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) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶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. -------------- Be Chavista Or Be Fired -------------- ¶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. -------------- Sowing the seeds of an Orwellian State -------------- ¶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. -------------- Using the Tax Man to Audit Political Dissent -------------- ¶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. -------------- -------------- NA Committee Demands Dismissal of "Corrupt" Judges -------------- -------------- ¶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." -------------- Comment -------------- ¶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 NNNN 2004CARACA01161 - CONFIDENTIAL