MAYOR CAPRILES -- THIS MAY BE MY LAST TRIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000744

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2021
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM VE
SUBJECT: MAYOR CAPRILES -- THIS MAY BE MY LAST TRIP

REF: A. 04 CARACAS 950

B. 04 CARACAS 2808

C. 05 CARACAS 3402

Classified By: Robert Downes, Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(b).

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Summary
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1. (C) The Ambassador and PolCouns met with Baruta Mayor
Henrique Capriles Radonski to discuss the Mayor's late March
trip to Washington. Capriles had initially planned to travel
later in the Spring, but the government has re-instituted
criminal charges against him related to the April 12, 2002
incident at the Cuban Embassy, and may begin proceedings in
April. Capriles said his assessment is that the BRV will
almost assuredly re-imprison him soon and prior to that time
he intends to visit New York and Washington to talk to
executive and legislative branch officials as well as
representatives of international human rights organizations.
He said this "may be his last trip" for a while. End summary.

Background
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2. (U) Henrique Capriles Radonski at 26, and then a Christian
Democrat (COPEI) deputy, was elected as President of the
National Assembly Chamber of Deputies (former lower house) on
January 23, 1999. He was a thorn in the side of Chavista
efforts to push through changes in the National Constituent
Assembly, unsuccessfully pursuing legal action before the
Venezuelan Supreme Court to block what he alleged were
unconstitutional actions. He was an initial member of the
new Primero Justicia political party. We was elected major
of Baruta (one of five boroughs of Caracas) in August 2000
and re-elected in September 2004.


3. (C) The Capriles case goes back to April 12, 2002, when
President Chavez briefly lost power. At that time an angry
crowd gathered in front of the Cuban Embassy in Baruta
looking for pro-Chavez leaders suspected of hiding inside
(ref a). The crowd damaged Embassy vehicles and cut
electricity and water lines. According to Capriles, Cuban
Ambassador German Sanchez Otero asked him to come and help
calm the situation. On March 16, 2004, Prosecutor Danilo
Anderson (who was killed by a car bomb in November 2004) had
an arrest warrant issued for Capriles on charges of
"violating international principles, private violence and
abuse of office" in connection with these events. After
legal maneuvers (his lawyers at first succeeded in having the
Supreme Court quash the arrest warrant, but a second court
later re-issued it),Capriles presented himself to a Caracas
court on May 11, 2004. After successfully arguing that
Capriles was a flight risk for failing to answer summons
issued in November 2002, and January and March 2003,
Prosecutor Anderson had DISIP (Federal Political Police) take
Capriles into custody. He was released from pre-trial
detention on September 6 after four months in prison, during
which time, he told poloffs he was subject to mental and some
physical abuse.

The Case Continues
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4. (C) Although the charges were dismissed subsequent to his
release, the BRV has now re-instituted them and has announced
its intentions to renew prosecution of Capriles in April.
While this date may shift, Capriles told the Ambassador that
he intended to travel to New York and Washington, D.C. in
late March to discuss events in Venezuela with USG Executive
and Congressional branch officials as well as with
representatives of international legal and human rights

CARACAS 00000744 002 OF 002


groups. He will be in Washington, D.C. March 28 and is
seeking appointments with A/S Shannon, NSC Senior Director
Dan Fisk, among others.


5. (C) Capriles said that it was clear to him that it was on
Chavez' agenda to persecute him this year. He felt there was
at least an 80 percent chance that he would be imprisoned
again in the near future. Thus this was likely to be his
last trip. He wanted to use it to try to develop long-term
support for democracy in Venezuela and to increase the cost
to Chavez of pursuing him. He also noted that in his view,
the Cuban Ambassador was also pushing strongly for his
imprisonment.


6. (C) Comment -- The Capriles case is both a symbol of the
continued opposition resistance to Chavez, and a measure of
Chavez' willingness to use the judicial system to silence or
pressure his opponents to flee. The BRV is increasing its
efforts to intimidate its critics. In addition to
re-instituting the charges against Capriles, it is taking
criminal and administrative steps against fellow Primero
Justicia mayor Leopoldo Lopez, as well as against a growing
number of journalists (septel),and possibly against
opposition Governor Rosales. While the trial against the
Sumate leadership is quiet for the moment, it will likely
only be a temporary respite.
BROWNFIELD