US embassy cable - 05CARACAS1389

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 001389 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KJUS, VE 
SUBJECT: VENEZUELAN POLITICAL PROSECUTIONS UPDATE 
 
Classified By: A/DCM ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d) 
 
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Summary 
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1.  (U)  Venezuelan judges will soon open hearings to decide 
whether Venezuelan Workers' Confederation President Carlos 
Ortega, detained since March 1 2005, and former Miranda 
Governor Enrique Mendoza will stand trial for civil 
rebellion.  A judge in Aragua is in the midst of hearings to 
decide whether to send former Caracas Metropolitan Police 
officials Lazaro Forero, Henry Vivas, and Ivan Simonovis, all 
detained since late 2004, to trial for conspiracy to commit 
murder in relation with the events of April 2002.  The Penal 
Chamber of the Supreme Court reinstated the conviction of 
Gen. Carlos Alfonzo Martinez, making him once again subject 
to court restrictions on his movement and speech.  A judge 
April 12 convicted journalist Patricia Poleo of defaming 
Interior Minister Jesse Chacon, and sentenced her to six 
months in prison, though she is free pending appeal.  There 
have been no recent developments in the investigation into 
the murder of prosecutor Danilo Anderson, or in the case 
against Gen. Felipe Rodriguez, presently in custody in Yare 
prison.  End Summary. 
 
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Enrique Mendoza 
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2.  (U)  Prosecutors Jose Benigno Rojas and Gledys Carpio 
formally opened an investigation of former Miranda Governor 
and Democratic Coordinating Committee leader Enrique Mendoza 
March 14.  The charges are civil rebellion, conspiracy, 
instigation to commit crimes, incitement to disobey the law, 
damage to public buildings, using violence to prevent the 
functioning of the public powers, and interruption of 
telecommunications.  All stem from Mendoza's alleged 
involvement in the closure of Venezuelan de Television on 
April 11, 2002.  On April 26 the judge postponed Mendoza's 
next hearing indefinitely, at the request of Mendoza's lawyer 
who alleged that the accusation was excessively vague. 
Mendoza is not subject to any court ordered restrictions at 
this time. 
 
3.  (C)  Mendoza aide Alejandro Garcia told PolCouns May 4 
that after the April 26 hearing the former Governor fears 
that the court will order his detention at the next 
opportunity.  Garcia said Mendoza has asked various 
Coordinadora associates with international connections to be 
prepared to advocate for him with other governments should he 
be jailed.  Asked what had led to Mendoza's changed 
perception since he had told the Ambassador previously that 
the GOV would prefer to harass rather than incarcerate him, 
Garcia said only that they had new information from inside 
sources. 
 
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Carlos Ortega 
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4.  (U)  Prosecutor Luisa Ortega on April 12 formally accused 
Venezuelan Workers' Confederation President Carlos Ortega 
with civil rebellion, instigation to commit crimes, and using 
a false public document.  Ortega has been detained since his 
arrest on March 1, and is now in Ramo Verde military prison. 
The next hearing is scheduled for May 6. 
 
5.  (C)  Prosecutor Maria del Rocio Gasperi, who is not 
directly involved in the case but has access to the case 
file, told poloff April 20 that the evidence presented proves 
nothing, and that fellow prosecutor Ortega had not conducted 
a serious investigation.  Gasperi said she asked the judge if 
she would allow the case to go to trial despite the 
shortcomings.  The judge said yes, according to Gasperi, 
citing intense political pressure. 
 
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Vivas, Forero, and Simonovis 
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6.  (U)  Carlos Bastides, Ivan Simonovis's defense lawyer, 
told reporters May 3 he expected one more day of hearings 
before a judge rules whether Henry Vivas, Lazaro Forero, and 
 
Simonovis are to stand trial as "necessary accomplices in 
complicity to commit murder", in relation to the deaths of 
two persons on April 11, 2002.  Prosecutor Luisa Ortega 
alleges that the three former leaders of the Metropolitan 
Police (PM) ordered PM officers to open fire on Chavez 
supporters who confronted the opposition march on April 11, 
2002.  Simonovis was in charge of Security for Greater 
Caracas, Vivas was head of the PM, and Forero was his deputy. 
 Bastides told reporters he has little hope that the judge 
will not send the case to trial, given the political nature 
of the prosecution, but said he hoped the judge would allow 
the defendants to be tried in liberty, given that three 
Chavez supporters who turned themselves in recently in 
relation to the April 2002 events were released on bail. 
 
