CHAVEZ CALLS FOR CITIZEN SOLDIERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001723 SIPDIS NSC FOR CBARTON USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2014 TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PINS KDEM VE SUBJECT: CHAVEZ CALLS FOR CITIZEN SOLDIERS REF: A. CARACAS 1646 ¶B. CARACAS 1543 Classified By: Abelardo A. Arias, Political Counselor, for Reasons 1.4 (d). -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) President Hugo Chavez addressed a pro-GOV mass march on May 16 against the alleged Colombian paramilitaries detained near Caracas May 9. Outlining a new strategy for the "integral, popular defense" of the country, Chavez pledged to increase the size and budget of the armed forces, root out of "traitorous" military officers, and begin organizing civilians units under military command to defend the country. Regarding the alleged paramilitaries, Chavez revealed that he had anticipated their presence and had placed 5,000 troops on the streets prior to May 9 for protection. Chavez blamed the paramilitary plot on "right-wingers in Washington" and said it was he who ordered the MILGP out of its offices on Fuerte Tiuna. Opposition parties denounced the citizen militias as "legalized paramilitaries." The proposal is a radical push, under constitutional cover while the opposition's attention is diverted, by which Chavez hopes to be able to better defend himself and his revolution. End summary. -------------- March Against Paramilitaries -------------- ¶2. (U) Perhaps more than a 100,000 Chavez supporters marched from eastern Caracas to the downtown area on May 16 to protest foreign interventionism and the alleged presence of Colombian paramilitaries in Venezuela (refs a and b). Marchers carried signs saying "Paramilitaries and the CIA out of Venezuela," "Bush is an assassin and coup-plotter," and "Yankee Go Home, Bush Go To Hell." GOV officials speaking to reporters chimed a recurring theme that the march was a demonstration that all Venezuelans, Chavistas or no, had turned out to reject the "terrorism" propagated by paramilitaries. President Chavez addressed the march at the end point on Avenida Bolivar. Private media showed images of the dozens of buses parked nearby, suggesting that the GOV employed its usual practice of bringing supporters from outside of Caracas. -------------- "An Integral, Popular National Defense" -------------- ¶3. (U) Chavez told the crowd that his "Bolivarian Revolution" had entered an anti-imperialist phase, announcing three new strategic objectives for ensuring the "integral, popular defense" of the nation. The first of these objectives, Chavez said, is the strengthening of the military through an increase in size and operational capacity. This will include greater intake into the military and, if necessary, the acquisition of weapons, Chavez said. The President said he is still considering whether to create a special "theater of operations" in the center of the country to better coordinate the military. To this end, Chavez said he had added that he had approved a 20 billion bolivar increase (about USD 10 million) to the Army and National Guard. -------------- Chavez Orders U.S. MILGP Off Base -------------- ¶4. (U) The second objective, he said, is to root out "traitors" in the military, an operation he called "deepening the civil-military union." Chavez said he had ordered Minister of Defense Gen. Jorge Garcia Carneiro to warn garrison commanders not to associate with traitors. Chavez also noted the need to improve education of military personnel and be sure of the reliability of those military trainers. Chavez digressed to say he had ordered the MILGP out of Fuerte Tiuna to make room for the government employment program "Mision Vuelvan Caras." Chavez said Fuerte Tiuna is a "sovereign space" and he could not permit any international presence, especially that of the U.S. "empire." -------------- Citizens Organized for Defense -------------- ¶5. (U) The third objective, Chavez said, is to incorporate the Venezuelan people into the defense of the nation. "Every citizen should consider himself a soldier," Chavez declared. Earlier attempts at building reserves have been insufficient, he said, and proposed organizing citizen groups that would receive informal military training. The groups should be formed in every "poor neighborhood, canyon, island, countryside, university, factory, jungle, in every place where there is a group of patriots." Chavez called on his military cohort, including active duty, retired and cashiered officers such as Minister of Information Jesse Chacon and Tachira Governor Ronaldo Blanco La Cruz, to lead Venezuelans in the formation of these groups to defend the country. -------------- More Paramilitaries, GOV Was Ready -------------- ¶6. (U) President Chavez reported the GOV had 120 alleged Colombian paramilitaries in custody (up from 89 a few days earlier). Chavez said that nine of those in custody are minors and pledged either to return them to their families in Colombia or, if they desired, to place them in a Bolivarian school in Venezuela. The President also said that his security forces were expecting some type of subversive activity before May 9 when the first group of alleged paramilitaries was detained. Chavez said he had ordered 5,000 troops to patrol Venezuela in anticipation. -------------- Opposition Reacts to "Militias" Proposal -------------- ¶7. (U) Opposition parties on May 17 roundly rejected Chavez's call to give military training to citizen groups. Leopoldo Puchi, Secretary General of the Movement to Socialism (MAS), charged that the GOV is introducing "legalized paramilitaries" to Venezuela to serve the political interests of the Chavez administration. Representatives of COPEI accused the government of creating an "artificial" civil war in order to avoid the presidential recall referendum. Solidaridad Deputy Ernesto Alvarenga said Chavez's call for armed citizenry gives tacit approval to existing Venezuelan armed groups such as the Tupamaros, Carapaicas, Bolivarian Circles, and the Bolivarian Liberation Forces (FBL). -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) Although the GOV is using the "paramilitaries" incident to distract from the presidential referendum and discredit the opposition, the incident is also giving Chavez cover as he takes one further radical step. In his proposal to make civilians into defenders of the country, carefully basing it on an article in the Constitution, Chavez has made "country" and his "revolution" interchangeable. He never used the phrase "peoples militias," but it sounded ominously like militias. Whether the idea ever really flourishes can be questioned. Chavez's grandiose push for a substantial reserve corps has not yet met its mark, as he himself admitted when he told his audience that so far they had incorporated half of the 100,000 men and women they hope would comprise the reserves. By giving the military a leading role, however, Chavez has craftily avoided giving the impression that he is creating a competing armed force, a step that would likely rankle institutionalists in the officer corps. The promise of additional resources to the military also serves to mitigate jealousies that could erode loyalties or prod challengers. At a minimum, the plan will legitimize Chavez supporters who already have links to armed irregular groups. No doubt it will also serve as one more income distribution tool for the government to dole out stipends to the needy defenders of the Bolivarian revolution. SHAPIRO NNNN 2004CARACA01723 - CONFIDENTIAL