OAS DEMOCRATIC CHARTER: REACTION TO COLOMBIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001347 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2014 TAGS: PREL KDEM VE OAS SUBJECT: OAS DEMOCRATIC CHARTER: REACTION TO COLOMBIAN SENATE VOTE Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d ) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) The GOV and the National Assembly reacted harshly to the vote April 13 by the Colombian Senate to request that the OAS consider applying the Democratic Charter to Venezuela. Opponents of President Chavez have generally welcomed the vote as a sign of international support for the opposition, and growing isolation for the Chavez government. GOV officials called the Colombian action "inadmissible interference," and claimed the USG was behind it. Some people in the opposition have warned that such initiatives by the Colombians risk stirring up Venezuelan nationalism, and represent interference in Venezuela's internal affairs. END SUMMARY. -------------- Vice-President Rangel -------------- ¶2. (U) Venezuelan Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel accused the USG of being behind the resolution, as part of its alleged anti-Venezuelan campaign, and as part of a greater Plan Colombia. He accused Colombian Senator Enrique Gomez Hurtado of acting as spokesperson of the Democratic Coordinating Committee, rather than as a representative of his own people. He claimed that Colombia had far greater political and human rights problems than Venezuela. He accused Pedro Carmona, who briefly took over the presidency in April 2002 and is now in exile in Colombia, of being the intellectual author of the resolution. Foreign Minister Jesus Perez called the vote a "gross interference" in Venezuela's internal affairs, but said the National Assembly would give the official response to the Colombian legislative initiative. -------------- National Assembly -------------- ¶3. (U) The National Assembly voted 90 to 25 on April 15 to "categorically condemn" the Colombian Senate's resolution as an "inadmissible interference" in Venezuela's internal affairs. The President of the NA Commission on Foreign Affairs, Tarek William Saab, suggested that the document had been written in English by the U.S. State Department because of its alleged poor grammatical construction. At the same time the Assembly voted to begin an investigation on the "arms race" begun by Colombia, and to solicit information from the U.S. and Spanish legislatures on sales and donations of arms to Colombia. -------------- Opposition reaction -------------- ¶4. (U) Many opponents of President Chavez supported the Colombian Senate's resolution. It was seen as a sign of international isolation for the government, and of support for the opposition. Opposition editorials, NA deputies, and representatives of the Democratic Coordinating Committee (DCC) pointed to the vote as a form of moral support for the opposition, and a serious warning to the government. D'Elsa Solorzano, head of the Judicial Commission of the DCC called it further evidence of the delicate situation of human rights in Venezuela. Virginia Contreras, former Ambassador for Venezuela to the OAS, called the resolution "very grave for the Venezuelan government from an international point of view." ¶5. (U) Tal Cual editor Teodoro Petkoff criticized the Colombian Senate's resolution as interference in Venezuelan internal affairs. He cautioned political leaders to consider that cheering for Colombian interference made their changes against Cuban interference sound hypocritical. Petkoff also pointed out that Colombia had its own problems, and that the invoking of the Charter was highly unlikely. Luis Manuel Esculpi, of the Union party, wrote in El Mundo on April 15 that any initiative coming from Colombia was likely to spark a nationalist reaction in Venezuela, and so be counterproductive to the opposition. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) The GOV has taken advantage of the Colombian action to rally its supporters in the face of a plot, as they have packaged it, between Venezuela's historic rival, Colombia, and the Chavista's bete-noir, the U.S. While some Chavez opponents wanted to spin the vote positively, it gives them little of real benefit, while allowing the Chavista's to question their patriotism. SHAPIRO NNNN 2004CARACA01347 - CONFIDENTIAL