CHAVEZ'S LONG ARM CHOKES JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000882

SIPDIS


NSC FOR TSHANNON AND CBARTON
USCINSO ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS USAID FOR DCHA/OTI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ'S LONG ARM CHOKES JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS

REF: CARACAS 00620

Classified By: Ambassador Charles S. Shapiro for Reason 1.4(d).

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SUMMARY:
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1. (C) Recently fired chief prosecutor Ramon Medina told
poloff March 9 that the Attorney General's Office is
increasingly focused on solidifying Chavez's hold on domestic
institutions. Medina, a long-time contact of the Embassy's
LegAtt and PAS offices, said he was dismissed because he
resisted GoV pressures to dismiss cases or bring charges
against Chavez's political enemies. One of the three trial
judges dismissed by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) for
ordering some detained anti-GoV protestors released told
poloff March 10 that the court system was becoming more
corrupt and open to manipulation by political pressure or
threat. The recent dismissals of prosecutors and judges
signal greater GoV manipulation of the justice system and
further centralization of power in the executive. End
Summary.

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Top Prosecutor Fired For Resisting GOV Manipulation
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2. (C) During a March 9 meeting with poloff, recently fired
prosecutor Ramon Medina said he had received indirect
warnings to change his political "attitude," warnings he
regarded as blatant attempts to manipulate his decisions to
support the Chavez regime's domestic political agenda.
Medina was dismissed in late February from his position as an
office director in the Office of the Attorney General
(Fiscalia),where he supervised over 500 prosecutors, or over
70 percent of the nation's public prosecutors. (Note: Medina
is a long-time contact of the Embassy's Legatt and
participated in a PAS-sponsored Voluntary Visitors program
in 2003 in which representatives of several Venezuelan law
enforcement offices traveled to the U.S. for meetings with
counterparts to review practices for establishing an
inter-agency anti-terrorism force. End Note.) The Attorney
General's office also dismissed Director of Procedural Action
Carmen Alguindigue and Human Rights Division director Magaly
Malpica (reftel). Medina and Alguindigue were fired
outright. Malpica was allowed to retire early.


3. (C) Medina said Venezuelan Attorney General Attorney
General Isias Rodriguez, applied pressure to dismiss cases,
disqualify certain prosecutors, or bring specific charges
against Chavez's political targets. Medina said he himself
was finally targeted because he would did not cooperate.
When he saw the writing on the wall, Medina offered to resign
his position as an office director, but instead he was fired
completely. Attorney General Rodriguez himself made the
final decision. Medina charged that the Attorney General's
Office is now focused entirely on solidifying Chavez's hold
on domestic institutions and eliminating any perceived
domestic political threat. Contacts with foreign governments
are being reduced, hampering cooperation on issues such as
international terrorism. The Attorney General's Office, he
said, is "armoring" itself from any influence from the
outside.

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Politics Dictates Charges, Stymies HR Investigations
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4. (C) Medina said there are no formal criteria regarding
charges to prosecute opposition protestors detained during
the unrest stretching from February 27 through March 6.
Instead, prosecutors are using their own judgment to bring
charges such as disrupting public order or environmental
(non-criminal) offenses for setting up burning street
barricades. Charges for civil rebellion, he said, are rarely
supported by actions during street demonstrations and
therefore are obviously politically-motivated.

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Judges Dismissed with Pressure from Executive
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5. (C) On March 10 Judge Maria del Carmen Trastory Hombre
provided poloff with a copy of the order signed by TSJ Chief
Justice Ivan Rincondismissing her from her position as a
Caracas criminal judge. Trastory is one of three trial
judges dismissed by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) March
2 for ordering some detained anti-GoV protestors released.
Miguel Angel Luna, another of the dismissed judges, told
poloff March 10 that speaking with a USG official could ruin
his chances of getting his job back and woudl not agree to
meet. Petra Jimenez, the third dismissed judge, was
unavailable.


6. (C) Trastory said she ordered six detained opposition
demonstrators released March 2 because the GoV had provided
insufficient evidence to support the detentions. Some
detainees were arrested on charges of creating a "danger of a
catastrophe," but the facts presented did not indicate any
significant public danger. Others were arrested for
"resisting authorities," but the facts alleged only that the
demonstrators were running away from GoV troops. Trastory
said this was insufficient under the law to support such a
charge, and not nearly strong enough to overcome the
citizens' right to demonstrate guaranteed under Articles 68,
219 and 221 of the Venezuelan constitution. Trastory also
recalled that the detainees in question showed evidence of
having been beaten by authorities after arrest. One victim
was severely bruised on his back from his neck down the
length of his spine. Trastory said she remains confident in
her decision based on her fourteen years of criminal law
experience (nine years as a prosecutor and her five years as
a criminal judge).

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Political Moves Against the Judiciary
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7. (C) Trastory said that, as is the case in the U.S., when a
prosecutor does not agree with a judge's ruling, the normal
procedure is to file a motion to stay the order with a higher
court pending a judicial appeal of the ruling. In this
instance, however, GoV officials resorted to a political
move, dismissing the judges rather than going through legal
channels to appeal the decisions.


8. (C) The odd manner in which the decision was made makes
Trastory sure the decision to dismiss her is politically
motivated. While the TSJ's Chief Justice signed the order,
Trastory is sure the order came from a Chavez ally in the GoV
executive branch such as Vice President Jose Vincente Rangel
or Minister of Infrastructure Diosdado Cabello. She noted
that her court is located in Sucre State, where the local
mayor is Jose Vincente Rangel Avalos, the Vice President's
son. She also said she signed the petition seeking the
recall of Chavez in December 2003 and had since been targeted
by Rangel and pro-Chavez activists seeking to purge the
court.


9. (C) Trastory asserted that the court system was becoming
more and more corrupt and open to manipulation by political
pressure. Many corrupt judges, she said, were willing to
received political favors or payments, or succumbed to
threats, to rule in a manner preferred by the GoV. The
shrinking number of independent judges, she said, are
increasingly afraid of retribution.

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Comment
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10. (C) Keeping a lid on trial judges and prosecutors will
strengthen Chavez's hand as he tries to punish opposition
demonstrators and discourage further protests by
strengthening the public perception that GoV security forces
can attack or imprison demonstrators with impunity. Chavez
clearly hopes this will make opposition activists think twice
before challenging GoV forces in the streets. Perhaps of
greater concern, the recent dismissals of prosecutors and

judges signal greater GoV manipulation of the justice system,
willingness to force out officials who refuse to support the
chavista political agenda, and centralization of power in the
executive.

SHAPIRO


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2004CARACA00882 - CONFIDENTIAL