US embassy cable - 05CARACAS2174

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 002174 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, VE 
SUBJECT: KILLING OF STUDENTS LEADS TO PROTEST, GOV RESPONSE 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d 
) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) The killing of three university students June 27 
prompted protests at universities across Venezuela in early 
July, culminating in the student presentation of demands for 
justice to National Assembly President Nicolas Maduro on July 
12.  Some two dozen criminal investigative police (Cicpc) and 
military intelligence (DIM) officers killed the three 
students during an operation to find the killer of a DIM 
officer, according to press reports.  Minister of Justice 
Jesse Chacon dismissed dozens of Cicpc officials soon after 
the incident and the alleged perpetrators were put in custody 
for the investigation.  The incident has highlighted the 
propensity of Venezuela's security authorities to shoot first 
and ask questions later. Pro-Chavez legislators and 
officials, echoing broad concerns over how Venezuela's police 
operate, said the incident highlights the need to move 
forward on a national police law, which opponents have 
criticized as a vehicle for centralizing police powers under 
Chavez.  End summary. 
 
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"They Shot Them Like Dogs" 
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2. (U) Security forces killed three students - Leonardo 
Gonzalez, Erick Montenegro, and Edgar Quintero - and wounded 
three others near a Caracas police checkpoint on the night of 
June 27.  The team of Venezuela's investigative police 
(Cicpc) and military intelligence (DIM) stationed at the 
checkpoint was searching for those responsible for the murder 
of a fellow agent earlier that weekend, according to press 
reports.  The Ministry of Interior and Justice June 29 said 
the students failed to stop at the checkpoint because they 
were afraid they would be robbed by the armed, masked and 
non-uniformed police officers.  As their car accelerated, an 
officer's gun discharged, hitting another member of the 
security team manning the checkpoint.  Security forces, 
believing the shot had come from the students' car, opened 
fire, the Ministry reported. 
 
3. (U) The official version of events soon came under 
question however, as forensic tests showed that none of the 
students had fired a weapon, and survivor and other 
eyewitness accounts began to circulate.  According to 
eyewitness accounts reported in the press, the students were 
fired upon as they accelerated past a police checkpoint.  The 
students stopped the car, trying to find the family of one of 
the passengers to get help.  The security forces chased down 
the group, shot Gonzalez, and beat Montenegro and Quintero 
before shooting them multiple times.  Autopsy results 
released July 10 showed that Quintero and Montenegro were 
shot six and 11 times respectively, and that each had 
received shots to the head.  Leonardo Gonzalez was shot only 
once - through his right eye. 
 
4. (U) Eyewitness accounts that the group identified 
themselves as students to the police and pleaded for mercy 
corroborated survivor declarations to the prosecution that 
they had identified themselves to the police.  Minister of 
Interior Jesse Chacon confirmed eyewitness allegations that 
another group of police returned to the crime scene later the 
night of June 27, telling reporters July 12 that he had proof 
that a patrol was ordered to return to the site to plant guns 
where the bodies of the three students had fallen. 
 
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Students Protest Impunity 
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5. (U) University students across Venezuela protested police 
impunity and demanded justice in the case of June 27 
killings.  A June 30 protest by 150 University Santa Maria 
students shut down streets around the university, and by the 
weekend protests had spread outside of Caracas and to 
universities across the country.  Attorney General Isaias 
Rodriguez met with student protesters July 1.  The protests 
culminated in a 300 person march to the National Assembly 
July 12.  Along the way, chavista groups accosted 
demonstrators repeatedly and Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto tried 
 
at one point to block the students' march with a truck on 
which he stationed girls dancing.  By the time the group 
reached the entrance of the National Assembly, only 80 of the 
original 300 remained.  Student leaders demanded that 
National Assembly President Nicolas Maduro form a commission 
to investigate the June 27 killings, censure Minister of the 
Interior and Justice Jesse Chacon, and cease to use the 
students' deaths as an excuse to create a national police 
force.  University leaders have called for a national 
demonstration July 19. 
 
