PARAGUAY'S AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA ATTACKED IN

UNCLAS ASUNCION 000500

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/AND, AND OAS
STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA
NSC FOR KIMBERLY BREIER
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINR KCRM PA VE
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY'S AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA ATTACKED IN
CARACAS, LODGES COMPLAINT



1. (U) On 4/12, Ambassador received a telephone call from
Senator Alejandro Velazquez Ugarte, informing him that
Paraguay's Ambassador to Venezuela, Ana Maria Figueredo, was
the victim of a violent physical attack in Caracas on 4/8.
An unidentified assailant attacked Figueredo as she
approached her vehicle, after leaving a Mass held in memory
of Pope Juan Paul II at Caracas's Metropolitan Cathedral.
The attack occurred approximately five blocks from the
Cathedral, on a street adjacent to the Venezuelan MFA.
Figueredo suffered injuries to her face and chest, and was
rendered unconscious for several minutes. Figueredo's driver
carried her to a side entrance of the MFA, but they were
neither afforded assistance nor permitted to drive the
vehicle onto the premises, requiring Figueredo instead to
walk back to the vehicle with the driver's assistance.


2. (U) Figueredo, who is a Senator with leave of absence to
serve as Ambassador, wrote a letter to Senator Miguel
Carrizosa, President of Paraguay's Congress, detailing the
events and complaining about the GOV's lack of response. In
the letter, she noted that, despite repeated written and oral
requests, the GOV has failed to provide security for her or
for the Embassy. Velazquez, in his capacity as President of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a formal letter
of complaint to Saul Ortega Campos, President of the
Venezuelan National Assembly's Permanent Committee on Foreign
Policy.


3. (U) In statements to the press on 4/12, Venezuela's
Ambassador to Paraguay, Jose Huerta Castillo, accused unnamed
opponents of President Hugo Chavez for the attack on
Figueredo, asserting that it was part of a campaign to
discredit Chavez's government and provoke international
discord. Huerta highlighted that the attack occurred on the
day that, "for the first time, the imperialist candidate did
not achieve its objective of attaining the Secretary
Generalship of the OAS," which he explained was a reference
to Mexican candidate Luis Derbez, who tied with Chilean
candidate Miguel Insulza in five rounds of voting at the OAS
on 4/8.


4. (SBU) Comment: Although the motive is unclear, it appears
that Figueredo may have been singled out for the attack. The
assailant apparently waited for her near her vehicle, and
beat her but did not rob her. A number of other diplomats
and dignitaries attended the Mass, and parked in the same
area, but were not attacked. In her letter to Carrizosa,
Figueredo noted that she attended the Mass at the official
invitation of the GOV.
KEANE