Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05SANTODOMINGO2209
2005-04-20 17:37:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Santo Domingo
Cable title:  

THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND HUGO CHAVEZ OF VENEZUELA

Tags:  MARR PINR PREL DR 
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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 SECTION 01 OF 04 SANTO DOMINGO 002209 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/AND, WHA/CAR, WHA/PPC, INR, PM; SOUTHCOM
ALSO FOR POLAD; NSC FOR SHANNON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2020
TAGS: MARR PINR PREL DR
SUBJECT: THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND HUGO CHAVEZ OF VENEZUELA

REF: A. A. STATE 43965

B. B.2004 SANTO DOMINGO 6240

C. C. SANTO DOMINGO 1801

D. D. SANTO DOMINGO 542

E. E. 04 SANTO DOMINGO 6119

Classified By: Ambassador Hertell for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 SANTO DOMINGO 002209

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR WHA, WHA/AND, WHA/CAR, WHA/PPC, INR, PM; SOUTHCOM
ALSO FOR POLAD; NSC FOR SHANNON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2020
TAGS: MARR PINR PREL DR
SUBJECT: THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND HUGO CHAVEZ OF VENEZUELA

REF: A. A. STATE 43965

B. B.2004 SANTO DOMINGO 6240

C. C. SANTO DOMINGO 1801

D. D. SANTO DOMINGO 542

E. E. 04 SANTO DOMINGO 6119

Classified By: Ambassador Hertell for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. Venezuela and the Dominican Republic have
close historical ties; during Trujillo's dictatorship, many
Dominicans got help from Venezuela or lived there in
political exile. Hugo Chavez has been in active contact with
the Dominican Republic, agreeing to concessional financing
for oil, providing disaster relief assistance and asking
little tangible in return. There is an umimpressive
"Bolivarian Society of the Dominican Republic," and the
Dominican military has close ties to the Venezuelan military.
Relations between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic are
cordial. President Fernandez has praised Chavez publicly
several times; in private, Fernandez has commented to the
Ambassador that Chavez and his politics are mistaken. It
appears that Fernandez and Chavez are happy to continue using
one another: Fernandez in hopes of obtaining concessional
financing for oil imports and other benefits for his
cash-strapped nation, and Chavez to demonstrate magnanimity
and create a claim for Bolivarian solidarity. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Following are Embassy's responses to questions in
reftel A:


A. The GOV's ties to radical groups, anti-systemic parties,
extreme leftist organizations, and/or terrorists --
especially US-designated FTOs.

- - (C) The government of Venezuela does not appear to have
ties to any radical, left-wing or terrorist groups in the
Dominican Republic. Despite this, President Fernandez,s
special ambassador Jose Miguel Mejia Abreu is a regular
intermediary with Chavez and the Venezuelan authorities.
Mejia was Secretary General of the radical Movement of the
United Left (Movimiento de Izquierda Unida) in the mid-1990s
- - the group is now inactive. Mejia has had extensive
contacts with Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam and China. In the
first Fernandez administration Mejia was Foreign Ministry

coordinator for Caribbean affairs with rank of ambassador.
Mejia has promoted visits to the Dominican Republic by PRC
and North Korean officials since the Fernandez administration
took office in August 2005.


B. Activities hosted by Bolivarian groups and/or the
Venezuelan embassy.

- - (C) The one known and relatively obscure "Bolivarian
group" here calls itself the "Bolivarian Society of the
Dominican Republic." According to the only document we have
of the group, it was founded in Santo Domingo in 2001 and
elected a board of directors in June 2004. The board
president, retired Dominican Army Major General Hector
Lachapelle Diaz, fought on the constitutionalist side in the
1965 civil war, had a long military career after returning
from exile in early 1970s, and in retirement has become
prominent via participation in televised debates on
historical topics (He is not the former National Drug
Control Director, of the same paternal family name.) Two
other board members, Victor Villegas and Mariano Lebron, are
prominent intellectuals and writers. Villegas fought against
the Trujillo dictatorship as a member of the 14th of June
Movement. The "Bolivarian Society" has among its stated
objectives to study and spread the ideas of the South
American liberator Simon Bolivar and to establish other such
groups around the country.


C. Host government's reaction to the presence of domestic
Bolivarian groups.

- - (SBU) There appears to have been no Dominican government
reaction.


D. Host government's opinion of Chavez and its thoughts on
how to deal with the Bolivarian Revolution.

- - (U) Venezuela and the Dominican Republic have close
historical ties. During Trujillo's dictatorship, ended by
assassination in 1961, many Dominicans got help from
Venezuela or lived there in political exile.

(SBU) Leonel Fernandez received Chavez during the first
Fernandez administration (1996-2000),while Chavez was in the
early stages of his own presidential campaign. After
Fernandez left office in 2000, in response to a request from
Chavez, he called upon contacts in the Carter Center in the
United States to help arrange mediation between Chavez and
the Venezuelan opposition.

