VICE MINISTER FOR NORTH AMERICA SANCTIONED AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000872

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE
SUBJECT: VICE MINISTER FOR NORTH AMERICA SANCTIONED AND
SUSPENDED?

REF: 2005 CARACAS 003402

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

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Summary
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1. (C) On March 27, Venezuela's Supreme Court decided to
lift a stay on a Comptroller General sanction against Vice
Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America and
International Organizations Mari Pili Hernandez for
mishandling public funds. The Comptroller sanctions, if
applied, would require Hernandez' dismissal and would bar her
from holding public office for three years. The ruling
magistrate, Luis Velazquez Alvaray, who himself is embroiled
in a public corruption scandal, said March 28 that the
decision was in the hands of the Executive. Vice President
Rangel's chief of staff told the Ambassador March 28 that
Hernandez had one appeal remaining and would stay in the
position for the time being. Hernandez, who is the Embassy's
primary official contact in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
is an avid Chavista and known throughout the Embassy for her
disagreeable temperament in dealing with the United States.
Theories abound for why Hernandez has been beset by other
Chavistas, though we suspect her near total incompetence in
managing the U.S. account is not an incidental factor. End
Summary.

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Comptroller General Strikes
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2. (U) On March 27, Venezuela's Supreme Court (TSJ) lifted
a stay it had imposed on sanctions applied by the Comptroller
General against Vice Minister for North American and
International Organizations Mari Pili Hernandez for
mishandling public funds. According to the Comptroller's
website, the sanctions require Hernandez' immediate dismissal
and bar her from public office for three years (She was also
charged a small fine). In March 2005, Comptroller General
Clodosbaldo Russian found Hernandez administratively
responsible for a mishandling of funds during the latter's
tenure as a city council member in the Caracas municipality
of Libertador between 1996 and 1999. Russian alleged at the
time that Hernandez' vote in favor of moving money between an
employee pension fund and the municipality's central budget
was improper (Note: Russian has been slapping these sanctions
on both opposition and Chavista officials for the last year,
the most recent high-profile case being a similar charge
against opposition mayor Leopoldo Lopez in 2005 (Reftel).
End Note.) Hernandez appealed to the TSJ, which issued a
stay on the sanctions in September 2005 on the grounds that
her suspension would affect her public duties and interrupt
diplomatic relations. The Comptroller appealed, however, and
ultimately won the removal of the stay order, apparently
clearing the way for Hernandez' immediate dismissal.

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Confusion Over Next Steps
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3. (C) The TSJ decision was written by Luis Velazquez
Alvaray, who was recently removed from his administrative
oversight of the judicial system amidst corruption
allegations. Velazquez, no shrinking violet before the
television cameras in his own defense, opined March 28 that
the Executive Branch has to make the final decision on

CARACAS 00000872 002 OF 002


whether to dismiss Hernandez. Rene Arreaza, Chief of Staff
to Vice President Rangel, told the Ambassador on March 28,
however, that Hernandez still had one appeal remaining and,
until that option was exhausted, would remain in her
position. Arreaza assured the Ambassador that the Vice
Foreign Minister would indeed make her upcoming trip to
Washington. (Note: We suppose this would be a correct
interpretation since the TSJ only ordered a stay on the
sanctions and did not appear to rule on Hernandez' actual
appeal. VP Rangel confirmed publicly on March 29 that
Hernandez had yet to see her appeal through at the TSJ and
would continue in office in the meantime.) When we inquired
to her office whether our principal interlocutor had been
removed from office, Hernandez's Chief of Staff said they
were still waiting for a decision from the Minister or the
President and then would inform all interested parties.

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Why Is This Happening?
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4. (C) There were several competing theories to why
Hernandez, a loyal Chavista, was the subject of a public
hatchet job. Some opined that Hernandez, also a full-time
journalist and radio show host (hence her scarce availability
in the Foreign Ministry),was under fire for having supported
journalist Ibiyese Pacheco, who was temporarily jailed this
month on trumped up charges. Others have suggested that the
Comptroller merely feels the obligation to apply to Hernandez
the same sanctions as applied to Lopez (we note, too, that
Hernandez' mayor when she was a council member was Antonio
Ledezma, who was also barred from office for three years and
is likewise appealing). There is also the possibility that
this is an offensive play by Velazquez Alvaray to put Chavez
in the position of defying the Comptroller if he keeps
Hernandez in place (Chavez had told Interior Minister Jesse
Chacon, who is sparring with Velazquez Alvaray publicly over
the corruption scandal, to cut off the heads of any corrupt
officials, a clear indication that Chavez had sided with
Chacon). Another theory is that Hernandez' old nemesis at
the Foreign Ministry, Delcy Rodriguez, was flexing her muscle
as the newly-anointed Minister of the Presidency, which
affords her much closer access to Chavez.

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Comment
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5. (C) To this Bolivarian version of Kremlinology we would
add that perhaps Hernandez' incompetent handling of the North
American account (and perhaps that of International
Organizations) made her particularly easy pickings.
Hernandez was probably to blame for the aborted CODEL Hyde
visit last November, and was certainly cut out of the loop on
the U.S. Naval Attache expulsion earlier this year. That
said, the prickly Hernandez is "the devil we know" and may
keep her job, if the VP's office is to be believed.
BROWNFIELD