THE DO-NOTHING NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF 2006 POISED TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 CARACAS 003671

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2016
TAGS: PGOV ECON PHUM PREL VE
SUBJECT: THE DO-NOTHING NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF 2006 POISED TO
DEEPEN THE "REVOLUTION" IN 2007

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Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT DOWNES,
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) Summary. The National Assembly, although composed
entirely of pro-Chavez party members after the opposition
boycotted the December 2005 parliamentary election, passed
little important legislation in 2006. Among the more
memorable National Assembly "Bolivarian accomplishments" of
2006 are adding a star to the national flag, stacking the
National Electoral Council 4 to 1 in the government's favor,
conducting a 'witch hunt" investigation of the prominent
electoral NGO Sumate, and passing a resolution that urges the
U.S. Congress to investigate the "self-inflicted" attacks of
September 11, 2001. Before ending its 2006 session, the
National Assembly also passed a vague but potentially
wide-ranging, intrusive measure that, once promulgated, will
require Venezuelans to perform five hours of obligatory
community service monthly or face fines.


2. (C) The National Assembly considered, but did not pass, a
series of bills that would consolidate the government's
control over NGOs, private enterprise, and local police
forces as well as squeeze private education, the Catholic
Church, and other religious denominations. The National
Assembly slow-down on these bills coincided with President
Chavez' successful bid for re-election on December 3.
Bolstered by a new popular mandate and consistent with his
promise to "deepen" his "Bolivarian revolution, President
Chavez is likely to instruct the inefficient, but supine,
National Assembly to enact many of the aforementioned
measures in 2007. End Summary.

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100 Percent Majority Achieves Little
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3. (C) President Chavez enjoys the support of all 167 members
of the National Assembly (NA) since the opposition boycotted
the December 2005 parliamentary elections. Moreover, Chavez'
Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party controls over two-thirds
of the seats, enough to pass legislation and constitutional
amendments. When the National Assembly started its 2006
session on January 5, then NA President (now Foreign
Minister) Nicolas Maduro set a goal of passing 71 new laws.
However, when the National Assembly concluded its 2006
session December 14 current NA President Cilia Flores
announced that the legislature had passed only 46 new laws,
about half of which were technical reforms of existing laws
or symbolic awards.


4. (C) In her session-ending address, Flores urged the media
and members to focus on the "quality" of the National
Assembly's work, not the "quantity," though the NA came up
short in both categories. Some of the more
attention-grabbing measures include adding a star to the
national flag (in support of Venezuela's claim to large swath
of territory in western Guyana) and changing the national
seal so the pictured horse trots to the left, not to the
right. The NA reconstituted the National Electoral Council
(CNE),appointing four pro-Chavez rectors and only one rector
perceived to be independent. The NA also appointed a special
commission to "investigate" the electoral NGO Sumate which
recommended that prosecutors bring a host of
politically-motivated charges against the group.


5. (C) With respect to international affairs, the NA approved
Venezuela's entry into Mercosur. The NA also provided loyal
support to President Chavez' ever more radical foreign
policy, rubber-stamping multiple international cooperation
accords with countries such as Iran, Cuba, Libya, Russia, and
Bolivia. It passed on September 26 both a resolution
praising President Chavez' infamous September 20 UNGA speech
in which Chavez referred to President Bush as "the devil" and
condemned the "outrageous arbitrary detention" of Foreign
Minister Maduro at JFK airport. The NA also unanimously
approved an October 3 resolution "rejecting" U.S. plans to
construct a border security fence along the U.S. border with
Mexico. The same resolution contains a clause exhorting the
U.S. Congress to investigate the "self-inflicted attack" on
the Twin Towers and Pentagon.

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Corvee Labor Returns...
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6. (C) Prior to concluding its 2006 regular sessions, the

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National Assembly passed on December 14 the "Integrated
Social Service Law." This law will require almost all
Venezuelans between 15 and 50 to do a minimum of five hours
monthly of obligatory community service. The measure awaits
promulgation by President Chavez and will not become law
until it is published in the official gazette. The National
Institute of Integrated Social Service (INASES) will be
responsible for administering the law under the direction of
the Ministry for Social Development and Popular
Participation. All public and private institutions will be
required to create a social service network to coordinate and
ensure compliance with community service duties.


7. (C) The law defines community service as "activities which
promote the common good." A recent draft of the measure
specifically mentions improving and maintaining schools or
other public places, home construction, community planning,
conducting diagnostic studies of the "social reality," the
contribution of professional services, assisting the needy,
and promoting social consciousness as noteworthy forms of
social service. Graduates of universities and engineering
schools may be separately required by the government to work
at prevailing wages "in service to society" for one year.
The law gives the decentralized social service networks the
authority to confer thrice-annual certificates of "good
citizenship" to persons complying with the law. The BRV may
also impose and collect fines from unexempted Venezuelans who
decline to do their obligatory community service.

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... And More Government Intervention is Pending
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8. (C) Education. BRV efforts to reform the educational
system have generated considerable resistance in civil
society, forcing the BRV to move cautiously (so far) on this
issue. After considering the need for an omnibus education
bill for the last few years, the National Assembly approved
in August 2006 a first draft of such legislation and opened
formal debate on the issue. (Note: The NA must pass
legislation twice before it passes to the executive branch
for possible promulgation). In recent months, senior BRV
officials underscored their determination to safeguard the
"Bolivarian revolution" through educational reform. Vice
President Jose Vicente Rangel told an educational conference
November 2 that "Education is a commitment: a commitment with
the right and reactionaries, or a commitment with the
revolution; a commitment with the empire or with national
sovereignty..." The draft bill would make "Bolivarian
ideology" a mandatory subject to be taught in public and
private elementary and middle schools.


