UPDATE: ALLEGED COLOMBIAN PARAMILITARY COUP PLOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001692 SIPDIS NSC FOR CBARTON USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD USAID DCHA/OTI FOR RPORTER E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2013 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINS VE SUBJECT: UPDATE: ALLEGED COLOMBIAN PARAMILITARY COUP PLOT REF: CARACAS 1543 Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B ) AND (D) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco, after meeting with President Chavez May 14, told reporters that her government is cooperating fully with Venezuelan authorities in the investigation of alleged Colombian paramilitaries detained in the southern outskirts of Caracas May 9 (ref). Barco denied that Colombia was involved in their activities. Additionally, a military court upheld the detention of three Venezuelan military officers allegedly linked to the Colombians on the charge of military rebellion. Security forces detained two supposed paramilitaries who had escaped capture on May 9, while GOV officials released more details of the alleged coup plot. End Summary. -------------- "COLOMBIA IS NOT INVOLVED" -------------- ¶2. (U) After meeting with President Hugo Chavez May 14, Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco told reporters that her government is cooperating fully with Venezuelan authorities in the ongoing investigation of alleged Colombian paramilitaries detained in the southern outskirts of Caracas May 9 (ref). Responding to questions, Barco denied that Colombia was involved in the alleged activities. The Foreign Minister emphasized that the two countries are holding "frank and open" discussions, and that Venezuelan authorities will provide Colombia with the names and identity numbers of 63 detainees shortly. Responding to a reporter, Barco acknowledged President Chavez' concern with the possible involvement of the Colombian military in the alleged plot, but she defended the integrity of her country's armed forces. -------------- VENEZUELAN MILITARY IMPLICATED -------------- ¶3. On May 13, military tribunal judge Ruben Garcia upheld the detention of three Venezuelan military officers allegedly linked to the Colombians on the charge of military rebellion. Col. Pedro Pico (Air Force),Col. Jesus Castro (National Guard),and Capt. Francisco Nieto (National Guard) were ordered held for the duration of the investigation. National Guard Capt. Douglas Perez was released without charges after having been found in his brother-in-law's house with bullet-proof vests, according to news reports. -------------- MORE "PARAMILITARIES" -------------- ¶4. (U) Claiming that he fled the ranch where his compatriots were detained May 9, a 25-year-old alleged Colombian was picked up by political police (DISIP) officers May 13 on a neighboring farm. Sobbing, the young man told reporters that men came to his hometown of Cucuta, Colombia offering agricultural work in Venezuela. "But they cheated us," he said, "because they also offered us Venezuelan identity documents if we voted for Chavez." He claimed that the alleged recruits were brought by bus and "trained with one rifle to rob homes and buses and to kill people," according to press reports. The National Guard reported the May 13 detention of another Colombian who had allegedly escaped from the ranch where the men had been brought. That individual was turned over to the military prosecutor in charge of the case. ¶5. (U) Speaking to reporters May 13, Defense Minister Gen. Jorge Luis Garcia Carneiro said 115 alleged paramilitaries have been detained and asserted that up to 500 are still at large. Information Minister Jesse Chacon told the reporters that "Plan Fumigation" had two core elements: first, a group of "paramilitaries" were to attack an army base while wearing camouflage military uniforms to give the impression of an uprising taking place within the armed forces. The media were meant to play a role, according to Chacon, by broadcasting the images of the "uprising" and thereby encouraging other military bases to rebel. Second, a group of irregulars was to have been dispatched to Miraflores Palace to kill President Chavez. According to Chacon, the joint operation was meant to have encouraged an international intervention to restore order. ¶6. (U) Caracas daily TalCual reported May 14 that one of the detained "paramilitaries" was using the name and lost identity document of a church pastor still living in Cucuta, Colombia. TalCual also discovered that a Venezuelan businessman alleged by DISIP to be an accomplice in the scheme was completely unknown in Maracaibo where he supposedly conducted business. -------------- OTHER CASUALTIES -------------- ¶7. (U) The attorney for Dulce Bravo and Vasco Da Costa, both supposedly implicated in "Plan Fumigation," claimed they had been severely mistreated during their detention in DISIP headquarters. The attorney alleged that Bravo was sexually mistreated and Da Costa was subjected to electric shock torture before they were transferred to Fort Tiuna May 13. Military Attorney General Eladio Aponte ordered a medical examination of Da Costa, according to news reports. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) The GOV stepped up its efforts to blame the U.S. for the alleged paramilitary "invasion" of Venezuela with a massive march in Caracas May 16, during which Chavez announced the "anti-imperialist" phase of the Bolivarian Revolution (septel). 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