AFTERSHOCKS OF VENEZUELAN PROSECUTOR'S KILLING

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 003748

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014
TAGS: PTER PHUM PGOV KJUS VE
SUBJECT: AFTERSHOCKS OF VENEZUELAN PROSECUTOR'S KILLING

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

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (U) At President Hugo Chavez's order, following the
killing of prosecutor Danilo Anderson, Venezuela's National
Defense Council November 23, began to define a GOV
anti-terrorism strategy. Measures will include tighter
border and communications security, and bodyguards for GOV
officials. The National Assembly has formed a committee to
develop an anti-terrorism law, which will certainly address
the GOV's partisan goals, and the Supreme Court has
designated a group of judges to handle terrorism cases. The
Attorney General has reassigned Anderson's nearly 400 cases
to several prosecutors. Recent developments in the Anderson
case will be covered in septel. End Summary.

--------------
CODENA
--------------


2. (U) Following the killing of prosecutor Danilo Anderson,
President Chavez issued a decree November 20 ordering Vice
President Jose Vicente Rangel to call a meeting of the
National Security Council (CODENA) to coordinate a response.
The CODENA is designated in Venezuela's constitution as the
highest body for advising the state on national security
matters. The CODENA, which includes Rangel, Supreme Court
President Ivan Rincon, Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez,
Interior and Justice Minister Jesse Chacon, National Assembly
Vice President Ricardo Gutierrez, Armed Forces Inspector
General Vice Admiral Orlando Maniglia, and its Secretary,
Gen. Melvin Lopez Hidalgo, met on November 23. The CODENA
called on Chacon and Defense Minister Jorge Luis Garcia
Carneiro to reinforce port and airport security and register
pre-paid cell phone purchases. The Council also decided that
all GOV officials who might be at risk, including
prosecutors, judges and high GOV officials, should be given
24 hour protection.

--------------
Anti-Terrorism Law
--------------


3. (U) Following the meeting, the Assembly formed a special
anti-terrorism committee to develop anti-terrorism
legislation. The committee will work from the draft of the
Special Law Against Acts of a Terrorist Nature which includes
the creation of a Financial Intelligence Directorate in the
Finance Ministry, to avoid the use of the banking system to
destabilize the country. (Note: A financial intelligence
unit, aimed at controlling money laundering, already exists
in the Banking Superintendency, which reports to the Finance
Ministry.) The bill would also create a "Terrorist
Investigation Division" in the Ministry of Interior and
Justice. The bill contemplates the extradition of foreigners
implicated in terrorist activities, the use of informants,
undercover agents, and the creation of a witness protection
program. The GOV would create a victims compensation fund
from seized assets.


4. (U) Deputy Iris Varela (Movimiento Quinta Republica)
announced December 1 that a partial reform of the Penal Code,
currently under consideration by the Assembly, would be
amended to include anti-terrorism provisions. Deputy Osman
Gomez (MVR) told reporters that the special committee would
consider the possibility that the anti-terrorism law should
include life sentences for the most serious terrorist crimes,
though that would require a constitutional amendment. Deputy
Nicolas Maduro (MVR) added the possibility that the
constitution might also be reformed to permit "faceless"
judges and prosecutors.

--------------
Anti-terror Judges
--------------


5. (C) Following the CODENA meeting, Supreme Court Chief
Justice Ivan Rincon announced that the Court's Judicial
Committee had designated of a group of judges to handle all
terrorism cases. The designated Control Judges are Maikel
Moreno, Rita Hernandez, and Florencio Silano. Rincon also
announced that two Appeals Courts Chambers would review the

decisions in terrorism investigations. All of these judges
work in the Caracas judicial district. An assistant to
Supreme Court Justice Alejandro Angulo Fontiveros called the
designation of the judges "a slap at the autonomy and
independence of the judiciary." She asserted that the
designation would allow the GOV to "control the whole
investigation, so if the police and prosecutor miss
something, the judge can cover it."

--------------
Prosecutors Reassigned
--------------


6. (C) Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez reassigned some of
Anderson's most important cases. Luisa Ortega, the
prosecutor in the Sumate case, will pursue the investigation
against 400 persons linked to the Carmona Decree of April

2002. Ortega has also taken the lead in the investigation of
Ivan Simonovis, ex-head of security for the Metropolitan
Police, for the deaths on April 11, 2002. Haifa Aissami, a
human rights prosecutor, will continue the case against the
eight Metropolitan Police officers who have been jailed for
over a year on murder charges relating to April 11.
Prosecutor Gilberto Landaeta has been placed in charge of the
Anderson murder investigation, with the assistance of other
prosecutors. These prosecutors have been assigned 24 hour
bodyguards. All of these prosecutors have investigated
political cases of interest to the GOV in the past.

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


7. (C) The GOV is not likely to waste this opportunity to
pass an anti-terrorism law that is to its liking and suited
to its political needs. The designation of inexperienced but
completely loyal judges as "anti-terrorism" judges will
guarantee that there is virtually no impartial supervision of
how this power is used.
Brownfield


NNNN
2004CARACA03748 - CONFIDENTIAL