GOV REPRESSION'S "FAIR AND REASONABLE" LEGAL FACADE

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001161

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS USAID DCHA/OTI FOR RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2014
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM PREL VE
SUBJECT: GOV REPRESSION'S "FAIR AND REASONABLE" LEGAL FACADE

REF: A. CARACAS 00945


B. CARACAS 01090

C. 03 CARACAS 04425

D. CARACAS 01087

Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Political Counselor, for reasons 1.4
(B) and (D)

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Summary
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1. (C) The GOV has been using a range of legal actions,
administrative procedures, and illicit activities to punish
and harass opponents. Tax investigations, broadcasting
private phone conversations, and blacklisting signers of a
presidential recall petition from GOV services or employment
are among the measures the GOV is employing. The political
intimidation stretches to the National Assembly, which
attempted to remove three Supreme Court justices as
punishment for a March 15 decision favoring a presidential
recall. End Summary.

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Be Chavista Or Be Fired
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2. (C) Following protests February 27 to March 5, the GOV has
accelerated efforts to screen signers of a presidential
recall petition for employment, services, and benefits (ref
a). The opposition umbrella group Coordinadora Democratica
(CD) denounced about 8,000 public employee firings March 27,
not including more than 18,000 state oil company employees
previously fired for "abandoning" their jobs during the
2002-2003 national strike. Embassy contacts, including a
student leader, an IV grant nominee, and an opposition mayor,
claim they have been refused passports for signing. The GOV
is also allegedly using the signature database to deny
petition signers ID cards, marriage certificates, and access
to dollar exchanges, according to Embassy contacts and media
reports.


3. (C) National Assembly (AN) Deputy Ernesto Alvarenga
(Solidaridad) told poloff February 18 that the list is being
used to pressure people to recant their signatures in
exchange for employment in PDVSA, as a condition for state
bank loans, and to avoid delay in receiving retirement
benefits. He called it Venezuela's "Schindler's list."
Rojelio Serpa, assistant to Tachira Attorney General Doris
Gandica, told poloff March 3 that his boss screens all
requests and job applicants and "does nothing for people who
signed." Max Vasquez, editor of Daily La Nacion, told poloff
February 26 that a friend applied for a state job in Tachira
and was screened using the same process. Vasquez's friend
decided "the job was more important than participating in a
futile process" and recanted at the local CNE office.


4. (U) After denying persistent blacklisting rumors, GOV
officials began in March to concede limited firings had
occurred, but hinted of more. Foreign Minister Jesus Perez
said March 30 that all ambassadors and general directors who
signed the petition would lose their jobs. "Someone who is
against the president ... cannot represent him," said Perez.
Venezuelan Education Minister Aristobulo Isturiz_ denied
allegations that his Ministry is harassing or firing
employees that signed, but insisted they key posts cannot be
occupied by "officials who oppose the government." Health
Minister Roger Capella said March 20 that state employed
doctors and nurses who signed should expect to be fired
because they "agreed with violence and conspiracy." Franklin
Rondon, head of the pro-Chavez federation of public sector
unions, told poloff March 25 it is "inconceivable" that
directors and vice ministers who signed against Chavez be
allowed to remain in place.

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Sowing the seeds of an Orwellian State
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5. (C) The GOV is now open about its use of surveillance to
intimidate opponents and stifle criticism. Private phone
conversations are tapped, edited, and packaged on
GOV-operated TV and radio with increasing regularity and

without regard for privacy rights. The latest target was
daily Tal Cual Editor Teodoro Petkoff, whose conversation
with constitutional lawyer Tulio Alvarez_ was aired early in
March. AN Deputy William Lara requested March 17 that the
Supreme Court remove Petkoff from an advisory board to the
National Electoral Council (CNE) based on the illegally taped
conversion. "The objective is no longer to convince nor to
win minds, but to instill terror," wrote Petkoff, who denied
any difference between his public and private statements.
Other targets in the last six months included Venezuelan
Workers' Confederation leaders Carlos Ortega and Manual Cova,
former Fedecamaras President Carlos Fernandez, and former
Attorney General Ramon Escovar Salom. Pro-Chavez Legislator
Iris Varela admitted openly to reporters in Spain that the
GOV taps Embassy phones and is justified in doing so because
of U.S. hostility to the Bolivarian revolution.

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Using the Tax Man to Audit Political Dissent
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6. (U) Government opponents also see as harassment the GOV
order for four private television stations to pay more than
U.S. $3.3 million in taxes for airing pro-opposition spots
during the December 2002-February 2003 national strike (ref
b). Although the technical merits of the tax are debatable
(some media owners told the Ambassador the GOV was in the
right),media owners insist the GOV is applying it
inconsistently as political punishment for criticizing the
GOV. Opposition leaders claim the GOV's tax office, SENIAT,
is politically targeting businesses, a claim SENIAT denies.
Government opponents cite SENIAT's high profile "zero
evasion" plan, which closed some of Venezuela's major retail
chains for days during the lucrative Christmas shopping
season (ref c). SENIAT launched a major public relations
campaign at the same time depicting it heroically closing
stores and businesses.

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NA Committee Demands Dismissal of "Corrupt" Judges
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7. (C) Pro-GOV AN Deputy Luis Velazquez Alvaray (MVR) told
poloff March 24 that the AN's Judicial Branch Crisis
Committee is trying to remove three Supreme Court justices
for a March 15 decision favoring a presidential recall. The
committee, composed only of pro-GOV legislators, condemned
the three Electoral Chamber justices to the Moral Council (a
constitutionally mandated body consisting of the heads of the
Public Defender, Attorney General, and Comptroller General,
where impeachment proceedings against justices begin) for
their "obviously partial" March 15 ruling accepting 876,000
contested signatures. Velazquez said his committee compiled
complaints on about 500 judges during the last year,
including five Supreme Court justices. He claimed the
signature decision was the "final insult," calling Electoral
Chamber Chief Alberto Martini "the most corrupt justice in
Supreme Court history."

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Comment
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8. (C) The GOV's tightening grip on institutions has two
simple goals: staying in power and political
advantage/retribution. It seems increasingly comfortable
with its actions as it sheds vestiges of transparency,
fairness, constitutional liberalism, and democracy for a more
Machiavellian reality in which citizens are either with the
Bolivarian revolution or are traitors. Most (but
interestingly, not all) GOV contacts do not seem especially
troubled by allegations of their political bias. Chavistas
regularly describe the political world as a war and all who
do not share their fervor as enemies. The recent harassment
fits with Chavez's strategy to use the state against
political enemies to wear down resistance.
SHAPIRO


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2004CARACA01161 - CONFIDENTIAL