US embassy cable - 05CARACAS1673

UNCLAS  CARACAS 001673 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI 
NSC FOR BARTON 
USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, ENRG, EAID, VE 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR VISITS MIRANDA STATE 
 
 
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Summary 
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1. The Ambassador's visit to the central northern coastal 
state of Miranda on April 20, 2005 included meetings with 
the Governor, the Dean of the Andres Bello Catholic 
University, the Electricity Plant of Caracas, as well as a 
USAID funded NGO. Miranda is the state in which the nation's 
capital, Caracas is located.  Venezuela's financial, 
commercial and service industry is concentrated in Miranda. 
Miranda's economy depends on agriculture and metal, chemical 
and food industries as well. The press interviewed the 
Ambassador as he exited the Governor's office and covered 
the visit to the USAID funded NGO.  The Ambassador's visits 
focused on maintaining positive U.S.-Venezuelan relations 
and highlighting collaboration to different social programs. 
End Summary 
 
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Political Climate 
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2. Miranda State Governor Diosdado Cabello, elected in 
October 2004, formally received the Ambassador in his 
office. The Ambassador's meeting with the Governor, a close 
Chavez supporter, focused on maintaining the U.S.-Venezuelan 
relations.  The Ambassador told Cabello he hopes to achieve 
this goal by traveling throughout Venezuela, a state at a 
time to identify where U.S. aid may be needed.  He stated 
the U.S. is trying to find a pragmatic approach to confront 
the differences between the two countries, and mentioned 
Sino-U.S. relations as an example. 
 
3.  The Governor suggested the U.S. and Venezuela could 
perhaps collaborate on the Luis Posada Carriles (Cuban 
terrorist) extradition.  The Ambassador said that one area 
where both countries could collaborate is on the Colombian- 
Venezuelan border.  The drug trafficking and kidnapping 
conducted by the FARC affects both countries, the Ambassador 
said. The Ambassador also suggested the Venezuelan 
government should show more transparency in its weapons 
purchases. 
 
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Academic and Religious Institutions 
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4.  Father Raul Biord Castillo, Dean of the Andres Bello 
Catholic University received the Ambassador at the los 
Teques campus.  Biord is the nephew of Venezuelan Cardinal 
Castillo Lara and holds a doctorate in Theology from the 
Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.  The Ambassador 
asked Biord's help in identifying candidates for academic 
exchanges such as the Fulbright program.  Father Biord 
discussed some of the programs run by his Salesian order. 
He said the ones with the most need are programs for the 
homeless and for tradecraft schools for junior and high 
school dropouts.  Biord noted the Catholic Church's 
important role in raising the Venezuelan people's morale and 
hopes as the country experiences a fragile sociopolitical 
situation. 
 
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Business 
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5. The Ambassador visited an electrical generation facility 
operated by Electricidad de Caracas (EDC).  Though 
originally founded in 1895, a majority of EDC's shares are 
now held by the AES Corporation.  EDC generates, transmits, 
and distributes electricity to metropolitan Caracas.  EDC 
General Manager Evar Peterson acknowledged to the Ambassador 
that the company faces a difficult situation because of the 
GOV's failure to comply with electrical sector legislation 
promulgated by the Chavez Administration in 2001.  The 
legislation was intended to foster more competition in the 
sector by "unbundling" services and was supposed to be 
effective by early 2004.  In fact, however, the GOV has not 
followed through, according to Peterson, and it appears as 
if the government will continue to dominate the sector. He 
said EDC suffered a 1.6 percent decrease in its operational 
income in 2004.  This loss was attributable at least in part 
to the failure of the GOV to grant the appropriate tariff 
adjustments.  Peterson noted that EDC's fuel supplier, 
Petroleos de Venezuela, had also recently increased the 
rates charged to its industrial customers.  In common with 
other power companies in Latin America, EDC is also faced 
with many non-paying customers. 
 
6.  In what Peterson described as a "sociological 
experiment," EDC has proposed an innovative project to the 
Ministry of Energy and Petroleum under which its customers 
would be allowed to pre-pay set amounts of electricity 
through the installation of pre-paid meters.  EDC has 
selected a community for this experiment, he said, and has 
already done the work to upgrade the electrical 
infrastructure and install the meters.  The Ministry, 
however, has yet to approve the necessary tariff, according 
to Peterson.  The Ambassador commended EDC for the 
excellence of the service it provides and for its social 
responsibility projects.  He expressed interest in visiting 
an EDC-funded school in the Los Teques region in the future. 
 
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Social Support 
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7. The Ambassador also visited a USAID funded NGO in the 
Caracas borough of Petare.  This very low-income area has 
shown strong electoral support for President Chavez.  He was 
received by Amanda Dittmar de Troconis and Susan Sezille de 
Mateo, President and Vice-President of the Organizacion 
Social Catolica San Ignacio (OSCASI) which promotes the 
development of "at risk" children through four training 
institutions for children not enrolled in the formal 
education system.  The training institutions provide 
alternative education for approximately 450 children and 
youths between the ages of nine to eighteen who have been 
excluded from formal education and require special 
attention. 
 
8.  OSCASI helps train and equip these students to be able 
to make a smooth transition into mainstream education or the 
labor market.  The program receives additional funding from 
the Catholic Church, United Way, the Venezuelan Ministry of 
Education and internal resources raised by the OSCASI staff. 
USAID provided OSCASI with a grant of approximately $20,000 
to support their work. The Ambassador addressed the 
students, teachers, religious staff and media, emphasizing 
the importance of education for the nation and community and 
the church as being the organization that brings the two 
together in the majority of countries in Latin America.  He 
also mentioned the students represent the future of 
Venezuela as tomorrow's professionals. 
 
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Press Coverage 
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9.  The press portrayed the U.S. Government in a positive 
light and the Ambassador as its conduit to a humanistic 
approach to U.S.-Venezuelan relations.  The media indicated 
the Ambassador was proud to represent a country which has 
been a good neighbor to Venezuela for the past 200 hundred 
years and hopes to continue to maintain its relations for 
200 hundred more years. 
 
 
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      2005CARACA01673 - UNCLASSIFIED