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).

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Summary
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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.

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March Against Paramilitaries
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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.

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"An Integral, Popular National Defense"
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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.

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Chavez Orders U.S. MILGP Off Base
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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."

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Citizens Organized for Defense
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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.

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More Paramilitaries, GOV Was Ready
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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.

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Opposition Reacts to "Militias" Proposal
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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).

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Comment
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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


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2004CARACA01723 - CONFIDENTIAL