KILLING OF STUDENTS LEADS TO PROTEST, GOV RESPONSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002174

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM VE
SUBJECT: KILLING OF STUDENTS LEADS TO PROTEST, GOV RESPONSE

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

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The killing of three university students June 27
prompted protests at universities across Venezuela in early
July, culminating in the student presentation of demands for
justice to National Assembly President Nicolas Maduro on July

12. Some two dozen criminal investigative police (Cicpc) and
military intelligence (DIM) officers killed the three
students during an operation to find the killer of a DIM
officer, according to press reports. Minister of Justice
Jesse Chacon dismissed dozens of Cicpc officials soon after
the incident and the alleged perpetrators were put in custody
for the investigation. The incident has highlighted the
propensity of Venezuela's security authorities to shoot first
and ask questions later. Pro-Chavez legislators and
officials, echoing broad concerns over how Venezuela's police
operate, said the incident highlights the need to move
forward on a national police law, which opponents have
criticized as a vehicle for centralizing police powers under
Chavez. End summary.

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"They Shot Them Like Dogs"
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2. (U) Security forces killed three students - Leonardo
Gonzalez, Erick Montenegro, and Edgar Quintero - and wounded
three others near a Caracas police checkpoint on the night of
June 27. The team of Venezuela's investigative police
(Cicpc) and military intelligence (DIM) stationed at the
checkpoint was searching for those responsible for the murder
of a fellow agent earlier that weekend, according to press
reports. The Ministry of Interior and Justice June 29 said
the students failed to stop at the checkpoint because they
were afraid they would be robbed by the armed, masked and
non-uniformed police officers. As their car accelerated, an
officer's gun discharged, hitting another member of the
security team manning the checkpoint. Security forces,
believing the shot had come from the students' car, opened
fire, the Ministry reported.


3. (U) The official version of events soon came under
question however, as forensic tests showed that none of the
students had fired a weapon, and survivor and other
eyewitness accounts began to circulate. According to
eyewitness accounts reported in the press, the students were
fired upon as they accelerated past a police checkpoint. The
students stopped the car, trying to find the family of one of
the passengers to get help. The security forces chased down
the group, shot Gonzalez, and beat Montenegro and Quintero
before shooting them multiple times. Autopsy results
released July 10 showed that Quintero and Montenegro were
shot six and 11 times respectively, and that each had
received shots to the head. Leonardo Gonzalez was shot only
once - through his right eye.


4. (U) Eyewitness accounts that the group identified
themselves as students to the police and pleaded for mercy
corroborated survivor declarations to the prosecution that
they had identified themselves to the police. Minister of
Interior Jesse Chacon confirmed eyewitness allegations that
another group of police returned to the crime scene later the
night of June 27, telling reporters July 12 that he had proof
that a patrol was ordered to return to the site to plant guns
where the bodies of the three students had fallen.

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Students Protest Impunity
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5. (U) University students across Venezuela protested police
impunity and demanded justice in the case of June 27
killings. A June 30 protest by 150 University Santa Maria
students shut down streets around the university, and by the
weekend protests had spread outside of Caracas and to
universities across the country. Attorney General Isaias
Rodriguez met with student protesters July 1. The protests
culminated in a 300 person march to the National Assembly
July 12. Along the way, chavista groups accosted
demonstrators repeatedly and Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto tried

at one point to block the students' march with a truck on
which he stationed girls dancing. By the time the group
reached the entrance of the National Assembly, only 80 of the
original 300 remained. Student leaders demanded that
National Assembly President Nicolas Maduro form a commission
to investigate the June 27 killings, censure Minister of the
Interior and Justice Jesse Chacon, and cease to use the
students' deaths as an excuse to create a national police
force. University leaders have called for a national
demonstration July 19.

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Prosecution Promises Swift Justice
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6. (U) On July 2, the court admitted charges of premeditated
murder, attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon against
26 agents (21 DIM, 5 Cicpc). The judge denied the
prosecution's request to charge the agents with altering the
crime scene, illegal entry, public intimidation, abuse of
authority and forging a public document. The judge also
ordered protection measures for the three students who
survived the June 27 incident. The 26 accused are currently
detained in the Special Forces Brigade of the Cicpc. A trial
date has not yet been set.

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Investigative Police In GOV's Sights
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7. (U) Minister of the Interior and Justice Chacon announced
the dismissal of six Cicpc section chiefs July 2. Chacon
justified the decision in his announcement, claiming that the
section chiefs should be held responsible for the actions of
those under their command who he alleged "planted" evidence
at the crime scene the night of June 27. President Chavez
condoned the decision during his weekly television broadcast
'Alo Presidente' July 3, commenting that "We cannot have
assassins with police identification on the streets killing
people...we have to clean up the police." Attorney General
Rodriguez confirmed in a press release July 6 that
reorganization was in the works for Cicpc, however he denied
that the DIM was also on the slate for an "intervention."
Subsequently, Chacon made public the retirement of 4 of 5
directors of Cicpc July 8, sparing only the Director General.
Chacon announced the retirement of an additional 133 Cicpc
agents on July 12.

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National Assembly Moves National Police Law Up On Its Agenda
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8. (U) GOV leadership began the call for the creation of a
national police force following President Chavez's July 3 Alo
Presidente broadcast. Chacon supported the creation of a
national police force July 4, stating that it "constituted a
means of cleaning up the police." Vice-President Jose
Vincente Rangel followed suit July 7, claiming that the state
was obligated to give Venezuelans a modern Police Law that
"permits the police to operate in the service of the state
and not against its citizens." President Chavez turned again
to the theme of police restructuring on the July 10 Alo
Presidente broadcast, during which he severely criticized the
Cicpc and Chacon's performance.


9. (U) Pro-gov political party Podemos asked National
Assembly leadership July 4 to "dust off" the National Police
Law because a reorganization was needed after the June 27
student killings. The National Police Law passed a first
reading July 2004, but has not progressed in the past year.
The law under debate would restructure autonomous local and
state police forces into a national police force.


10. (U) Opposition leaders questioned the GOV's motives for
the law. Juan Carlos Caldera, of Primero Justicia, asserted
July 4 that Chavez was attempting to resolve the problem of
police excess by eliminating institutions, and thereby
"concentrating more and more power" in his own hands.
Pro-opposition MAS party deputy Carlos Tablante also voiced
his concerns, claiming July 9 that the GOV "(is) attempting
to create a national police because it is in their
interests...the obvious intention is to exercise more
political control over the police." Opposition parties
sought July 7 to censure Minister of the Interior Chacon,
however the National Assembly rejected this motion July 12.

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Comment
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11. (C) The GOV adeptly played the political opportunity
provided by public outrage over the June 27 student killings
to its own advantage. The replacement of investigative
police force (Cicpc) leadership will tighten GOV control over
this organization. The Military Intelligence Directorate
(DIM) is escaping attention for the moment as the Ministry of
Interior takes the public brunt. However, with the change of
Ministers of Defense complete, the DIM's role and activities
are likely to draw greater scrutiny. New Minister of Defense,
Admiral Ramon Orlando Maniglia, was recently quoted as
stating that there would be a process of revision and
organization at the DIM as well.


12. (C) There continues to be student interest in protesting
the killings and in assuring that there is no cover-up. Yet
another student demonstration in Caracas is scheduled for
July 19. The protests are not partisan - no opposition party
has tried to latch onto them - and thus the GOV must be
cautious in responding to them.
Brownfield


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