9. (C) While the education bill ostensibly aims to make
education more universal in Venezuela, it would also give the
BRV greater authority to accredit and regulate traditionally
autonomous universities and private schools. Moreover,
invoking the bill's provisions to promote equality and
non-discriminatory access, the BRV would have additional
leverage to influence educational institutions' admissions
and grading policies. Firms providing goods and services
would also be made legally responsible for the training and
"permanent education" of their employees. The bill also
takes aim at the Catholic Church's compensated role in
providing religious instruction in public schools. In its
latest protest of BRV education proposals, the Venezuelan
Episcopal Conference sent a December 15 letter to President
Chavez urging that any education reform not be "politicized
and exclusive of religion."


10. (C) NGOs. The NA also approved a first draft of the "Law
of International Cooperation" and opened formal discussion of
the measure. This bill is similar to anti-NGO laws in Russia
and Belarus and would force all NGOs receiving international
funding to seek registration with the BRV and make them
subject to audits by a BRV regulatory body. It would also
create a government account into which international funding
for NGO's would be directed for further distribution, a sure
deterrent to potential international donors. Staff aides
working on the measure openly admit that the purpose of such
a law is to "monitor" and "control" NGO's in Venezuela. The
NA slowed passage of this measure after a European and
Canadian government representatives, in coordination with the
USG, expressed concerns about the law. Nevertheless, MVR
legislators told us this fall that they expected the measure
would be passed early in 2007.


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11. (C) Private Sector. The NA approved in March 2006 the
first draft of the "Anti-Monopoly/Anti-Oligopoly Law Against
Disloyal Competition," and opened formal debate on the
proposal. While ostensibly aimed at addressing unfair
business practices, the proposed bill would give the BRV even
more authority to regulate private firms as well as severely
sanction businesses accused of unfair competition. The
proposed measure would also provide a legal mechanism for
protecting the development of state enterprises under the
rubric of "endogenous economic development," as well as
cooperatives and mixed public-private firms. The Venezuelan
business community has vocally criticized the proposed law as
discriminatory toward the private sector, and the NA shelved
further discussion of the proposal in the run-up to the
December 3 presidential election.


12. (C) Police Reform. Despite its 100 percent pro-Chavez
majority, the NA failed to reach consensus on a long
languishing proposal for police reform. While such reform is
widely perceived as essential, critics of the existing bill
are concerned that it is primarily designed to give the
central government more police powers, while addressing
weaknesses in existing police forces. Most significantly,
the latest draft of the "National Police Law" would create a
national police corps with broad responsibilities under the
direction of the Interior and Justice Ministry. Caracas'
municipal police and Venezuela's traffic police corps would
be dissolved and transformed into the first new elements of
this new national police force.


13. (C) The National Police law would give responsibility for
policy polices to the Interior and Justice Ministry, leaving
only administrative policies to state and local governments.
The law specifically states a number of vaguely described
areas in which state and local police forces must cooperate
with the national police (but not the converse). Moreover,
the Interior and Justice Ministry would be the arbiter of
jurisdiction conflicts between the national police and state
and local police forces. The BRV would also have the
authority to assign national police forces or the National
Guard to perform the functions of state and local police
personnel whenever the BRV determines the latter are unable
to perform their "proper functions."


14. (C) Religion. The National Assembly has been considering
a Law of Religions for over four years. The 2004 draft of
the bill would also give the BRV additional levers with both
the Catholic Church and other religious denominations,
creating a Consultative Council for Religious Freedom and
requiring religious entities to register with the Interior
and Justice Ministry. The Office of Religion in that
ministry would be empowered to recognize (or not) clergy.
The law would also presumably end Venezuela's 1964 accord
with the Vatican by which the BRV committed to provide the
Venezuelan Catholic Church with some funding ($233,000
annually). In practice, and in the wake of Church criticism
of the Chavez administration in recent years, the BRV has
already drastically reduced such payments by about 90
percent.

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Comment
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15. (C) We anticipate Chavez, strengthened by his recent
re-election, will likely instruct the NA in 2007 to start
moving on pending, controversial proposals consistent with
his vague promise to implement "Socialism in the 21st
Century." National Assembly members and staffers alike tell
us that they see the legislature's role as supporting the
initiatives of President Chavez and not providing checks and
balances. These diverse measures all purport to advance
democratic goals, such as universal education, public
security, and religious freedom. In reality such proposals
are transparent ploys to give the national government more
authority to regulate and control independent sectors of
Venezuelan society, including private schools, NGOs, local
police forces, religious congregations, and businesses.


16. (C) These measures also share an administrative reach far
exceeding the BRV's grasp and include operative language that
is deliberately vague and ambiguous. In tried and true
fashion, Chavez' government would almost certainly apply such
measures selectively to intimidate the most outspoken
government opponents, thus threatening broader civil society
even further. If passed as written, the measures will

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concentrate power even more in the hands of the Chavez
government and further bolster the increasingly authoritarian
nature of the Bolivarian republic.

BROWNFIELD