(C) Chavez's most significant effort in the Dominican
Republic has been his "oil diplomacy," providing financing
for oil on concessional terms. Although Fernandez told the
Ambassador that there was no quid pro quo, the deal stands as
an admonition to the Dominicans of the importance of Latin
American solidarity. Chavez came to the Dominican Republic
in November 2004 for an eight-hour visit (reftel B) during
which he signed a bilateral oil financing agreement when the
new Fernandez government faced an energy crisis and severe
financial pressures as it was negotiating an IMF agreement.
In public comments, Chavez explicitly tied oil to populist
politics, saying that cheap oil would help the poor. Chavez
told Fernandez to invest the savings in social causes to
improve the lot of the poorest Dominicans.

(SBU) During their joint press conference, Chavez again
alleged that the United States was behind the attempted coup
against him in April 2002. Fernandez balanced his own reply,
comparing Chavez to Colonel Francisco Caamano, the
"constitutionalist" military leader/"president" who led the
popular uprising against Balaguer in 1965 (and was killed in
1973 seeking in Che Guevara style to spark a revolution from
the mountains). Fernandez congratulated President Bush for
his re-relection and offered to serve as go-between to help
resolve any outstanding issues between Venezuela and the
United States.

(SBU) In March 2005, the Venezuelan military loaned two Puma
helicopters and 8 pilots to the Dominican Republic at no cost
to help fight forest fires in the central mountains (retel
C). The Dominicans paid for fuel. The United States was
unable to provide similar assistance, because President
Fernandez declined to declare the forest fires a national
emergency. The bucket-carrying helicopters made no great
impact on the fires, but the gesture was well covered in the
press and well received by the administration, other
government officials, and the press. The Dominican Congress
issued a statement "thanking eternally the sister Bolivarian
republic of Venezuela personified by President Hugo Chvez,
for the selfless solidarity for our people, providing
equipment for a more efficient solution of the problem."

(C) Fernandez has commented to the Ambassador in private
about the "mistaken approach" of Chavez, but is consistently
positive about Chavez in public. In meetings with U.S.
officials after Chavez's November 2004 visit, Fernandez and
key members of his staff indicated that the Dominican
Republic wanted to keep cordial relations with Chavez in part
to secure oil financing, but they were not falling for his
rhetoric or under his spell. Comments by close associates of
the President suggest that many in the administration dislike
Chavez. In private comments to the Ambassador Foreign
Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso (from the conservative
Social Christian Reformist Party) called Chavez a "madman."
In comments to WHA DAS Shapiro in January, Fernandez
criticized Chavez's policies, particularly the call for land
redistribution, as "obsolete." Fernandez has joked to the
Ambassador that Chavez is "Castro, but with oil."

(C) On the other hand, Fernandez publicly expresses
admiration for Chavez. This dates back to Fernandez's first
term (1996-2000),when then-candidate Chavez called on
Fernandez and discussed a shared interest in social policy.
Fernandez stopped in Caracas during his pre-inaugural swing
through South America and during Chavez's November 2004 visit
the two appeared together at public events, including the
dedication of a small, centrally-located park with a statue
of Bolivar paid for by Venezuela. When Chavez loaned the
helicopters to help fight forest fires, Fernandez was quoted
in the press as having said in a Cabinet meeting, "President
Chavez showed solid support by sending this military
mission." Fernandez has willing tried to moderate for
Chavez, for example by mediating in a dispute between
Venezuela and Colombia over the arrest of a FARC leader in
Venezuela (reftel D).


E. The country's commercial ties with Venezuela and any new
business or trade agreements in the works, especially in the
energy and military sectors.
- - (U) The two nations signed a Comprehensive Energy
Cooperation Agreement that features plans for joint projects
related to petroleum and established an annual "mixed
commission" to discuss social development in Venezuela and
the Dominican Republic (reftel E). The associated oil
arrangement authorizes concessional financing for 25 percent
of the value of crude oil imports from Venezuela, for up to
50,000 barrels per day. Terms are two years grace and then
two percent per annum for a period of 15 years. The
Dominican Republic does not have adequate refining capacity
to use all of this facility and currently is importing only
30,000 barrels of Venezulan crude per day for the national
refinery. Industry sources believe that the oil is coming in
under terms of earlier long-term contracts. In an April 7
interview with the online publication "diario a diario"
(www.diarioadiario.com),Fernandez's special ambassador
Miguel Mejia, who helped broker the deal, asserted there was
a "conspiracy" of Dominican party leaders and businessmen
blocking the operation of the financing agreement.


F. Mainstream media - major dailies from both the left and
right - views of Chavez and his role in region.

- - (SBU) Media coverage of Chavez in the Dominican Republic
is generally balanced. Chavez is given roughly the same
treatment as other heads of state, and articles involving
Venezuela appear in the international section. There have
been some editorials and opinion pieces that favor Chavez.
For example, editorials in daily sensationalist tabloid El
Nacional are frequently critical of the United States and
generally supportive of the Venezuelan government.

