US embassy cable - 05CARACAS1913

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 001913 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, VE 
SUBJECT: VENEZUELAN POLITICAL MOVEMENTS MULTIPLY 
 
 
Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Political Counselor, 
for Reason 1.4(d) 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Since early 2005, several political opposition 
movements defending democracy or human rights have appeared 
in Venezuela, each spurred by an opposition political 
activist.  The organizations include Federacion Verdad 
Venezuela (Tulio Alvarez_), Alianza Popular (Oswaldo Alvarez_ 
Paz), Electores Libres (Carlos Alfonzo Martinez), Poder de la 
Gente (Oscar Perez), and Frente Nacional por la Libertad de 
los Presos y Perseguidos Politicos (Oscar Perez).  One new 
opposition political party has also appeared. A 
conglomeration of 10 National Assembly deputies, Polo 
Democratico has concentrated its effort on protesting the 
electoral system being designed for the 2005 parochial and 
National Assembly elections.  End Summary. 
 
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Opposition Political Movements 
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2. (U) Opposition lawyer Tulio Alvarez_ launched Federacion 
Verdad Venezuela (Federation Truth Venezuela) February 18, 
2005, as a democratic political resistance movement that will 
present alternative legislative reforms to what Alvarez_ terms 
poisonous laws and democratic institutional takeovers.  Since 
its inception, Alvarez_ has been touring Venezuela speaking on 
the state of justice, democracy, and rights in Venezuela. 
He is also raising legal objections to the GOV's plans and 
actions with the international community.  In May 2005, for 
example, Alvarez_ presented a formal request at the Dutch 
Embassy asking the European Union to abstain from sending 
observers for the August elections to avoid validating an 
election that would not meet international standards, he 
said.  Alvarez_ has publicly criticized the Carter Center's 
role in the August 2004 presidential referendum, and called 
for abstention in the August 2005 parochial elections. 
Alvarez_ acknowledges that some opposition parties do not 
share his opinion and will participate in the 2005 elections. 
Martha Guedez and Jose Rafael Garcia are Verdad Venezuela's 
two vice-presidents. 
 
3. (U) Oswaldo Alvarez_ Paz, former Governor of Zulia State 
and former presidential candidate for the Copei (Christian 
Democrat) party, formally launched Alianza Popular (Popular 
Alliance) on May 11, 2005, as a "new political action 
instrument."  The organization does not have immediate 
electoral aspirations, Paz said, because Venezuela's problem 
is not electoral but existential (morals and values). 
Instead, the Alianza hopes to "rescue democracy from an 
regime whose nature is autocratic," and defend liberty, 
justice and property by any and all legal means available. 
Alianza Popular plans to have a presence in every state and 
municipality in Venezuela, Paz said.  It's directed at 
citizens who reject President Hugo Chavez's project, but are 
not satisfied with the response of traditional organizations, 
said Manuel Felipe Sierra, a Venezuelan journalist and member 
of the organization. 
 
4. (U) Retired National Guard Gen. Carlos Alfonzo Martinez, 
still the subject of charges from opposition activities in 
December 2002, launched Electores Libres (Free Voters) in 
January 2005.  In an early public statement, Martinez said 
the group would organize primaries and elect local leaders 
from among neighborhood boards, associations and 
organizations, to postulate candidates for the parochial and 
National Assembly elections in 2005.  The movement has had 
little or no public profile other than news about Martinez's 
on-going case.  Part of Martinez's sentence, overturned by an 
appellate court but again under consideration in the Supreme 
Court, is a prohibition of his speaking out publicly on 
political matters. 
 
5. (U) Poder de la Gente is a "citizen participation 
platform" founded by Miranda State legislator Oscar Perez 
(Gente de Sucre) in conjunction with other opposition 
political and civil society actors, religious institutions, 
and private businesses.  The organization bills itself as a 
defender of human rights and its goal, according to Perez, is 
to educate and inform poorer Venezuelans of human rights 
guaranteed to them in the Constitution so as to achieve 
"integrated development and strengthen democracy."  In 
addition to the political activists who are its founders, 
Perez also envisions the organization reaching out to and 
training community leaders.  Helen Ferenandez, president of 
Vigilantes de la Democracia, told poloff May 25 that Poder de 
la Gente has already trained over 130 community leaders on 
human rights issues. 
 
