STATUS OF CAPRILES AND SUMATE CASES

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001880 SIPDIS NSC FOR CBARTON USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD USAID DCHA/OTI FOR RPORTER E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014 TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM VE SUBJECT: STATUS OF CAPRILES AND SUMATE CASES Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d ) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) Maria Corina Machado, of the electoral NGO Sumate told reporters June 1 that the hearing to charge her with treason and conspiracy had been rescheduled for the second time until June 10. Another Sumate leader, Alejandro Plaz, is scheduled to have his hearing June 2. On May 31, a Caracas court rejected a request from Baruta Mayor Henrique Capriles Radonski (Primero Justicia) for release pending trial. He has been held since May 11. He is being charged with allegedly participating in the attack on the Cuban embassy during the April 2002 events. Both cases are clearly political and arbitrary, according to OAS SYG Cesar Gaviria. Capriles is a political prisoner. Macahdo and Plaz are in danger of becoming political prisoners. End Summary. -------------- Sumate -------------- ¶2. (U) Maria Corina Machado, one of the leaders of the NGO Sumate, told reporters June 1 that the hearing to charge her was postponed until June 10, to give her time to prepare her defense. Alejandro Plaz, the president of Sumate, will go before the judge June 2. The charges of treason and conspiracy stem from funding the group received from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED),which GOV officials have charged is a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty. The two were first called to appear on May 26 and 27 respectively, but the hearings were postponed until June 1 and 2. -------------- Henrique Capriles Radonski -------------- ¶3. (U) The seventh chamber of the Appeals Court of Caracas May 31 rejected the request by Primero Justicia (PJ) leader, and Mayor of Baruta, Henrique Capriles Radonski for release pending trial. Capriles' lawyers also attempted to have the case heard by another chamber, arguing that the members of the chamber were well known Chavez supporters who would not give Capriles a fair hearing. The request was denied, meaning Capriles now will spend an additional 25 days in detention. ¶4. (U) PJ president Julio Borges announced May 28 that the Inter-American Human Rights Committee (IACHR) had asked the GOV for information on the Capriles case. The IACHR Executive Secretary Santiago Canton, according to Borges, asked for SIPDIS information on the legal proceedings in the case, and the conditions under which Capriles was being held. Borges told reporters Capriles is being held in a room without light, without ventilation, and is unable to walk or exercise. Prosecutor Danilo Anderson has claimed that Capriles has 16 square meters of space, a bed, a TV and two fans, and thus is better off than most preisoners. ¶5. (C) Former Attorney General and law professor Ramon Escobar Salom told PolCouns that Capriles's continued detention is purely political. At this stage of an investigation, he said, following the criminal procedures code would normally result in the individual being allowed to go free on promise of appearance or on bail, especially if the person is well known, not to mention an elected official. In Escobar's opinion, the government wants to exemplify its support for Cuba in this matter. He also asserted that anti-Semitism cannot be disregarded as a factor in the government's animosity towards Capriles. (Comment: Capriles legally maneuvered around earlier summonses until the March 16 detention order (see next paragraph) was issued and he went underground. The court bought the prosecutor's argument that Capriles thus presented a flight risk. We do not believe anti-Semitism is a factor in Capriles's case.) ¶6. (U) Capriles has been in custody since he appeared at a hearing on May 11 during which Anderson asked that he be held pending trial. The judge agreed, and ordered that he be held in the DISIP (political police) headquarters. Anderson first obtained a detention order March 16. At that time Capriles avoided detention by going into hiding, alleging lack of due process because Anderson would not let his lawyers see the charges. The Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) voided the March 16 order on March 31. The Penal chamber also ordered that another court hear the case and that Capriles' lawyers be allowed to see the charges. ¶7. (U) The Capriles case goes back to the April 2002 events. On April 12, 2002, after Chavez' removal from power, a group of people gathered in front of the Cuban embassy and began a violent protest. According to Capriles the Cuban ambassador, German Sanchez Otero, asked him to come and help calm the situation (Note: the Cuban embassy is located in Baruta). According to the GOV, Capriles led the protests, and the Baruta police did nothing to protect the embassy. -------------- President Carter Talks to Chavez -------------- ¶8. (C) OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria told the Ambassador June 1 that President Carter raised the Capriles and Sumate cases with President Chavez at a private meeting May 31. Gaviria called the cases "arbitrary" and "clearly political." Gaviria rejected the possibility that the Sumate projects financed by NED could be considered treason. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) The GOV's moves against Sumate's leaders, in the middle of the reparo process, smacks of intimidation. Sumate is the technical brains of the opposition's referendum strategy, and the GOV would love to unsettle the organization. Machado and Plaz have responded intelligently, giving no grounds to claim they might flee, and requesting delays to prepare the case. This has made the case a mere distraction during the reparos. If the real intention is to break the organization to prevent its participation in future elections, there is a danger the Chavista judicial system will eventually put Sumate out of business. The Capriles case foreshadows where the Chavista justice system is headed. There is no explanation for why the Penal Chamber's decision has been disregarded. SHAPIRO NNNN 2004CARACA01880 - CONFIDENTIAL