COLOMBIANS ALLEGEDLY CAPTURE FARC "FORMIN" IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000098

SIPDIS

NSC FOR CBARTON
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2014
TAGS: PGOV PTER VE
SUBJECT: COLOMBIANS ALLEGEDLY CAPTURE FARC "FORMIN" IN
CARACAS

REF: 2004 CARACAS 02153

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

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Summary
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1. (C) The alleged abduction from Caracas to Colombia of
FARC "foreign minister" Rodrigo Granda during December 13-14
has become the most publicized news story of the new year
after initially garnering little attention from the
Venezuelan press. On December 15, the Colombian Defense
Ministry claimed Granda had been arrested in Cucuta,
Colombia. On January 3, the FARC protested the action in an
official communique. Venezuela's National Assembly named a
committee to investigate the action, while Interior and
Justice Minister Jesse Chacon and other government officials
proceeded cautiously and inconsistently, facing mounting
evidence that Granda was living in Venezuela with the
connivance of the GOV. After opponents of President Hugo
Chavez publicized proof of Granda's Venezuelan
naturalization, Chavez said it should be revoked because the
FARC leader had obtained it under false pretenses. The
Chavez administration's dilemma is how to contend with
criticism for harboring terrorists or for allowing Colombian
officials to operate in Venezuela with impunity. End
summary.


2. (C) The alleged abduction of senior FARC official
Rodrigo Granda--known as the guerrillas' "foreign
minister"--from Venezuela to Colombia has become Venezuela's
lead news story of the new year. On December 15, the GOC
announced Granda's arrest in the Colombian border town of
Cucuta on December 14. The FARC, protesting through an
official communique on January 3, and Granda, via his lawyer,
attested to press rumors alleging he was "kidnapped" in
downtown Caracas. According to Granda's version, Colombian
officials posing as Venezuelan intelligence (Disip) officers
shoved him into the trunk of a car on the afternoon of
December 13 and drove him 16 hours to Cucuta, Colombia.
Other media outlets speculated about GOV complicity in the
abduction, generating criticism of the GOV from the left.
Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Uribe disavowed the FARC
story, saying Granda was captured in Cucuta on the 14th.
While sticking to the story that no violation of Venezuelan
sovereignty occurred, he averred on January 12 that the GOC
had paid for information leading to Granda's arrest. A
radical pro-Chavez advisor for citizen security issues in the
Caracas metropolitan mayor's office told poloff in late
December that the GOV knew the operation had taken place in
Caracas. Separately, on 6 January an anti-Chavez official in
the Venezuelan Ministry of Interior and Justice (MIJ)
confirmed to poloff the GOV had known about the Caracas
capture.

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GOV Publicly Cautious
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3. (U) Faced with Colombian press reports asserting the
capture had occurred in Venezuela, Interior and Justice
Minister Jesse Chacon on December 29 ordered the
investigation of a kidnapping that took place on December 13
near a Caracas metro station. By early January, a media
storm had erupted over the issue. On January 5, Chacon said
that it was difficult to determine the true identity of the
victim, but he accepted that corrupt Venezuelan officials in
collusion with Colombians may have captured Granda at the
site. The National Assembly followed by announcing its own
investigation on January 6. Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez
urged patience while authorities completed their
investigation.

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Granda's Business in Venezuela
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4. (C) According to a pro-Government tabloid, National
Assembly deputy Marelys Perez said on 6 January that Granda
had been living in Venezuela for years. Perez immediately
denied making the statement but admitted that Granda had been
in Venezuela to attend a "Bolivarian Congress of the People"
on 7-8 December. The FARC communique stated Granda had
participated at the invitation of the Venezuelan Government,
which Perez also denied. Granda's lawyer, meanwhile, said
Granda had obtained Venezuelan citizenship and offered his
Venezuelan cedula number as proof. Chacon countered that
many people obtain cedulas illegally at the border. Granda
was not a citizen, the Minister said, adding that the GOV had
no record of him entering the country.

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GOV Busted
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5. (U) On January 7, former president of the Venezuelan
Congress Cristobal Fernandez Dalo held a press conference in
which he showed a copy of the July 9, 2004 official GOV
gazette listing Granda as a naturalized citizen. Fernandez
cited the gazette as proof that the GOV had lied about
Granda's citizenship and--if Granda did not complete five
years of Venezuelan residence before applying--had
naturalized him illegally. Granda's lawyer, in a follow-on
interview, attested that Granda had waited in line for 11
hours to receive naturalization. Granda's citizenship has
played into the hands of government critics, who have
asserted that the GOV's pre-referendum citizenship drive was
fraudulent (REFTEL). Opposition members also have circulated
via email a 2002 article from Caracas daily El Universal
alleging that Granda had served on a secret Disip committee
charged with providing Colombians illegal access to
Venezuela; the newspaper has since republished the story. To
further embarrass the GOV, the press has reprinted Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe's 2002 avowal that Colombian
authorities would capture guerrillas in Venezuela if Chavez
did not hand them over as promised.

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GOV Scrambles to React
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6. (U) On the same day as Fernandez's conference, Chacon
affirmed that Granda had been kidnapped in Caracas. Chavez
weighed in on January 9 during his "Alo Presidente" broadcast
that Colombian police had lied about having captured Granda
in Colombia, although he cautioned at a press conference the
following day that the GOV had not yet established Colombian
police involvement in the "kidnapping." He added that he
would bring up the issue with Colombian President Uribe.
Having committed himself to protesting Granda's abduction,
Chavez began to try to explain his presence in the country.
Showing an alleged copy of Granda's passport, Chavez accused
Granda of using false documents to obtain naturalization,
which he said should be revoked. He deflected charges of
having protected a terrorist by demanding that countries
request extradition of such criminals rather than violating
international law by extraterritorial kidnappings. On
January 12, ex-intelligence chief and current National Land
Institute (INTI) director Eliezer Otaiza suggested the CIA
could have been involved in the operation.

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Comment
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7. (C) The FARC's going public on the Granda case has
forced the GOV into a situation in which it has had
difficulty saving face. Disavowing Granda would be
tantamount to admitting it has allowed a violation of
Venezuelan sovereignty. Protesting the arrest leaves the GOV
vulnerable to charges of protecting a terrorist and padding
electoral rolls with foreigners. For the time being, Chavez
has hedged his bets by criticizing Colombian cops while
stopping short of faulting the Colombian government directly,
a position made more tenable by Colombia's recent admission
of having paid for information (ostensibly from corrupt
Venezuelan officials) on Granda. Chavez may also take
greater advantage of his tried-and-true trick of blaming the
United States to distract the public from the real nature of
the problem. End comment.
Brownfield