Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CARACAS670
2005-03-04 20:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

HOW DARE YOU! GOV REACTS TO HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

Tags:  PHUM PREL 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.

042017Z Mar 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000670 

SIPDIS

NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2014
TAGS: PHUM PREL VE
SUBJECT: HOW DARE YOU! GOV REACTS TO HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT


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

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Summary
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000670

SIPDIS

NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2014
TAGS: PHUM PREL VE
SUBJECT: HOW DARE YOU! GOV REACTS TO HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT


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

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Summary
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1. (C) Venezuelan government officials reacted angrily to
the release of the Human Rights Report February 28. Vice
President Juan Vicente Rangel said the USG lacked "moral
authority" to talk about human rights, and accused the USG of
being the country that most violated human rights, alleging
"thousands" of deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rangel and
Human Rights Ombudsman German Mundarain said the report had
been politically manipulated, with Mundarain suggesting the
U.S. end game is to condemn Venezuela at the United Nations.
We suspect that no one in the GOV had actually read the
report before Rangel and Mundarain made these comments.
Movimiento Quinta Republica Deputy Saul Ortega, President of
the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly,
refuted some of the specific observations in the report in a
conversation with poloff. End Summary.

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Moral Authority
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2. (U) Venezuela's Vice President, Juan Vicente Rangel,
reacted angrily to the release of the Human Rights Report
(HRR),releasing a "declaration" on February 28. Rangel
repeated his condemnation later, telling reporters the USG
did not have "moral authority" to judge other country's human
rights records. He asserted that the USG tortures prisoners,
maintains concentration camps, and reiterated that the U.S.
is plotting to kill Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Rangel
said the USG was "the government that most violates human
rights, in its own country and in the world," by "killing
thousands of people, as in Iraq and Afghanistan." He called
the report itself, "lies, more falsehoods and more hypocrisy."

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Demonization
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3. (U) Human Rights Ombudsman German Mundarain called the
HRR the "appetizer" of a campaign to demonize Venezuela with
an eye towards convincing the United Nations (UN) Third
Committee to condemn Venezuelan human rights abuses. Echoing
Rangel, Mundarain told reporters March 1 that the USG lacked
legal and moral authority to judge Venezuela. He asserted
that the HHR did not meet UN standards, because it did not
mention economic and social rights, and because it did not
make recommendations. Mundarain criticized the USG of
wanting to "assassinate" the Kyoto Treaty and the
International Criminal Court, by not only refusing to sign
them, but working to undermine their implementation. He
further accused the USG of violating the Geneva Convention
against torture in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Defending
Venezuela, Mundarain asserted that the human rights situation
had improved in the last year, without specifying how.

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Situation Improving
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4. (C) Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) Deputy Saul
Ortega, President of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs
Committee, told poloff March 2 that he had not read the
report. Nonetheless, he said he did not agree that the human
rights situation had deteriorated. Told that the report cited
shortcomings in the independence of the judiciary and the
control of the independent media, Ortega blamed the
opposition. Had the opposition been willing to participate in
the naming of the new Supreme Court justices, Ortega said,
there would have been more balance. Ortega claimed that when
judges are fired, it is because the "people" have complained
about them, and not for political reasons. Ortega insisted
that the judiciary had become much better in the last few
years due to investment in technology and facilities,
asserting that for this reason an evaluation that the justice
system had deteriorated was unjustified.

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Comment
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5. (C) The GOV's reaction to the Human Rights Report was as
expected, although it is the first time we have seen a
"declaration" emanating from the Vice President's office.
The tendency to respond to USG statements, comments or
activities with more forceful criticism of the USG has become
a standard tactic of Rangel and the GOV. There may be more
commentary or criticism of the report once a Spanish
translation becomes available. (It is likely that only a few
have bothered to read the English version now available.)
For the moment, however, the GOV seems content to use offense
as defense.
Brownfield