CHAVEZ: COUP ATTEMPT AVERTED WITH ARREST OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001543

SIPDIS


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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2013
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINS VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ: COUP ATTEMPT AVERTED WITH ARREST OF
"PARAMILITARIES"

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B
) AND (D)


1. (C) Venezuelan authorities detained between 50 and 90
alleged Colombian irregulars in the dawn hours of May 9 in
the southern outskirts of Caracas. Calling the men
"paramilitaries" in his "Alo, Presidente" program, President
Chavez claimed the opposition was training them for another
coup attempt with the help of the US, Colombians, and Cuban
exiles. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel called on all
"friends of Venezuela" to denounce the detainees as
terrorists and drug traffickers. Human Rights group COFAVIC
expressed consternation with the GOV's lack of proof or legal
basis for the detentions, and opposition leaders denounced it
as an attempt to smear them and derail the upcoming reparos.
The GOV followed the detentions with raids on properties in
Caracas, including the embassy warehouse (septel). We can't

dismiss the GOV's allegations that the Colombians were part
of an anti-GOV plot -- but the absence of weapons, and more
information, raises questions about what occurred. End
Summary.


2. (U) President Chavez announced the May 9 early morning
capture of at least 53 alleged Colombian irregulars in the
southern outskirts of Caracas during his "Alo, Presidente"
program. Chavez said that 50 others escaped. Minister of
Interior Lucas Rincon later informed the audience that an
additional 24-30 had been captured. Calling the men
"paramilitaries," Chavez claimed his political opponents had
imported terrorists and were training them to overthrow
and/or assassinate him with the help of the USG, wealthy
Colombians, and Cuban exiles. He also charged that the US
was hoping the "paramilitaries" would create a pretext for a
US invasion of Venezuela. Chavez said political police
(DISIP),scientific and investigative police (CICPC),and the
National Guard captured the group during a raid on a ranch
owned by Cuban exile Robert Alonso, who is linked to the
president's domestic opponents and anti-Castro groups in
Miami.


3. (U) Contradicting the president's accusations, El Hatillo
Mayor Alfredo Catalan told news channel Globovision May 9
that his police, acting with the Metropolitan Police, had
intercepted two buses, reported as stolen, on the back roads
of Caracas at approximately 1:3 a.m. They found more than
50 unarmed men, dresed in camouflage fatigues on the buses.
Some twohours later, Catalan said, contingents from the
DSIP and CICPC arrived and detained the men.


4. U) Speaking to reporters May 9, Fifth Republic Movment
deputy William Lara said the case would be ried in a
military court, because the group had lanned to attack a
military base and steal its wepons to use against the
government. According t Lara, Article 486 of the Military
Justice Code reats any attack on the armed forces as
militaryrebellion and therefore subject to military justic.
Lara also claimed that the detainees planned t attack the
military base silently with knives ad straight razors to
avoid detection.


5. (C) olombian Ambassador to Venezuela Maria Holguin tol
the Ambassador May 10 that, at her request, the GOV gave her
a list of 4 alleged Colombian paramilitaries who had been
etained. The GOC performed a name check which shoed that
only one person had a criminal record. Holguin was skeptical
of the paramilitary accusation. She said not only had the
detainees who were interviewed on TV not used paramilitary
slang, but also it is unlikely for paramilitaries to move
around in large numbers without weapons. Despite being
denied consular access to the detainees, Holguin thinks it
likely that they are Colombians. but she is highly doubtful
they are or were paramilitaries.


6. (U) During a May 10 press briefing, Vice President Jose
Vicente Rangel equated the detainees with terrorists and drug
traffickers and called on OAS SecGen Cesar Gaviria, the
Carter Center, and "all those who are responsible" to
denounce the presence and activities of the alleged
paramilitaries and thus declare whether they are Venezuela's
friends or enemies. Rangel accused opposition leaders,
including military dissident Gen. Felipe Rodriguez, of having
met with the Colombian military to coordinate sealing of the
border during the alleged paramilitary operation. According


to Rangel, the Colombian military was charged with preventing
the FARC from going to Chavez' aid after the attack on the
GOV commenced.


7. (C) Liliana Ortega, director of the human rights NGO
COFAVIC, told poloff May 10 that there is no clear
information on who the detainees are, why they were detained,
or what charges they will face. She characterized the GOV
raid and the subsequent plan to try the case in a military
court as "very strange and confusing." Placing the case
under military jurisdiction, she said, will make it much more
difficult to obtain a convincing explanation of what happened.


8. (U) Speaking to reporters May 10, pro-opposition deputy
Ernesto Alvarenga (Solidaridad) demanded that the GOV publish
the names and identity numbers of the detainees, as well as
ask the Colombian Government for confirmation of their
citizenship status. Alvarenga emphasized that the timing of
the raid to coincide with the opposition's May 8 reparo
simulation was no coincidence. It represented, he said, the
GOV's attempt to link the "paramilitaries" with the
opposition, damaging its democratic credentials and
distracting it from the reparo effort.


9. (SBU) The GOV followed up on the detentions May 10 with
raids around Caracas. Authorities first entered the
warehouse complex where the embassy storage facility is
located. There, witnesses told RSO, they searched the
embassy warehouse and at least one other private facility
(septel). The authorities also searched the house of the
ex-wife of former President Carlos Andres Perez, and
attempted to enter the house of National Assembly deputy
Rafael Marin. In addition, they raided a vacant house,
allegedly belonging to a National Guard colonel, where
hundreds of bullet-proof vests were found, and the house of a
person allegedly linked to the February 27-March 5 protests.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


10. (C) The timing of this incident, the lack of basic
information about it other than GOV assertions, and most
importantly, the rush to consign the case to military court
with little justification all inspire suspicion. That said,
there is a history of conspiring among radical anti-Chavez
forces, and so we do not rule out the possibility that
someone hired these Colombians to do something against the
GOV. If the case isn't merely a "show" as the opposition
charges, then the government will have to come up with some
convincing evidence quickly. On the other hand, the case
could serve as a vehicle for bringing more charges against
opposition figures, such as those recently brought against
the mayors of Baruta and Chacao. An arrest warrent has just
been issued for the mayor of Baruta, Henrique Capriles.
Press reports he is detained in DISIP.. For now, all
attention is off the reparos and the referendum, a fact that
is certainly to Chavez' liking.
SHAPIRO


NNNN

2004CARACA01543 - CONFIDENTIAL