6. (C) Perez also spearheaded the Frente Nacional por la 
Libertad de los Presos y Perseguidos Politicos 
(FNLP--National Front for the Liberty of Political Prisoners 
and Persecuted People.  Political opposition and civil 
society personalities like Helen Fernandez (Vigilantes de la 
Democracia), Patricia Poleo (journalist), National Assembly 
deputy Guillermo Palacios (OFM), and Milos Alcalay (former 
Venezuelan ambassador to the UN), support the FNLP.  It was 
launched April 30, 2005, to raise awareness of political 
persecutions in the Venezuelan population, take the debate 
into the international arena and design a plan to obtain the 
freedom of those detained, according to Perez.  Poleo, who 
herself was sentenced to six months, also said that by 
raising awareness, she hoped to avoid future persecutions for 
GOV dissidents.  The organization is active in Caracas, 
Miranda State, and Tachira State, along the Colombian border, 
where controversy about political persecutions abounds. 
 
7. (C) Perez and Fernandez told poloff separately that the 
FNLP is not openly political, and cannot become political if 
it hopes to continue counting on the support of the family 
members of detainees.  For example, Fernandez told poloff in 
late May that Primero Justicia had asked to join the front, 
but had been turned down because that would "politicize" the 
organization.  On the other hand, the wife of an imprisoned 
military officer told Polcouns she did not want to be closely 
associated with the FNLP because of Perez's political 
interests.  Both Fernandez and Perez admit that through the 
FNLP they hope to keep the spotlight on weaknesses in the 
GOV, such as the judicial system and political persecutions, 
by highlighting the plight of those imprisoned unfairly. 
Police and judicial persecution is something Venezuela's poor 
can understand and commiserate with, said Perez.  The FNLP 
has made the press through its organization of several 
marches, cacerolazos, and written public appeals for 
mediators to international organizations. 
 
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Facing Intimidation 
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8. (C) Fernandez told poloff in late May that the Attorney 
General's office and the intelligence police have created 
files and begun gathering information for a possible case on 
her and her husband.  She has been warned, Fernandez 
asserted, to be careful because "something could be planted 
in your car at any time."  Verdad Venezuela's Tulio Alvarez_ 
told Polcouns he also faces intimidation as the appeals court 
set to review his conviction is being manipulated by the GOV 
and opposition judges are either replaced, sick or on 
vacation.  Oswaldo Alvarez_ told Polcouns that he is under 
surveillance and that intelligence police (DISIP) officers 
regularly come to his house when he is not there, making 
inquiries with the guards or his household help. 
 
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Opposition Political Parties 
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9. (U) Three leftist parties (Solidarity, Let's Go, and the 
Social Democrat Block) united to form a new party, Polo 
Democratico (Democratic Pole) March 12, 2005.  The National 
Assembly deputies who founded the party say its mission is to 
defend democracy.  Polo Democratico has mainly protested the 
National Electoral Council's (CNE) decisions on upcoming 
elections and asked for changes to the electoral system 
(audit of the electoral registry, protest against electronic 
voting notebooks, etc.).  The party is primarily a 
conglomeration of 10 National Assembly deputies, among them 
Rafael Simon Jimenez or Freddy Lepage, who trace their 
political careers back to the MAS and Accion Democratica 
respectively.  Opposition politician Timoteo Zambrano is also 
a founding member of the party. 
 
10. (U) Caracas politicians Carlos Melo and Claudio Fermin 
launched a new movement called Asamblea Popular (Popular 
Assembly) May 7.  The new movement would participate in the 
August 7 parochial elections, they said.  It would capitalize 
on the support garnered at rallies held over the last four 
months throughout Venezuela, Fermin said.  (Note: Accion 
Democratica (AD) disciplined Fermin in late 2004 for carrying 
out initiatives behind the party's back and against its 
principles.) 
 
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Comment 
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11. (C) Most of the new opposition organizations define 
themselves as resistance political movements, carefully 
avoiding the moniker "political party," and the negative 
associations that come with it.  Most are being launched 
under the banner of defending democracy, human rights or 
both.  While some Chavista and opposition supporters 
speculate that the eventual opposition to Chavez will rise 
from a split in Chavismo, the new political movements also 
seem to be a rising trend among current opposition political 
players.  The new organizations, however, already face 
divisions and are trying to attract support from a similar 
base with similar platforms.  The new political parties with 
announced electoral interests will probably face the same 
challenges at the polls that traditional parties fear in 
2005. 
 
12. (C) For now the opposition remains severely split. 
Additional political groups to some extent divide further an 
already divided opposition that has failed to offer an 
alternative to Chavez that appeals to voters. 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2005CARACA01913 - CONFIDENTIAL