BRV TARGETS ROSALES ADVISOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 002991

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM VE
SUBJECT: BRV TARGETS ROSALES ADVISOR

CARACAS 00002991 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: Dan Lawton, Acting Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(b).

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez announced
September 18 the re-opening of a 20-year-old police shooting
case against Henry Lopez Sisco, a long-time confidant of
opposition candidate Manuel Rosales. Sisco is a former DISIP
Commander who allegedly participated in the 1986 shooting
deaths of nine Venezuelan guerrillas in the Yumare area of
Yaracuy state, as well as other alleged police massacres in
the 1980s. The BRV appears ready to exploit this rare
convergence of a selective prosecution against an opposition
figure and "human rights" activism. END SUMMARY

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LOPEZ SISCO FREQUENTLY IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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2. (C) Henry Lopez Sisco commanded a DISIP-created SWAT
team formed in the late 1970s, organized to counter guerrilla
activity in Venezuela. He participated in three incursions
in the 1980s, historically labeled massacres. Twenty years
later, the BRV is re-inserting the Yumare massacre into the
news cycle. In May 1986, Lopez Sisco's squad allegedly shot
and killed nine guerrillas of the "Punto Cero" organization
in Yaracuy state. In addition to Yumare, Lopez's squad
allegedly killed 23 individuals who formed part of the
then-guerrilla, now political party, Bandera Roja in the area
of Cantuara in 1982, as well as fourteen fishermen in El
Amparo in 1988. Lopez Sisco served time in prison for his
participation in the El Amparo incident.


3. (C) Lopez Sisco is linked to other notable events, both
notorious and laudable. He was convicted for a 1993 letter
bomb attack on the Supreme Court, but served no jail time.
He is well known for his role in the 1983 rescue of hostages
on a hijacked Aeropostal airliner on its way to Curacao. He
also participated in the rescue of businessman William
Niehaus, whose three-year kidnapping in the 1970s stands as
one of the longest kidnappings in the country's history.

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POLITICAL VICTIMIZATION
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4. (C) Facing Rosales's rising numbers and criticism for
sabotaging Rosales's campaign stops, Chavez and the BRV
appear to have added the tactic of attempting to smear a
Rosales confidant. While Lopez Sisco is not officially
involved in any Rosales campaign activities, he does enjoy a
long-standing relationship with Rosales and currently
maintains a title of security advisor to the state government
of Zulia. Lopez Sisco also appears, however, to maintain a
position deep within Rosales's inner circle, making him and
his checkered history a target of opportunity for the
government.

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STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
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5. (C) Human Rights group PROVEA for several years has
represented families of the victims of Yumare. PROVEA
Director Marino Alvarado told Poloff September 21 that court
records were unsealed in 1999 due to PROVEA actions.
Alvarado believes there is sufficient cause to reopen
the case. He posits that the statute of limitations
governing this incident has not expired, due to legal actions
in 1999, essentially resetting the clock. BRV AG Rodriguez
argues that the statue of limitations is not applicable
because the killings are a violation of human rights, which
have no statute of limitations. Lopez Sisco operated in the
1980s under the control of then-President Jaime Lusinchi,
allegedly with orders to do whatever necessary to wipe out
guerrillas and subversives. Under that rationale, Lopez
Sisco is accused of operating in an environment of impunity,
which critics say all but ensured his exoneration, leading
both Rodriguez and Alvarado to question the validity of any
legal findings from that era.


CARACAS 00002991 002.3 OF 002



6. (C) The BRV and human rights NGOs rarely want the same
thing. In this case, they share a target, even if their
ultimate objectives remain divergent. Chavez, with Rodriguez
as his mouthpiece, likely wants to see Lopez Sisco behind
bars or at least in court because that is how he often
pursues his political opponents (e.g. Sumate's Maria Corina
Machado, Labor's Carlos Ortega, General Francisco Uson, Mayor
Capriles - all imprisoned or facing imprisonment on legally
murky grounds). Alvarado, on the other hand, leads a human
rights group whose every attempt to seek justice is
frustrated by this government. A re-opening of this case
could be the legal impetus necessary to open doors in other
stalled cases.

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BRV BUYING OFF PROVEA?
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7. (C) International law expert Juan Carlos Sainz offers a
more disappointing explanation for the convergence of the
BRV's and PROVEA's agendas. Sainz suggests that PROVEA is
receiving surreptitious funding from the BRV in exchange for
pursuing certain cases and leaving others alone. For
example, says Sainz, publicity surrounding a case dating
twenty years promises much less controversy than the plethora
of cases surrounding April 11, 2002. By opening one door for
PROVEA and leaving others firmly shut, Chavez and the BRV can
nudge the human rights group in a certain direction, or more
importantly, away from more polemical issues.


8. (C) Monica Fernandez (protect),ex-judge and criminal
justice expert agrees that Alvarado and PROVEA may be playing
both sides of the fence. PROVEA is one of many NGOs
threatened with extinction by the anti-NGO law, but
Alvarado's rhetoric, according to Fernandez, has taken on a
Chavista tint of late. On the one hand, Alvarado portrays
himself to Poloffs as the victim, afraid Chavez will destroy
him and his NGO; on the other hand, Fernandez says,
Alvarado's voice is absent among those NGOs who stand the
most to lose (which would presumably include PROVEA).
(COMMENT: Post has no information other than these
statements to confirm that PROVEA, a group that has routinely
provided Post reliable human rights data, is receiving
government payments. The allegations, however, are made by
two separate, reputable sources. END COMMENT)

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JUSTICE IN THE BRV
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9. (C) Both Sainz and Fernandez separately told Poloff that
there is no legal basis to re-open the investigation against
Lopez Sisco. Legally speaking, the statute of limitations
has indeed passed, as the BRV had not ratified international
human rights conventions governing the elimination of a
statute of limitations for human rights violations at the
time. Sainz argues that it is an international legal precept
that the law cannot be applied retroactively. Both Sainz and
Fernandez argue, however, that in the BRV justice system,
legality takes a back seat to Chavista whims. Both believe
the BRV will throw the book at Lopez Sisco and that Lopez
Sisco will go to jail.

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COMMENT
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10. (C) This is a politically-motivated maneuver. To be
sure, however, Lopez Sisco's hands may not be completely
clean. While the notion that Chavez is acting out of a
genuine pursuit of justice is laughable, it is not lost on
the Embassy that we ourselves have reported on the
fallibility of military justice in this country. Does Lopez
Sisco's vulnerability advance Chavez's electoral aspirations?
Marginally. Smearing a confidant of his opponent is an
advantage, but it is just one of many tools available to
Chavez. What is striking is that the crafty Chavez may have
recruited a most unlikely ally - a human rights NGO under
fire - to aid and abet in this politically enhancing move.

BROWNFIELD