BRV OFFICIALS TRADE CORRUPTION ACCUSATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000839

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
FOR FRC LAMBERT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2026
TAGS: PGOV KCRM VE
SUBJECT: BRV OFFICIALS TRADE CORRUPTION ACCUSATIONS

REF: CARACAS 00514

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT R. DOWNES FOR 1.4 (D)

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Summary
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1. (C) Venezuelan officials are beginning to turn on each
other as the government's pre-election anticorruption
campaign heats up (REFTEL). Interior Minister Jesse Chacon
has demanded an investigation of the Supreme Court's
anticorruption crusader, Justice Luis Velazquez Alvaray, for
public purchasing irregularities. Anzoategui Governor Tarek
William Saab is denouncing members of his own government for
corruption. Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian appears
to be targeting some BRV officials on others' behalf. End
Summary.


2. (U) As the Venezuelan Government strives to fight
corruption as part of President Hugo Chavez' reelection
strategy (REFTEL),some Venezuelan officials are beginning to
turn on each other. In mid-March, Interior Minister Jesse
Chacon denounced irregularities in the 2005 purchase of land
by the Supreme Court's executive directorate of the
magistracy (DEM),according to press reports. The judicial
system's anticorruption crusader, Supreme Court Justice Luis
Velazquez Alvaray, headed the DEM at the time of the
purchase. Chacon demanded an "exhaustive" investigation of
the purchase from the Republican Moral Council, the so-called
"Citizens' Power" of the government made up of the
Comptroller General, the Attorney General, and the Defender
of the People. Citing judicial and legislative sources, the
press claimed that the government possessed taped telephone
conversations implicating Velazquez Alvaray. Velazquez
Alvaray countered that he had his own recorded proof that
judges were pressured to testify against him, according to
press reports. He claimed he had requested an audit of the
purchase himself and that Chacon did not bother to hear his
version before going public. On 27 March, left-wing tabloid
Ultimas Noticias reported the Attorney General's Office was
considering questioning Velazquez Alvaray about his possible
involvement in an extortion case surrounding the Danilo
Anderson murder investigation.


3. (U) Anzoategui State Governor Tarek William Saab, who
has fought public battles with some Anzoategui mayors who
share his support for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is
now turning against former members of his own administration.
Saab appeared before the National Assembly's comptroller
committee in mid-March to accuse four members of his original
state government cabinet for "squandering around two billion
bolivares (nearly USD one million) of public funds,"
according to pro-Chavez tabloid Diario Vea. Saab announced,
"I will be inflexible (with) anyone at any rank in my
regional government."


4. (U) Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian, meanwhile,
is making his own enemies in the BRV. According to press,
Russian blasted the BRV's "Judicial Power" in December 2005
for thwarting his office's work. He fired Juan Antonio
Balza, the comptroller of Caracas's Libertador Municipality,
in May 2005 after mayor Freddie Bernal urged him to
investigate Balza for holding up pay advances for
cooperatives his government had contracted. (Russian
justified firing Balza by saying Balza had illegally
publicized his own investigation into Bernal's alleged
administrative irregularities.) In January 2006, Russian
criticized what he called "irrational" housing invasions that
another Bernal rival, metropolitan Caracas mayor Juan
Barreto, had supported.

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5. (U) Russian has since become the target of a corruption
charge himself, albeit by the political opposition. In
mid-March, Primero Justicia secretary general Gerardo Blyde
presented proof to the National Assembly that Russian was
receiving his current government salary along with a
retirement pension for a former government job (Russian had
also served as Libertador's comptroller),which Blyde claimed
was illegal. Before the legislature's comptroller committee,
Russian argued that receiving both a salary and a pension was
legal, especially because different laws governed the
payments.

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We Need Oversight of Your Oversight
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6. (U) National Assembly president Nicolas Maduro proposed
the creation of a special committee to follow cases
investigated by the legislature's comptroller committee, a
pro-Chavez website reported. Comptroller committee chairman
Pedro Carreno reportedly objected, saying the body he headed
was able to fulfill its mission.

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Bonus Point
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7. (C) In the tradition of previous reporting on
corruption, we report credible rumors as we hear them,
whether they can be confirmed or not. Radio announcer Pedro
Penzini told us March 23 that former Zulia Governor Francisco
Arias Cardenas accepted his nomination as UN permanent
representative (SEPTEL) because he had lost the fortune he
had made as a public official. According to Penzini, the
front man in charge of stashing Arias Cardenas' wealth had
died. His widow allegedly claimed no knowledge of the
location of Arias Cardenas' assets, saying "my husband was a
saint."

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Comment
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8. (C) Chavez' reelection campaign appears to have ended an
unstated gentlemen's agreement to keep quiet about fellow
officials' misdeeds. A fundamentally corrupt government will
inevitably touch off infighting as it tries to address both
its own problem and the public's perception of corruption in
an election year. The overlapping and often vague
responsibilities of the various BRV "powers" and institutions
involved (Interior Ministry, Comptroller, Moral Council,
National Assembly, etc.) are feeding the finger pointing even
more. It may only be a matter of time before some BRV
officials begin to counterattack Russian. Russian's status
as a retired Libertador official raises the question of
whether he is settling old personal scores in the Caracas
Government. For now, the opposition's assault against
Russian may be having the unintended effect of keeping
Chavista officials, who fear association with the "enemy," at
bay.

BROWNFIELD