Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06CARACAS702
2006-03-16 12:02:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:
COPEI LEADERSHIP STEPS DOWN
how-toVZCZCXRO0888 PP RUEHROV DE RUEHCV #0702/01 0751202 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 161202Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3571 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 6137 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 5269 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ PRIORITY 1766 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 9973 RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA PRIORITY 1055 RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 3620 RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0614 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 1839 RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE PRIORITY 0867 RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY RUEHMI/USOFFICE FRC FT LAUDERDALE PRIORITY 2896 RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0556
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000702
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2021
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ELAB KDEM VE
SUBJECT: COPEI LEADERSHIP STEPS DOWN
Classified By: Robert Downes, Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(b).
-------
Summary
-------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000702
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2021
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ELAB KDEM VE
SUBJECT: COPEI LEADERSHIP STEPS DOWN
Classified By: Robert Downes, Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(b).
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. (C) COPEI (Christian Democracy) President Eduardo
Fernandez and Secretary General Cesar Perez Vivas resigned
from their positions March 10 after the board rejected the
party's annual report, according to press reports.
Fernandez, a popular but figurehead leader, was gracious in
his resignation, saying he wanted to make room for new faces
in party leadership. Perez Vivas was strident, however,
alleging that Fernandez had packed the COPEI board with his
supporters, some of whom he alleged were government
sympathizers. National organization coordinator Luis Ignacio
Planas was tapped to replace Perez Vivas on a provisional
basis -- a temporary president may also be appointed -- while
the party organizes internal elections, slated for the end of
2006 or beginning of 2007. COPEI was in rapid decline before
the resignations, and will not likely correct that anytime
soon, though the new provisional leader Planas has some
promise. End summary.
--------------
Resignations, Sanguine and Bitter
--------------
2. (U) After a heated meeting of the COPEI national board of
directors, party President Eduardo Fernandez and Secretary
General Cesar Perez Vivas announced their resignations.
Press reports said the two offered their resignations after
80 percent of party leaders rejected the annual report on the
party's performance. Fernandez, a veteran "Copeyano"
politician and former presidential candidate, cast the
decision as a way to inject new faces into the party
leadership. Perez Vivas was less magnanimous in his
resignation announcement, however, alleging that Fernandez
had inserted five new party directors -- including Fernandez'
son -- without his knowledge. He also alleged that some of
these new directors were government sympathizers. Perez said
he will remain a COPEI member.
--------------
Party Names Provisional Leader
--------------
3. (U) To fill the void left by Fernandez and Perez Vivas,
the party named the national coordinator for organization
Luis Ignacio Planas as provisional secretary general. A
provisional president may be named later, according to press
reports. Planas commented that the resignations were logical
after the board rejected the annual report. He said the
decision was a chance for a new generation of Copeyanos to
rebuild the party. He said the party would continue in
strong opposition to the government, proposing ways to
resolve the problems of health, housing, and unemployment in
Venezuela. Planas said the party will hold internal
elections at the end of the year or the first quarter of 2007.
--------------
Comment
--------------
4. (C) COPEI, once one of Venezuela's ruling parties, has
been in decline for decades. It currently barely registers
in national polls, and is politically irrelevant except
perhaps among other vestigial "traditional" parties. Perez
Vivas was generally thought to have been a dinosaur who
refused to give ground to the party's younger generation.
Fernandez probably made a power play to remove Perez Vivas by
inserting the new directors. Our impression of Planas is
that he is a young, energetic leader who has been a source of
new ideas in the party. Whether he can make anything of the
splintered remains of COPEI, however, remains to be seen.
Without strong leaders and a structural reorganization, the
CARACAS 00000702 002 OF 002
party will probably continue to have minimal political
impact.
BROWNFIELD
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2021
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ELAB KDEM VE
SUBJECT: COPEI LEADERSHIP STEPS DOWN
Classified By: Robert Downes, Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(b).
--------------
Summary
--------------
1. (C) COPEI (Christian Democracy) President Eduardo
Fernandez and Secretary General Cesar Perez Vivas resigned
from their positions March 10 after the board rejected the
party's annual report, according to press reports.
Fernandez, a popular but figurehead leader, was gracious in
his resignation, saying he wanted to make room for new faces
in party leadership. Perez Vivas was strident, however,
alleging that Fernandez had packed the COPEI board with his
supporters, some of whom he alleged were government
sympathizers. National organization coordinator Luis Ignacio
Planas was tapped to replace Perez Vivas on a provisional
basis -- a temporary president may also be appointed -- while
the party organizes internal elections, slated for the end of
2006 or beginning of 2007. COPEI was in rapid decline before
the resignations, and will not likely correct that anytime
soon, though the new provisional leader Planas has some
promise. End summary.
--------------
Resignations, Sanguine and Bitter
--------------
2. (U) After a heated meeting of the COPEI national board of
directors, party President Eduardo Fernandez and Secretary
General Cesar Perez Vivas announced their resignations.
Press reports said the two offered their resignations after
80 percent of party leaders rejected the annual report on the
party's performance. Fernandez, a veteran "Copeyano"
politician and former presidential candidate, cast the
decision as a way to inject new faces into the party
leadership. Perez Vivas was less magnanimous in his
resignation announcement, however, alleging that Fernandez
had inserted five new party directors -- including Fernandez'
son -- without his knowledge. He also alleged that some of
these new directors were government sympathizers. Perez said
he will remain a COPEI member.
--------------
Party Names Provisional Leader
--------------
3. (U) To fill the void left by Fernandez and Perez Vivas,
the party named the national coordinator for organization
Luis Ignacio Planas as provisional secretary general. A
provisional president may be named later, according to press
reports. Planas commented that the resignations were logical
after the board rejected the annual report. He said the
decision was a chance for a new generation of Copeyanos to
rebuild the party. He said the party would continue in
strong opposition to the government, proposing ways to
resolve the problems of health, housing, and unemployment in
Venezuela. Planas said the party will hold internal
elections at the end of the year or the first quarter of 2007.
--------------
Comment
--------------
4. (C) COPEI, once one of Venezuela's ruling parties, has
been in decline for decades. It currently barely registers
in national polls, and is politically irrelevant except
perhaps among other vestigial "traditional" parties. Perez
Vivas was generally thought to have been a dinosaur who
refused to give ground to the party's younger generation.
Fernandez probably made a power play to remove Perez Vivas by
inserting the new directors. Our impression of Planas is
that he is a young, energetic leader who has been a source of
new ideas in the party. Whether he can make anything of the
splintered remains of COPEI, however, remains to be seen.
Without strong leaders and a structural reorganization, the
CARACAS 00000702 002 OF 002
party will probably continue to have minimal political
impact.
BROWNFIELD