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) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶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. CARACAS 00000839 002 OF 002 ¶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. -------------- We Need Oversight of Your Oversight -------------- ¶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. -------------- Bonus Point -------------- ¶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." -------------- Comment -------------- ¶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