug Law, and the Anti-Corruption Law. 
Diaz Blum also noted that the Housing Law had passed with 
 
 
opposition support, but called the law "inapplicable".  Saady 
Bijami, opposition Mayor of San Francisco Municipality in 
Zulia, and President of the Venezuelan Association of Mayors, 
praised the Municipal Law under consideration for promoting 
decentralization, in a television interview on April 24. 
Flores also said the pro-GOV block was committed to passing 
this law prior to the August 7 municipal elections. 
 
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Land, Guns, and Money 
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6.  (C)  National Assembly Vice President Ricardo Gutierrez 
(Podemos), speaking to reporters April 24, predicted that the 
Assembly would approve the Land Law by April 26.  MVR Deputy 
Eddy Rios April 4 also predicted early passage of the Organic 
Law of the Armed Forces.  Rios asserted that there was 
opposition agreement on many aspects of this law, while 
acknowledging that articles on the reserves and national 
mobilization would generate debate. Movimiento Al Socialismo 
(MAS) Deputy Pedro Antonio Castillo told poloff April 12 that 
if the pro-GOV block could not get the two thirds majority 
needed to pass the law on the military as an organic law, 
they would simply turn it into an ordinary law.  Ortega said 
the Foreign Exchange Crimes Law would be pushed hard, while 
insisting that it was aimed at punishing money laundering, 
not legitimate business. 
 
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What's Not Coming 
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7.  (C)  Ortega said the Anti-Terrorism Law would probably 
not be passed in this session. He asserted that the law was 
potentially dangerous to Venezuelan democracy, and should not 
be rushed. Ortega said he was worried about passing an 
abusive law, naming the Patriot Act and the British 
Anti-Terrorism Law as models to avoid.  Ortega also mentioned 
the Social Security Law as a major priority, but one which 
would require serious study to evaluate its economic impact 
on the State and private business, all of which would 
probably push it beyond this session. 
 
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Comment 
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8.  (C)  The pro-government legislators have set an ambitious 
agenda.  With their majority, and the additional two sessions 
per week, they stand a better chance of ramming it through 
than in the past.  The complexity of some of the legislation, 
especially the bills on the national police and the military, 
may prove an insurmountable impediment for the time being. 
These are also bills with significant ramifications which the 
opposition, though weak, will likely contest strongly. 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2005CARACA01285 - CONFIDENTIAL