GRANDA DISPUTE UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000485

SIPDIS

NSC FOR CBARTON
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014
TAGS: PREL PTER VE
SUBJECT: GRANDA DISPUTE UPDATE

REF: A. A) CARACAS 00293

B. B) CARACAS 00471

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

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Summary
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1. (C) One of five Venezuelan national guard officers in
custody for his alleged involvement in the capture of FARC
leader Rodrigo Granda has accused the GOV of torturing him
and denying him due process. GOV spokespersons have
continued to rail against Washington for fomenting the crisis
and have prevented the opposition from shifting the terms of
the debate to terrorism. Bilateral commerce remains
disrupted as the Venezuelan military inspects commerce and
indigenous groups block the border. End summary.

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Torturing the Accused?
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2 (C) One of five National Guard soldiers alleged to have
participated in the capture of FARC international
representative Rodrigo Granda on December 13 has protested
ill-treatment and denial of due process by the government.
The attorney for accused Lt. Col. Jose Humberto Quintero told
poloff February 10 that his client was tortured by threat of
asphyxiation into making a video confession. He added that
both military and civilian prosecutors were investigating
Quintero for the same charge of treason. The GOV had also
charged Quintero with abuse of authority and illegal
deprivation of (Granda's) liberty, the lawyer told poloff.
The attorney said Quintero did provide the Colombians
information on Granda but did not accept payment, adding
sarcastically that "even if he had, you have to ask if the
traitors are the those who gave Granda citizenship or those
who gave him justice." Quintero wrote a three-page statement
outlining the success his anti-extortion and kidnapping group
had had against guerrillas, refuting the charges against him,
and asking whether it was a sovereignty violation for foreign
armed groups to enter Venezuela to kidnap and murder.

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Floodgates Open for Blaming the US
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3. (U) Since President Hugo Chavez's remarks late January
alleging US involvement in the Granda crisis (REF A),his
administration's criticism of Washington has continued. Vice
President Jose Vicente Rangel told the press February 2 that
the United States "played the devil's role" in the dispute.
Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez warned the same day that the
White House's statements of "concern" had been precursors to
armed intervention in the past. National Assembly deputy
Luis Tascon (MVR) told the media in an interview that the
only motive for Granda's capture was the US attempt to force
Chavez from office. Washington, he said, was trying to
convert Colombia into the "Israel of Latin America."
National Assembly Iris Varela excused the Colombian rebels,
saying in an interview published February 9 she would have
become a guerrilla if "gringos" had meddled in her country.

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Opposition: You Forgot About the Terrorists
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4. (U) Challenging GOV charges that the Colombian list of
guerrillas in Venezuela was not factual, a Miranda state
legislator told the media he had obtained a report prepared
in part by Venezuelan intelligence that outlined the
locations and descriptions of FARC fronts and ELN networks in
Venezuela. The report, he said, also contained information
about a guerrilla congress in Cojedes State attended by MVR
National Assembly deputy Dario Vivas. Separately, an Accion
Democratica spokesperson asserted that the Granda case would
remain unresolved until the GOV cleared up the issue of
Granda's citizenship. Granda, meanwhile, issued the media a
handwritten note from prison that buttressed the opposition's
claims. He wrote that the "occasional members" of the FARC's
armed wing were active in Venezuela, the continent, and
beyond. The identity documents he used in Venezuela, he
averred, were authentic and legally issued by government
authorities without the use of intermediaries.


5. (U) The GOV has curtly dismissed the opposition charges
while keeping rhetoric focused on the sovereignty issue.
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said February 3, "it is
not easy for people--much less terrorists--to enter
Venezuela." Minister of Interior and Justice Jesse Chacon
told the media that military and civilian intelligence
patrols were verifying that there were no guerrilla camps in
the country. The GOV has also benefited from media neglect
of the terrorism issue over the past few days as the press
has focused on the destructive rains plaguing the Venezuelan
coastline (REF B). Indeed, the capture of FARC 10th front
"comandante" Cristobal Guillen by Venezuelan intelligence
went unnoticed except by a Tachira State newspaper, which
mentioned the arrest briefly on February 11.

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Border Trade Still Sticky
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6. (C) On February 10, a leading customs broker advised us
that the border at Paraguachon (Zulia State) remained closed
to international commerce and that at San Antonio (Tachira
State) goods were being cleared only with lengthy delays.
(DAO contacts affirmed that members of the local Wayuu indian
tribe had not fulfilled their agreement to remove their
roadblock on the border between La Guajira Department,
Colombia and northern Zulia in protest of the crackdown on
gasoline smuggling, and that a heavy National Guard presence
at the border crossing at San Antonio continued to cause long
lines.) The customs broker added that, given the
interruption to operations at Venezuela's main seaports,
Puerto Cabello and La Guaira, freeing up commerce on the
Colombian border could become important in coming days to
avoid shortages in some supplies. According to the
Colombia-Venezuela chamber of commerce, the Granda dispute
has shrunk bilateral trade 15 percent.
Brownfield