Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CARACAS1866
2005-06-21 15:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

MORE ALLEGED INFIGHTING IN THE VENEZUELAN MILITARY

Tags:  PGOV MARR VE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001866 

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2015
TAGS: PGOV MARR VE
SUBJECT: MORE ALLEGED INFIGHTING IN THE VENEZUELAN MILITARY


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

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001866

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2015
TAGS: PGOV MARR VE
SUBJECT: MORE ALLEGED INFIGHTING IN THE VENEZUELAN MILITARY


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


1. (C) Summary: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez fired the
National Guard General in Bolivar State for corruption June 3
and replaced the National Guard Regional Command June 7 with
Army personnel from the Fifth Infantry Division. Opposition
media sources have alleged other National Guard units are
rebelling over the action, and GOV responses to these claims
have been uncoordinated and overstated. No matter how Chavez
resolves the fate of the Regional Command, the National Guard
will continue to have a presence in the state, as other
institutions are currently unfit to handle their wide-ranging
law enforcement duties. The situation in Bolivar State shows
that the military is not immune to the deterioration plaguing
all Venezuelan institutions under Chavez. End summary.


2. (C) A special investigative committee set up by
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dismissed National Guard
Brig. Gen. Alberto Betancourt Nieves June 3 reportedly
because small mining cooperatives in Bolivar State complained
to National Assembly legislators in mid-May that National
Guard troops had extorted them, destroyed their property, and
violated human rights. Army Maj. Gen. Jesus Wilhelm Becerra,
now in charge of all state military units, had also raised
the reports of corruption with Chavez, according to DAO
sources. Chavez deactivated Betancourt's Eighth Regional
National Guard Command (CORE 8) on June 7, using army troops
from Gen. Wilhelm's Fifth Infantry Division to replace local
National Guard forces. CORE 8 personnel protested the army
had "humiliated" and "mistreated" them, according to press
reports. Chavez also deactivated the local anti-extortion
and kidnapping group, National Guard personnel guarding the
airport in Ciudad Bolivar, and two other rural commands and
detachments, whose weapons were shipped to Caracas.
Opposition National Assembly deputy Andres Velasquez (Causa
R) complained to reporters about the hasty removal of arms
and demanded that the GOV report their destination.


3. (U) Anti-Chavez media outlets reported June 13 that
National Guard non-commissioned officers acting in solidarity

with their CORE 8 counterparts had "taken over" their own
CORE 9 headquarters in Amazonas State and had threatened to
take over installations of state industries and other
Regional Commands. They also reported that some National
Guard troops had started a leaflet campaign against CORE 8's
deactivation.


4. (U) The press also reported June 13 that TO5 commander
Maj. Gen. Wilhelm had refused to comment on the alleged abuse
of National Guard officers. Information Minister Andres
Izarra told reporters there was no discontent in any part of
the armed forces. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said
harmony and normalcy reigned in the military, which had
"finished off the (expletive deleted) and soldiers who let
themselves be swindled by the old regime." According to June
15 press, the CORE 9 commander, also denying reports of
National Guard insurrection, said the Army had taken two
posts from the National Guard but had returned them after
realizing it had misunderstood orders. Chavez also weighed
in, saying he had received a recommendation to replace CORE 8
with TO5 a year ago because of the corruption and
irregularities there, but had opted to wait for changes.
Upon receiving recent evidence the command was becoming more
corrupt, he added, he had decided to act.

--------------
Army or National Guard: Which is Worse?
--------------


5. (C) When asked which service they would prefer in the
region, Embassy contacts tended to opt for the "devil they
knew." The director of a center for rancher studies told
poloff the Army's presence would be worse than that of the
National Guard. He argued that locals understood how to deal
with the Guard's corruption but would have additional
problems dealing with Army troops, who tended to be younger,
urban, less professional soldiers with no law enforcement
experience. An active duty National Guard Colonel who did
not dismiss reports of Guard corruption adopted a similar
stance, telling poloff that substituting Army troops would
disrupt a mutually beneficial relationship that the National
Guard had established with miners. In exchange for payment,
he explained, the Guard protected miners and their caches
from kidnappers and thieves. A Venezuelan human rights

leader told poloff the Army's behavior would depend on the
local commander.

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


6. (C) Chavez, a former Army officer, reacted to the CORE 8
incident by placing his more trusted army troops in charge,
leaving National Guard officers resentful of the intrusion
onto their own lucrative turf. The action is a signal to the
other military services that Chavez can bend the rules to get
his way. No matter how Chavez resolves the fate of the
Regional Command, the National Guard will continue to have a
presence in the state, as other institutions are currently
unfit to handle their wide-ranging law enforcement duties.
The truth about the alleged dissension probably lies
somewhere between the alarmist opposition claims and the rosy
GOV reports. The conclusion to be drawn from this incident,
as expressed in the daily tabloid Tal Cual, is that the
military has not escaped the deterioration that is occurring
in all Venezuelan institutions. On the contrary, it is a
paradigm of the process.
Brownfield


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2005CARACA01866 - CONFIDENTIAL