US embassy cable - 05CARACAS1866

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 001866 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, MARR, VE 
SUBJECT: MORE ALLEGED INFIGHTING IN THE VENEZUELAN MILITARY 
 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR 1.4 (D) 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez fired the 
National Guard General in Bolivar State for corruption June 3 
and replaced the National Guard Regional Command June 7 with 
Army personnel from the Fifth Infantry Division.  Opposition 
media sources have alleged other National Guard units are 
rebelling over the action, and GOV responses to these claims 
have been uncoordinated and overstated.  No matter how Chavez 
resolves the fate of the Regional Command, the National Guard 
will continue to have a presence in the state, as other 
institutions are currently unfit to handle their wide-ranging 
law enforcement duties.  The situation in Bolivar State shows 
that the military is not immune to the deterioration plaguing 
all Venezuelan institutions under Chavez.  End summary. 
 
2.  (C)  A special investigative committee set up by 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dismissed National Guard 
Brig. Gen. Alberto Betancourt Nieves June 3 reportedly 
because small mining cooperatives in Bolivar State complained 
to National Assembly legislators in mid-May that National 
Guard troops had extorted them, destroyed their property, and 
violated human rights.  Army Maj. Gen. Jesus Wilhelm Becerra, 
now in charge of all state military units, had also raised 
the reports of corruption with Chavez, according to DAO 
sources.  Chavez deactivated Betancourt's Eighth Regional 
National Guard Command (CORE 8) on June 7, using army troops 
from Gen. Wilhelm's Fifth Infantry Division to replace local 
National Guard forces.  CORE 8 personnel protested the army 
had "humiliated" and "mistreated" them, according to press 
reports.  Chavez also deactivated the local anti-extortion 
and kidnapping group, National Guard personnel guarding the 
airport in Ciudad Bolivar, and two other rural commands and 
detachments, whose weapons were shipped to Caracas. 
Opposition National Assembly deputy Andres Velasquez (Causa 
R) complained to reporters about the hasty removal of arms 
and demanded that the GOV report their destination. 
 
3.  (U)  Anti-Chavez media outlets reported June 13 that 
National Guard non-commissioned officers acting in solidarity 
with their CORE 8 counterparts had "taken over" their own 
CORE 9 headquarters in Amazonas State and had threatened to 
take over installations of state industries and other 
Regional Commands.  They also reported that some National 
Guard troops had started a leaflet campaign against CORE 8's 
deactivation. 
 
4.  (U)  The press also reported June 13 that TO5 commander 
Maj. Gen. Wilhelm had refused to comment on the alleged abuse 
of National Guard officers.  Information Minister Andres 
Izarra told reporters there was no discontent in any part of 
the armed forces.  Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said 
harmony and normalcy reigned in the military, which had 
"finished off the (expletive deleted) and soldiers who let 
themselves be swindled by the old regime."  According to June 
15 press, the CORE 9 commander, also denying reports of 
National Guard insurrection, said the Army had taken two 
posts from the National Guard but had returned them after 
realizing it had misunderstood orders.  Chavez also weighed 
in, saying he had received a recommendation to replace CORE 8 
with TO5 a year ago because of the corruption and 
irregularities there, but had opted to wait for changes. 
Upon receiving recent evidence the command was becoming more 
corrupt, he added, he had decided to act. 
 
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Army or National Guard:  Which is Worse? 
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5.  (C)  When asked which service they would prefer in the 
region, Embassy contacts tended to opt for the "devil they 
knew."  The director of a center for rancher studies told 
poloff the Army's presence would be worse than that of the 
National Guard.  He argued that locals understood how to deal 
with the Guard's corruption but would have additional 
problems dealing with Army troops, who tended to be younger, 
urban, less professional soldiers with no law enforcement 
experience.  An active duty National Guard Colonel who did 
not dismiss reports of Guard corruption adopted a similar 
stance, telling poloff that substituting Army troops would 
disrupt a mutually beneficial relationship that the National 
Guard had established with miners.  In exchange for payment, 
he explained, the Guard protected miners and their caches 
from kidnappers and thieves.  A Venezuelan human rights 
 
leader told poloff the Army's behavior would depend on the 
local commander. 
 
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Comment 
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6.  (C)  Chavez, a former Army officer, reacted to the CORE 8 
incident by placing his more trusted army troops in charge, 
leaving National Guard officers resentful of the intrusion 
onto their own lucrative turf.  The action is a signal to the 
other military services that Chavez can bend the rules to get 
his way.  No matter how Chavez resolves the fate of the 
Regional Command, the National Guard will continue to have a 
presence in the state, as other institutions are currently 
unfit to handle their wide-ranging law enforcement duties. 
The truth about the alleged dissension probably lies 
somewhere between the alarmist opposition claims and the rosy 
GOV reports.  The conclusion to be drawn from this incident, 
as expressed in the daily tabloid Tal Cual, is that the 
military has not escaped the deterioration that is occurring 
in all Venezuelan institutions.  On the contrary, it is a 
paradigm of the process. 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2005CARACA01866 - CONFIDENTIAL