7.  (C)  Jose Luis Tamayo, defense lawyer for Vivas and 
Forero, told poloff February 1 that the prosecution has no 
evidence on which to base its accusation against Vivas, 
Forero and Simonovis.  The case, he asserted, is based on 
recycled evidence from the accusation against eight PM 
officers for killing two people on April 11, 2002.  Tamayo 
alleges that murdered prosecutor Danilo Anderson offered to 
free the eight PM officers (they have been held for over two 
years) if they implicated Vivas, Forero and Simonovis.  On 
April 27 Merlin Morales, lawyer representing the alleged 
victims, called for eight other PM officials to be accused, 
alleging that Forero had implicated them in his testimony. 
Tamayo angrily denied this to reporters, saying Forero had 
simply named the local PM commanders in response to a 
question from the judge. 
 
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Gen. Carlos Alfonzo Martinez 
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8.  (U)  The Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court April 14 
revoked the October 2004 Appeals Court ruling throwing out 
all criminal charges against Gen. Carlos Alfonzo Martinez. 
The decision, written by former military Prosecutor General 
now President of the Penal Chamber Eladio Aponte Aponte, is 
based on the prosecution's claim that 2nd Appeals Court Judge 
Jesus Ollarves acted improperly when he rejected a motion to 
recuse himself and another judge from the case.  The decision 
reinstates the conviction of Gen. Alfonzo for violating 
security zones (for which he had been sentenced to five years 
probation, and forbidden to speak with the media), and orders 
the original appeal to be reheard by another appeals court. 
On May 2 the 4th Appeals Court was assigned to hear the 
appeal again.  The Commission of Judicial Restructuring ruled 
April 21 that Ollarves should be investigated for his 
decision not to accept a prosecution demand that he separate 
himself from the case. 
 
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Patricia Poleo 
-------------- 
 
9.  (U)  A Caracas court found journalist Patricia Poleo 
guilty of defaming Interior Minister Jesse Chacon April 12, 
and sentenced her to six months in prison.  The charges 
related to Poleo's publication of a photograph that allegedly 
showed Chacon standing over someone killed at the Venezuelan 
Television offices during the February 1992 coup attempt. 
Poleo is free pending appeal.  It is unclear whether she will 
have to serve jail time for this conviction. 
 
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Anderson and El Cuervo Cases Stalled 
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10.  (U)  There have been no new developments in the Anderson 
murder investigation.  Two of the three suspects in custody, 
the former police inspectors Otoniel and Roland Guevara, were 
transferred from DISIP headquarters, where they had been 
detained since their arrest, to the Yare II prison, defense 
lawyer Pedro Castillo told reporters April 28.  Gen. Felipe 
Rodriguez was charged with civil rebellion, instigation of 
rebellion, conspiracy against the president, illegally 
carrying a weapon, bombing a diplomatic mission, conspiracy, 
and assault on March 6.  He was transferred from Military 
Intelligence headquarters to Yare I March 21, despite a court 
order that he be transferred to the military prison Ramo 
Verde.  His family has public charged that he is being held 
in extremely poor conditions. 
 
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Comment 
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11.  (C)  The GOV is aggressively pursing the former 
opposition leadership through judicial prosecutions.  While 
these cases may follow the forms of due process, first hand 
reports of the prosecution cases and judicial decisions 
indicate that the cases are political in nature.  The 
political control exerted by the GOV over prosecutors and 
judges effectively denies political defendants the right to 
defend themselves, or the presumption of innocence.  If 
Mendoza, Ortega, Alfonzo Martinez, Vivas, Forero, and 
Simonovis are not convicted, it will be as a result of a 
political decision, not because the defendants will have 
prevailed in a fair fight. 
McFarland 
 
 
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      2005CARACA01389 - CONFIDENTIAL