UPDATE ON ANDERSON INVESTIGATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 003745

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014
TAGS: PHUM PTER KJUS VE
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON ANDERSON INVESTIGATION

REF: A) CARACAS 03704 B) CARACAS 03677

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

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Summary
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1. (U) Police investigating the assassination of Venezuelan
prosecutor Danilo Anderson have killed two suspects, while a
judge has ordered three former police officers (two brothers
and their cousin),detained on charges of murder. Lawyers
and family members allege that the three were tortured while
being illegally held by police, and that police used
excessive force against the two dead suspects. Police have
carried out various raids and have allegedly found weapons
stockpiles and incriminating evidence, though defense lawyers
claim the searches were carried out illegally. The search of
Caracas' Hebrew Cultural Center, with negative results, drew
rebuke and caused consternation among the Jewish community
(reftel A). Authorities have offered no explanation on the
motive for the attack, though USG involvement has been
insinuated by GOV officials. End Summary.

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The Arrested and the Dead
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2. (U) Interior and Justice Minister Jesse Chacon claimed
December 2 to have discovered the operational part of the
plot that assassinated prosecutor Danilo Anderson November

18. Chacon also announced changes in the investigative team.
He denied newspaper reports that the removal of the Homicide
Division of the Investigative and Criminal Police Corps
(CICPC) from the case had to do with allegations of
disappearances, torture, illegal searches, as Caracas' two
leading newspapers had claimed that day. He said that the
investigation was now focusing on finding the intellectual
authors of the attack, and that other investigative abilities
were required than in the investigation of the material
authors.


3. (U) The investigation thus far has led to the arrest of
Otoniel Guevara, one time number three in the Directorate for
Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP),his brother
Rolando Guevara, former hief of the Homicide Division of the
CICPC, on Nvember 26, and their cousin, Juan Bautista
Guevaa, former inspector with the CICPC, on November 28
CICPC officers also killed Antonio Lopez in a shoot out in
the center of Caracas November 23. Lopz was a lawyer who
frequented the firing range oned by Otoniel Guevara. Marco
Antonio Rodriguez the lawyer for Lopez' family, told
reporters Noember 27 that Lopez' body had a bullet wound
under the chin with powder burns, indicating, accordingto
Rodriguez, that Lopez was executed. (Comment There is no
other corroboration of this report but it is plausible.)
CICPC officers also kille Carlos Sanchez_ in a shootout in a
hotel room in arquisimeto November 25. Sanchez_ was also a
formr CICPC inspector, and was a partner with Rolando
Guevara in a security company.

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Searches Questioned
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4. (U) CICPC officers searched the home of Antoni Lopez's
parents, where he lived, November 23. hey allege to have
found automatic weapons, C-4 explosive, an anti-tank mine and
a rocket launcher. Lopez' parents, ex-COPEI senator Haydee
Castillo and Antonio Lopez Acosta, allege that the police did
not allow them to observe the search, that the prosecutor
arrived late, and that he did not have a warrant. They say
the police planted the evidence in their house. CICPC
officers detained the elderly couple after the search and
took them handcuffed to detention facilities, where they were
held for two days. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel and
Chacon have criticized the treatment the pair received.
Police also searched Caracas' Hebrew Culture center November
29 (ref A).

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Allegations of Disappearances and Torture
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5. (U) There are several unresolved questions about the

detention of the three suspects arrested for murder. Juan
Bautista Guevara's wife reported him missing, and alleged he
had been detained by CICPC officers, on November 20. On
November 23, Chacon said that no police force had detained
him. On that same day Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez told
reporters that Guevara had not been detained, but was being
questioned by police. DISIP officers then allegedly captured
Juan Guevara in Portuguesa on November 28. Defense lawyer
Pedro Miguel Castillo told reporters November 30 that Juan
Guevara testified before Control Judges Maikel Moreno that he
was moved from place to place and tortured while in the
custody of unknown individuals. Guevara, the lawyer said,
described being given psychotropic drugs, having a hood
placed over his head, and being told his wife was being raped
in the next room, and his child tortured. Judge Moreno
ordered an investigation of Guevara's charges, and ordered
him detained for 45 days pending formal accusation by the
prosecutor.


6. (U) Otoniel and Ronaldo Guevara were seized by unknown
persons on November 23, and then "found" by National Guard
officers outside of Valencia on November 26. They were bound
and gagged, and the marks on their wrists indicated they had
been tied for a long time, according to Chacon. Castillo
told reporters that Otoniel testified before Moreno that his
captors tortured him with electric shock and also applied
mentholated liquid to his genitals, among other abuses.

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Shadowy Backgrounds
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7. (U) Speaking to reporters, Deputy Cilia Flores
(Movimiento Quinto Republica) November 29 alleged that the
Guevaras had all been involved in hiding Former Peruvian
National Security Advisor Vladimir Montesinos in Venezuela in
2001, and that she and other Deputies had completed an
investigation into their involvement, and given it to the
Attorney General's office. She called on the A/G's office to
proceed against the Guevaras not only for the Anderson case,
but for Montesinos as well. The fact that Antonio Lopez
reportedly took counter terrorism and explosives courses in
the U.S., and that the law firm he worked for has an American
partner led Chacon to claim on November 26 that there might
be CIA involvement in Anderson's murder. Flores also alleged
that Jose Guevara, another cousin, boasted of CIA connections
during the Montesinos case. Speaking on November 19,
Communications Minister Andres Izarra alleged that the USG
was at least guilty by omission, for not shutting down
anti-Castro training camps in Florida, where anti-Chavez
militant are allegedly training. He also complained that
satirist Orlando Urdaneta had not been arrested or deported,
after suggesting on Miami television October 23 that someone
could solve the problem of dictators with a telescopic rifle.

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Comment
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8. (C) Despite the deaths of two suspects, three
detentions, and various high profile searches, there has been
no explanation by the GOV of the motive for the attack on
Anderson. The serious and repeated abuses which appear to
have taken place during the various detentions of the
Guevaras show all the signs of police out of control, while
prosecutors judges and Chacon try to catch up, if only to
cover-up their actions. That two suspects who may have had
valuable information could both have been killed by police,
while three others were apparently held under unexplained
circumstances prior to being officially detained, not to
mention the speed with which all this is occurring, casts
doubt on the investigation. Additionally, the lack of
independence and professionalism among Venezuelan police,
prosecutors and judges (see ref B) seems to be coming home to
roost in the Anderson investigation.
Brownfield


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