CHAVEZ'S MEDIA WAR WAGES ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 000911

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2021
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KPAO VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ'S MEDIA WAR WAGES ON

REF: A. CARACAS 717


B. CARACAS 664

C. CARACAS 663

D. CARACAS 191

CARACAS 00000911 001.2 OF 003


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

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Summary
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1. (C) The first quarter of this year saw another BRV
offensive against the media -- one of the few remaining
independent democratic institutions in Venezuela. The BRV
launched a new series of high profile legal attacks targeting
members of the opposition press, a Caracas court ruled in
favor of press censorship on the highly political case of
assassinated prosecutor Danilo Anderson, and President Chavez
appointed outspoken MVR "attack dog" William Lara as his
Communications Minister. In mid-March, the BRV crossed a red
line it had not previously crossed, and temporarily
imprisoned two journalists. Gustavo Azocar, a Tachira state
journalist who questioned the qualifications of a judge
involved on a highly sensitive political case, was imprisoned
March 7 pending trial for allegedly failing to appear at
court dates. One week later on March 13, a Caracas court
issued an arrest warrant for El Nacional columnist Ibeyise
Pacheco who was found guilty of defamation in 2005 and
punished with nine months of house arrest. Both journalists
were released almost immediately following an international
outcry, which RCTV head Marcel Granier (protect) told emboffs
included private calls to President Chavez from both
Brazilian President Lula and Argentinean President Kirchner.
The arrests were out of character for a regime which is
hyper-sensitive to its image abroad and may have been a BRV
trial balloon to gauge international reaction. Globovision
head Alberto Ravell (protect) told emboffs that the second in
command of the Cuban embassy in Caracas was involved, and
participated on the decision-making around the timing of both
journalistsQ, releases. Media leaders post spoke with after
the arrests say they expect the BRV to revert to more subtle
legal and economic intimidation tactics until after the
December 2006 presidential elections, but did not rule out
future arrests. End summary.

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International Community Condemns Arrests
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2. (C) The international community's response to the arrests
of Gustavo Azocar and Ibeyise Pacheco was stronger and more
immediate than its reaction to previous Venezuelan media
claims of BRV legal and economic intimidation. Within days
after the arrests, the level of discourse on Venezuelan press
freedom had leapt from media watchdog groups which typically
comment on Venezuelan press freedom issues to international
organizations and governments, which had not previously paid
much public attention to the state of Venezuelan freedom of
expression. Inter-American Commission of Human Rights
(IACHR) President Evelio Fernandez expressed concern over the
BRV's criminalization of opinion March 17, and cited the case
of Ibeyise Pacheco as an example. His comments came two days
after the IACHR named Venezuelan lawyer Ignacio Alvarez as
its special rapporteur on the freedom of expression. The
Inter-American Press Society report released at the
conclusion of its bi-annual conference March 18 stated that
"Venezuela has passed a dangerous tangle of legislation
designed to limit freedom of expression." RCTV head Marcel
Granier told emboffs March 27 that both Brazilian President
Lula and Argentinean President Kirchner had privately placed
calls to President Chavez about the arrests. As the head of
the Venezuelan Institute for Press and Society Ewald
Scharfenberg told emboffs March 30, Venezuelan press freedom

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issues often seem trivial to international audiences
accustomed to bodycounts -- the arrests of Azocar and Pacheco
triggered a stronger reaction because the situation was
instantly intuitive to international audiences.

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Chavez Orders Journalists' Release
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3. (C) On March 21, approximately one week after Pacheco's
detention, President Chavez publicly called upon his
supporters to be more restrained in the face of perceived
press insults. He declared that "many journalists are looking
to be arrested because they want to say we are attacking
freedom of expression here" and told his followers to "let
the dogs bark." Several hours later, Pacheco's accuser,
military colonel Angel Bellorin, dropped his complaint
against her. Upon regaining her freedom later that day,
Pacheco told the press she did not believe her pardon was
coincidental. As for the case of Gustavo Azocar, a newly
energized state prosecutor appealed his detention March 20
and Azocar was released from prison on March 23. The timing
of the releases, which in one case closely followed the
President's remarks and in the other actually anticipated
them by a day, indicates a high-level of BRV coordination and
involvement. Globovision head Alberto Ravell told emboffs
March 28 that the second in command of the Cuban embassy in
Caracas was involved, and participated on the decision-making
around the timing of both journalistsQ, releases. He
speculated that Azocar's detention, the result of a local
political squabble, presented the BRV with a convenient
opportunity to take international opinion out for a test
drive. Pacheco's detention one week after Azocar's
imprisonment was almost certainly strategic and
centrally-driven. Once the storm clouds began to gather,
according to RCTV head Marcel Granier, Chavez himself ordered
both Azocar and Pacheco released.

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Looking Forward to 2007?
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4. (C) Media leaders viewed the recent arrests as a dry run
for 2007 rather than as an viable election year strategy for
the BRV. International opinion still matters, they pointed
out, at least until after the December 2006 presidential
elections. Besides, the BRV has an arsenal of economic and
legal means with which to control the opposition press, and
conditions are getting tougher, if anecdotal evidence is to
be believed. The BRV's legal attacks on the opposition media
have increased in recent months, and the economic picture is
no better. RCTV's lawyers told emboffs that taxes are seven
times as high as last year, while Globovision head Alberto
Ravell said that his network was losing local partners and
that many media outlets were liable for fines by Venezuelan
broadcasting agency Conatel that would push them into the red
if they were ever enforced. According to Venezuelan Press and
Society Institute director Ewald Scharfenberg, the situation
for the press is more difficult in the provinces than in
Caracas. Many local chavista caudillos are taking advantage
of the permissive atmosphere to settle accounts with their
perceived press enemies in the provinces. Local media owner
David Natera supported this point, claiming his Ciudad
Guayana-based paper Correo del Caroni was a chavista target
and that he'd had to chip in $2 million of his own funds last
year to keep the paper operational. All three media owners
physically counted out the number of government ads in
pro-government paper Ultimas Noticias without prompting, and
Scharfenberg said the number of government ads in the paper
ran at 25:100 in comparison with 1:100 for pro-opposition
paper El Nacional. The BRV has any number of legal and
economic mechanisms for controlling the press -- it has no
need to resort to arrests in an election year.


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COMMENT
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5. (C) President Chavez has the Venezuelan media up against
the wall. There are no domestic controls left to prevent him
from pulling the trigger. The only remaining question is: how
much will international opinion continue to matter to Chavez
after he cements his power in presidential elections in
December 2006? The recent arrests may have allowed the BRV to
gauge the level of international attention it could expect,
should it choose to throw international convention out the
window in 2007.
BROWNFIELD