Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CARACAS855
2005-03-22 15:57:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

VENEZUELA: ACCIDENTALLY COMBATING TERRORISM

Tags:  PGOV PTER 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 000855 

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014
TAGS: PGOV PTER VE
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA: ACCIDENTALLY COMBATING TERRORISM

REF: BOGOTA 1531

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

-------
Summary
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C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000855

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014
TAGS: PGOV PTER VE
SUBJECT: VENEZUELA: ACCIDENTALLY COMBATING TERRORISM

REF: BOGOTA 1531

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

--------------
Summary
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1. (C) Venezuelan national police captured FARC official
Gentil Albis "El Chiguiro" Patino in Bolivar State during a
February 18 operation to rescue the kidnapped mother of a
Venezuelan major league baseball player. Although the GOV
initially did not admit to Chiguiro's capture and refused to
confirm his identity, it later cooperated with Colombian
police and welcomed the GOC to submit an extradition request.
Involving a Venezuelan cultural icon's relative plus
President Hugo Chavez's recent agreement to help Colombia
fight terrorism could help prevent the GOV from freeing
Chiguiro, but the GOC will have to apply consistent public
pressure to keep the GOV on task. End summary.


2. (U) Venezuelan national criminal police captured Gentil
Albis "El Chiguiro" Patino, a senior member of the FARC's
16th front, in Bolivar State February 18. The police
discovered Chiguiro--and 600 kilograms of cocaine--during a
successful raid to rescue the mother of Venezuelan Detroit
Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina. Chiguiro had been sought by
Colombian authorities for terrorism, arms smuggling, drug
trafficking, and the 1995 kidnapping and murder of two US
missionaries. Interpol also had an arrest warrant against
him.


3. (C) The press reported the capture on February 23,
noting that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had apprised
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe of the operation by
telephone. (Comment: The GOC had gotten wind of the capture
and moved to prevent Chiguiro's release by publicizing his
presence in Venezuelan custody.) The GOV later refused to
confirm that the captured official was indeed Chiguiro, but
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel offered his extradition if
his identity could be established, according to February 26
press reports. The GOC sent fingerprints, which the
Venezuelan police alleged did not match those of the
detained. Complicating the matter further were the many
names which surfaced purportedly belonging to the captured
guerrilla. Opposition figures protested that one of El
Chiguiro's aliases appeared in the electoral registry.


4. (C) The GOV began to allow working-level Colombian
officials into Venezuela toinvestigate the Chiguirocase,
according to DEA. On March 15, Venezuelan officials declared
that hey had confirmed Chiguiro's identity, and Interio
Minister Jesse Chacon told reporters that the GV was waiting
for the GOC's extradition request. Chacon cautioned,
however, that it would be theVenezuelan Supreme Court that
decides Chiguiro's ate, noting that the FARC member faced
Venezuela criminal charges, as well. The GOV announced
Mrch 21 that the GOC had presented th extradition
documents.

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The Guerrillas' Kidnapping M.O.
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5. (C) Separately, a federal prosecutor who had been
working in Bolivar State before resigning in December 2004
told poloff March 15 that the Coordinadora Anti- Extorcion y
Secuestros (CAES),a Bolivar State anti-kidnapping squad,
contracted local criminals to kidnap victims. The former
prosecutor noted that the FARC itself did not kidnap; rather,
such police and other urban criminals sold victims to the
FARC, which could evade detection for longer periods of time
by holding hostages in the countryside. An ex-ELN guerrilla
describing a "non-aggression" pact between the ELN and
Venezuelan authorities added that the Venezuelan National
Guard allowed the armed group to kidnap ranchers, according
to late February press reports.

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Comment
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6. (C) Regional leaders successfully pressured Chavez to
agree to cooperate against terrorism to end the dispute with

Colombia over the capture of FARC leader Rodrigo Granda
(REFTEL). Because of the involvement of the big-league
hurler's mother, the GOV will have to wager that it cannot
free Chiguiro without a major public outcry. Still, the GOC
must keep public pressure on the GOV to ensure his
extradition. Chavez's sympathy with the FARC probably will
continue to lead to GOV foot-dragging on such issues as long
as the Venezuelan President can evade public accountability.
Brownfield


NNNN
2005CARACA00855 - CONFIDENTIAL