- - (U) During coverage of Chavez's November 2004 visit to
the Dominican Republic, a left of center paper reported
favorably on the visit, including an opinion piece strongly
supporting Chavez's allegations of U.S. interference in Latin
American affairs. Venezuela received considerable positive
press coverage from some newspapers after donating the
services of helicopters to fight forest fires.


G. Assessment of academic elites, opinion leaders, etc. of
how Chavez figures in the rise of the so-called Latin
American new left. Is he viewed as a democrat? An
authoritarian militaristic leader trying to export his brand
of revolution? A populist?

- - (SBU) Dominican opinion-makers are divided on Chavez.
Some editorialists worry that the election of Chavez was
symptomatic of Latin Americans' disillusionment with corrupt
politics and could prompt other countries -- perhaps even
including the Dominican Republic -- to seek authoritarian or
populist solutions to intractable socio-economic problems.
Others see him as part of a trend of left-leaning governments
in Latin America, sympathetic to Castro's Cuba, that are
challenging U.S. influence in the region. Conservative
political contacts warn us privately that Chavez exerts
undesirable influence om President Fernandez and will damage
U.S. interests in the Dominican Republic. Others see
relations with Chavez more positively as a means of
diversifying the country's foreign ties while managing the
top priority, the United States. Most believe that the
Dominican Republic needs to stay in good graces with
Venezuela, a main source of fossil fuels.


H. Host government's visa and immigration requirements for
Venezuelan passport holders.

- - (U) To visit the Dominican Republic, a Venezuelan holding
a valid passport needs only to purchase a Dominican tourist
card on the airplane or in the airport upon arrival.


I. Border security agreements (as appropriate) - existing
and being planned - between host government and the GOV.

- - (U) Not applicable.


J. Information-sharing agreements (intel, law enforcement)
existing and being planned - between host government and
the GOV.

- - (SBU) There are no known formal information-sharing
agreements between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
However, the Dominican and Venezuelan military are close (see
para. K, below),and there are probably informal channels for
sharing information of mutual interest.


K. Mil-Mil cooperation - existing and being planned - between
host government and the GOV.

- - (C) The Dominican and Venezuelan militaries have close
ties at senior levels. The current commander of the
Dominican elite military anti-terrorism has had training in
Venezuela. In December 2004, Venezuelan General Lucas Rincon
Romero (the second highest-ranking military official in
Venezuela) came to the Dominican Republic for a 2-3 week
visit. (Rincon's sister-in-law is reportedly married to the
Venezuelan ambassador to the Dominican Republic.) Both the
current and former J-3 Operations Directors have trained in
Venezuela and served as guest instructors there. In
addition, Venezuela is one of only four countries to post a
resident foreign defense attache to the Dominican Republic
(the others being the United States, Taiwan, and Colombia).
The Dominican attache to Venezuela, Brigadier General Eufemio
Torres Mejia, has been assigned to that post since the first
Fernandez administration (1996-2000). Sources indicate that
Torres has gained the trust of Chavez, to the extent that the
Dominican ambassadors to Venezuela have had to rely on Torres
in order to gain an audience with Chavez. In addition,
Torres does not socialize with other foreign country attaches
in Venezuela, preferring to associate almost exclusively with
Venezuelan military.

(C) Chavez's November 2004 visit included at least 65
Venezuelan military and security personnel flown directly to
the San Isidro Air Force Base. Chavez received security from
the Dominican counter-terrorism unit and socialized with its
members. Dominican military officials regularly attend
command and staff level courses in Venezuela offered by the
Venezuelan military, and the Venezuelans also provide
technical training for Dominican officers and enlisted
personnel. Dominican field grade officers have been guest
instructors at the Venezuelan command and staff college up
until 2004, although the Dominicans do not currently have any
trainers resident in Venezuela.

(C) In contrast to political relations, which have improved
since Fernandez took office, military exchanges have
decreased in the first year of the Fernandez administration.
This decrease can be attributed partially to financial
constraints on the part of the Dominican military. Even so,
considering Venezuela's efforts to help the Dominicans in
other areas, the Venezuelan military could just as easily
have used some of its own funding to sponsor the Dominicans.
Possibly in response to this, Colombia has expressed a desire
to increase its mil-mil exchanges with the Dominican military
to counter Venezuelan influence in the Dominican Republic.

- - - -
Comment
- - - -


3. (C) Fernandez may be one of the few leaders in the region
who can have an impact on Chavez's behavior, because of his
personal acquaintance with Chavez, his understanding of
regional politics, his desire to be a regional player, and
his strong credentials on economic and social issues. He
does not present a threat to Chavez. Fernandez can persuade
by example on economic policies and on support for democracy.
Furthermore, Fernandez has been friendly to the United
States without appearing servile. As long as Fernndez is
not forced to make a choice between supporting Venezuela or
the United States,the odds favor his continuing to play both
sides.
HERTELL