Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04CARACAS3032
2004-09-27 11:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

GOV MAKES BORDER AMBUSH LATEST CRISIS

Tags:  PGOV MOPS PTER VE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 003032 

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
HQSOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014
TAGS: PGOV MOPS PTER VE
SUBJECT: GOV MAKES BORDER AMBUSH LATEST CRISIS

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR 1.4 (D)

--------
Summary
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C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 003032

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
HQSOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014
TAGS: PGOV MOPS PTER VE
SUBJECT: GOV MAKES BORDER AMBUSH LATEST CRISIS

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR 1.4 (D)

--------------
Summary
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1. (C) Five Venezuelan soldiers and an oil worker died on
September 17 near the Colombian border in an apparent ambush
by unidentified irregular forces. Speculation about the
identity of the attackers includes the range of armed groups
operating in the area. President Hugo Chavez deployed
additional military units to the region and visited the area
on September 22. The GOV has exploited the incident to
criticize the US and Colombia for "warlike policies," to
rationalize a planned acquisition of Russian helicopters, and
even to explain Chavez's absence at the UN General Assembly.
End summary.


2. (C) An ambush of a PDVSA exploration group by
unidentified combatants killed six, including a petroleum
engineer and five military escorts, and wounded two on
September 17 in Apure State near the Colombian border.
According to press reports, such attacks have claimed the
lives of 51 troops since July 1983. Promising an
"overwhelming" response to the attackers, President Hugo
Chavez scrambled troops, helicopters, and fighter jets after
the incident, according to press and local police. MILGROUP
confirmed that a Venezuelan Mirage jet that the press
reported had crashed on 17 September was returning from the
region; the pilot survived by ejecting.


3. (U) Since the attacks, eight more corpses with wounds
suggesting their recent execution have been found. The press
has speculated that six of these victims were members of the
group responsible for the ambush.

--------------
The Blame Game
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4. (U) The Colombian Government quickly cited "reliable
intelligence" implicating the FARC in the attacks, and
Colombian Vice President Santos charged that more kidnappings
occur on Venezuela's side of the border than on Colombia's.
(Comment: Santos's comments may not be far off the mark,
according to a University de los Andes professor, who cited
weekly death tolls and kidnapping notices in the local press.
End comment.)


5. (U) GOV spokespersons initially mentioned the possible

involvement of the Bolivarian Liberation Forces (FBL),a
leftwing Venezuelan armed group loyal to Chavez. The FBL
quickly denied any link to the incident with a full-page
advertisement in the pro-government tabloid "Diario Vea."
The Apure State police commissioner confirmed that the FBL
had been clashing with Colombian ELN guerrillas in the area
for several months. The national investigative police
(CICPC) on September 21 accused the FARC 10th front, but the
CICPC chief in Tachira state claimed the following day that
the press had misquoted him and that CICPC investigations
remained inconclusive.


6. (U) Chavez did not discount the thesis of FARC
involvement during his September 19 Alo Presidente program
and warned Colombian guerrillas they would become his enemies
if they violated Venezuelan sovereignty. Alluding to the
FBL, he rejected the support of Venezuelan armed groups and
urged them to disarm and meet with him at Miraflores.


7. (C) On a September 22 visit to the border region, Chavez
bristled at Bogota's "suspicious" quickness to blame the
FARC. He charged Colombia to assume its responsibility for
the incident and mused that the attackers probably had
returned to Colombian territory. In an apparent reference
to Plan Colombia, Chavez faulted the United States' "policy
of war" for the region's instability. He also harped on the
importance of officers maintaining high morale among their
subordinates and promised greater logistical support as the
media speculated about the troops' discontent.


8. (C) Not baited by Chavez's invective, Colombian President
Uribe the following day publicly expressed confidence that
Venezuela would work with Colombia to overcome the border
problem, according to press reports. Colombian and

Venezuelan foreign affairs ministers, meanwhile, agreed in
New York to look for new ways to avoid border violence.


9. (U) Chavez took advantage of the incident to
announce he had bought Russian helicopters to protect the
border from such attacks (SEPTEL). MVR Deputy Nicolas
Maduro, hatching an international conspiracy theory, used the
attack to explain the cancellation of Chavez's September
20-22 trip to the UN General Assembly in New York.

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Comment
--------------


10. (C) After years of allowing guerrillas to operate with
impunity, Chavez has been forced to focus on the subject only
in part by the media storm surrounding the Apure killings.
Blaming Colombia and the US, a hollow effort, momentarily
masks the true reasons for Chavez's direct involvement in the
matter. We suspect, but do not have solid evidence, that the
incident has shaken the military, and Chavez wants to take no
chances in letting things get out of control. In effect,
Chavez has had to face up to the question of whether his FARC
policy has now cost the lives of Venezuelan soldiers. This
is the second incident in less than a year (the first being
the burn deaths at Fuerte Mara) where Chavez has intervened
quickly and personally to calm the military. The
government's willingness even to entertain the possibility of
left-wing guerrilla culpability marks a slight shift in the
party line.
Brownfield


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2004CARACA03032 - CONFIDENTIAL