Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04CARACAS1880
2004-06-02 20:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

STATUS OF CAPRILES AND SUMATE CASES

Tags:  PHUM PGOV KDEM VE 
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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
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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
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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.

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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
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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


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2004CARACA01880 - CONFIDENTIAL