MEETING WITH TUPAMAROS WORKING IN CARACAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 003929

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/02/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM VE
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH TUPAMAROS WORKING IN CARACAS
GOVERNMENT

Classified By: Mark Wells, Acting Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(b).

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Summary
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1. (C) Alberto "Chino" Carias, a member of the urban
guerrilla group Tupamaros (now a political party) and now a
public security official for the Caracas metropolitan
district, discussed with poloff December 21 the
re-structuring the Metropolitan Police and the December 8
street vendor riot in downtown Caracas. Carias described his
"constant" contact with Tupamaros and other groups in other
countries, while denying any direct contact with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He predicted
a calm political scenario for 2005, though a fellow Tupamaro
warned that the "terrorists" in the radical opposition would
be dealt with harshly. End Summary.

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Tupamaros in Charge
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2. (C) Poloff had lunch on December 21 with Alberto "Chino"
Carias, a member of the Tupamaro urban guerrilla group that
registered as a political party this year. Fellow Tupamaro
Oswaldo Rivero also attended. Carias said he, like many
early Tupamaros, was once a member of former guerrilla
movement and now political party Bandera Roja, but joined the
Tupamaros when Uruguayan exiles of the original group sought
refuge in Caracas in the 1970s. Carias acknowledged press
reports that he tried to blow up a church in 1978 but denied
responsibility for the 1979 killing of a policeman, for which
Carias was imprisoned. He described the Tupamaros as having
functioned as a vigilante street gang in poor Caracas
neighborhoods in the 80's and 90's in the absence of
competent police forces. Carias said the Tupamaros aided
Chavez's 1992 coup by forcefully clearing areas around the
Miraflores presidential palace to facilitate movement by
dissident military units. During the Chavez administration,
the Tupamaros surfaced as Chavez supporters who occasionally
engaged in violent street protests against opposition
targets, at times led personally by Carias. Carias led a
protest at the Embassy in 2003 against U.S. interventionism;
despite his boasts that there are more than 3,000 Tupamaros,
only 17 showed for the event.


3. (C) Carias made headlines recently, including in the Miami
Herald, when in November he joined the administration of
newly elected Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto as
Sub-Secretary for Citizen Security. Carias, who was
Barreto's aide in the National Assembly prior to Barreto's
election as mayor, said he joined the mayor's office to help
re-structure the Metropolitan Police (PM) and serve as a
political adviser. Carias said his decision to join the
Caracas district government caused six Tupamaro leaders to
quit on the grounds the group risked losing its objectivity
as an independent Chavez ally. Carias noted that he is not a
police officer but is usually armed and accompanied by
bodyguards. (Note: The mayor's Office of Citizen Security
has oversight for the Metropolitan Police and is headed by
Reynaldo Garcia, Carias' boss and an alternate deputy in the
National Assembly for Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement.
Active duty National Guard General Manuel Escalona is the
chief of the Metropolitan Police. The Caracas metropolitan
mayor has coordinating responsibilities for the five
municipalities of the district and their respective police
forces.

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Reorganizing the Metropolitan Police
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4. (C) Carias is leaing a commission to re-structure the
Metropolita Police and improve its image among Caracas
resients. Carias said the first steps of the commissin
were to replace the head of the PM's elite brigde and two
other zone commanders who he said wer involved in organized
crime. He noted that oneof the replacement commanders is an
opposition mmber ("escualido") but is a respected officer.
Te commission has also made changes to police cadet
training, Carias added. Carias told poloff previusly the


commission is planning to introduce "social intelligence,"
whereby citizens can report on the misdeeds of police
officers.

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Tupamaros Mediate Fireworks Riot
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5. (C) Carias blamed the December 8 riot in downtown Caracas
that left 52 injured on police from the Libertador
Municipality (Policaracas). Carias said the police stole the
traditional Christmas fireworks from street vendors, who
reacted by burning buses and attacking police. Rivero said
the police used only non-lethal force such as tear gas and
rubber bullets. He said the fighting deteriorated into
shootings between rival street vendor associations. Carias
claimed he was forced to step in and mediate a solution
between Policaracas, municipality officials, and the street
vendors. Carias said his office is developing a plan for
managing the street vendors that is due out in January.

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Repression of the Opposition
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6. (C) Carias denied his appointment portends a crackdown on
the political opposition. He said the coming year would be
peaceful. Rivero added, however, that the GOV would deal
harshly with "terrorists" of the opposition that plant bombs
or conspire to commit violence. Asked if that included
peaceful marches and demonstrations, Rivero said no, that
they encourage peaceful protests. Rivero said he considered
the most radical and dangerous sectors of the opposition to
be Primero Justicia and Bandera Roja, which he asserted are
armed. Carias had told poloff some weeks before that, under
the administration of opposition Mayor Alfredo Pena, the PM
used armed patrols to clear the way for opposition marches, a
practice Carias considered to show political bias.

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Foreign Contacts
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7. (C) Carias said he is in "constant communication" with
groups bearing the Tupamaro name and other radical groups in
Latin American countries, mentioning he had spoken that day
with colleagues in Peru and Nicaragua. Asked about the Armed
Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC),Carias denied he
speaks with them, saying "FARC is really messed up." He
added, however, that he would not tell poloff about inner
workings of the FARC in the same way poloff would not talk
about how other USG agencies work. Carias claimed the recent
capture of FARC international leader Rodrigo Granda occurred
in Caracas and not in Colombia as early press reports had it,
asserting that Granda had been detained in a Caracas hotel
(Note: December 23 stories in mainstream Caracas newspapers
appear to support Carias' version.)

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Comment
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8. (C) Carias is a street thug and hustler with a penchant
for self-promotion and exaggeration. It seems unlikely the
Tupamaros have a coordinated international network as Carias
implied. They have, however, found allies in the GOV,
notably Chavez and Barreto, who have in the past deployed
these irregular street fighters when the political situation
required it. Politically, Carias is intent on stripping the
opposition of critical PM street protection should the era of
mass marches against the GOV return. Carias and company have
a broad influence in the Metropolitan Police, but the
placement of a National Guard colonel as the police chief may
be a recognition that the PM needs some measure of
organization and discipline. The fireworks riot is a
reminder that the GOV, despite enjoying the support of the
local authorities and a majority of street vendors, still
face governance challenges among its constituencies.

McFarland


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2004CARACA03929 - CONFIDENTIAL