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Prosecution Promises Swift Justice 
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6. (U) On July 2, the court admitted charges of premeditated 
murder, attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon against 
26 agents (21 DIM, 5 Cicpc).  The judge denied the 
prosecution's request to charge the agents with altering the 
crime scene, illegal entry, public intimidation, abuse of 
authority and forging a public document.  The judge also 
ordered protection measures for the three students who 
survived the June 27 incident.  The 26 accused are currently 
detained in the Special Forces Brigade of the Cicpc.  A trial 
date has not yet been set. 
 
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Investigative Police In GOV's Sights 
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7. (U) Minister of the Interior and Justice Chacon announced 
the dismissal of six Cicpc section chiefs July 2.  Chacon 
justified the decision in his announcement, claiming that the 
section chiefs should be held responsible for the actions of 
those under their command who he alleged "planted" evidence 
at the crime scene the night of June 27.  President Chavez 
condoned the decision during his weekly television broadcast 
'Alo Presidente' July 3, commenting that "We cannot have 
assassins with police identification on the streets killing 
people...we have to clean up the police."  Attorney General 
Rodriguez confirmed in a press release July 6 that 
reorganization was in the works for Cicpc, however he denied 
that the DIM was also on the slate for an "intervention." 
Subsequently, Chacon made public the retirement of 4 of 5 
directors of Cicpc July 8, sparing only the Director General. 
 Chacon announced the retirement of an additional 133 Cicpc 
agents on July 12. 
 
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National Assembly Moves National Police Law Up On Its Agenda 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
8. (U) GOV leadership began the call for the creation of a 
national police force following President Chavez's July 3 Alo 
Presidente broadcast.  Chacon supported the creation of a 
national police force July 4, stating that it "constituted a 
means of cleaning up the police."  Vice-President Jose 
Vincente Rangel followed suit July 7, claiming that the state 
was obligated to give Venezuelans a modern Police Law that 
"permits the police to operate in the service of the state 
and not against its citizens."  President Chavez turned again 
to the theme of police restructuring on the July 10 Alo 
Presidente broadcast, during which he severely criticized the 
Cicpc and Chacon's performance. 
 
9. (U) Pro-gov political party Podemos asked National 
Assembly leadership July 4 to "dust off" the National Police 
Law because a reorganization was needed after the June 27 
student killings.  The National Police Law passed a first 
reading July 2004, but has not progressed in the past year. 
The law under debate would restructure autonomous local and 
state police forces into a national police force. 
 
10. (U) Opposition leaders questioned the GOV's motives for 
the law.  Juan Carlos Caldera, of Primero Justicia, asserted 
July 4 that Chavez was attempting to resolve the problem of 
police excess by eliminating institutions, and thereby 
"concentrating more and more power" in his own hands. 
Pro-opposition MAS party deputy Carlos Tablante also voiced 
his concerns, claiming July 9 that the GOV "(is) attempting 
to create a national police because it is in their 
interests...the obvious intention is to exercise more 
political control over the police."  Opposition parties 
sought July 7 to censure Minister of the Interior Chacon, 
however the National Assembly rejected this motion July 12. 
 
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Comment 
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11. (C) The GOV adeptly played the political opportunity 
provided by public outrage over the June 27 student killings 
to its own advantage.  The replacement of investigative 
police force (Cicpc) leadership will tighten GOV control over 
this organization.  The Military Intelligence Directorate 
(DIM) is escaping attention for the moment as the Ministry of 
Interior takes the public brunt.  However, with the change of 
Ministers of Defense complete, the DIM's role and activities 
are likely to draw greater scrutiny. New Minister of Defense, 
Admiral Ramon Orlando Maniglia, was recently quoted as 
stating that there would be a process of revision and 
organization at the DIM as well. 
 
12. (C) There continues to be student interest in protesting 
the killings and in assuring that there is no cover-up.  Yet 
another student demonstration in Caracas is scheduled for 
July 19.  The protests are not partisan - no opposition party 
has tried to latch onto them - and thus the GOV must be 
cautious in responding to them. 
Brownfield 
 
 
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      2005CARACA02174 - CONFIDENTIAL