HOLY SEE: VENEZUELAN PRIEST DESCRIBES UNDEMOCRATIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 000244 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2016 TAGS: PREL VE VT SUBJECT: HOLY SEE: VENEZUELAN PRIEST DESCRIBES UNDEMOCRATIC CONDITIONS IN VENEZUELA REF: VATICAN 073 VATICAN 00000244 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Christopher Sandrolini, Deputy Chief of Mission, EXEC, State. REASON: 1.4 (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. According to a prominent Venezuelan cleric in Rome, Hugo Chavez is a threat to Latin America who has severely damaged the rule of law in Venezuela and manipulates both the electoral process and international election observers. The Catholic Church in Venezuela is well aware of the dangers of Chavez but is limited in its ability to respond, fearing threats both to senior clergy and to the faithful. The cleric said that despite the current problems most Venezuelans are not anti-American. End summary. ¶2. (C) Father Pedro Freites (protect),Rector of the ecclesiastical Venezuelan College in Rome, called on Ambassador Rooney November 21. Freites had earlier served in the Venezuelan Bishops Conference and the Latin American Bishops Conference, and worked for several years heading the Latin American section of Vatican Radio in Rome. Freites, just back from a visit to Venezuela, spoke passionately and almost non-stop for nearly an hour. ¶3. (C) Following are some excerpts from his comments, which we hope may be useful to Embassy Caracas and Department. -- Chavez is a problem not just to Venezuela but to all Latin America; it's a social phenomenon. The regime is not democratic but is very skilled in presenting itself in a heroic way to the people. There is no rule of law in today's Venezuela; our institutions have been kidnapped. There are 40,000 Cubans in Venezuela now, including doctors and social workers but also paramilitaries, and also some 10,000 Angolan illegal immigrants. -- Chavez rules through fear and state coercion. For example, government employees,are all forced to contribute to the regime through withholdings from their paychecks, and to wear red (regime color) on Fridays to show support. Those who sign petitions inimical to the regime lose their jobs. Hamas and Hizballah are both present in force in Venezuela; there are many recent Arab immigrants. Venezuela is a haven for Latin American guerrilla chiefs, particularly from Colombia. -- Freites complained several times about the Foro de Sao Paulo (a more or less annual conference of leftist political parties originating in Brazil in 1990, especially supported by Lula and Fidel Castro). He said that the anti-American feeling currently seen in Venezuela is not traditional or deep-rooted; most Venezuelans like to live well and are more sympathetic to Americans than to Europeans. Chavez needs an enemy and practices a politics of constant confrontation. The Venezuelan armed forces are not yet completely with Chavez. -- Freites said both he and (retired) Cardinal Castillo Lara had received threats; Chavez wants to interfere in the process of naming Catholic bishops in Venezuela. Cardinal Urosa is well aware of the problem but is hesitant to move in the face of threats from the regime to harm Catholic interests. Fortunately Castillo Lara knows Cardinal Bertone (new Holy See foreign minister) well, and also is on good terms with Pope Benedict XVI. The Chavez government tries to manipulate its ties to Rome. The role of the Church is important, said Freites; we can't go on our knees. Our interest is not just to defend the Church as an institution, but to defend society. Values such as justice and democracy can't be negotiated. The undersecretary of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference, Fr. Jorge Mascarena, was kidnapped, mutilated, and killed this spring. The Church was told to remain silent; Monsignor Porras, head of the Venezuelan Bishops Conference, was warned not to go public. The former papal nuncio, Andre Dupuy, clashed with Chavez and was last year transferred to Brussels as envoy to the EU. The current Venezuelan embassy to the Holy See includes one Chavista -- the ecclesiastical advisor, who lacks diplomatic status -- who works constantly to influence Venezuelan priests here. -- Venezuelan bishops are frustrated by the inability of international observers to condemn electoral fraud. Votes for the next election are already counted. Identity fraud is rife, it's too easy to get a fake ID; 30,000 Cubans and others have obtained voter IDs. Prominent observers such as Cesar Gaviria and former President Carter are manipulated by the regime. Even were he to lose an election, Chavez would not hand over power -- except perhaps to a hand-picked successor. Minister of Interior Jessy Chacon is particularly unsavory -- Freites described a photograph of Chacon holding a machine gun in one hand and a dead body in the other. Freites disparaged the foreign minister as an ex-guerrilla and was harsh about Ali Rodriguez, now the ambassador to Cuba, formerly head of OPEC. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) While the above may not be new to Venezuela watchers, we VATICAN 00000244 002.2 OF 002 pass it along as an indication of the frustration felt by one prominent Venezuelan cleric. We will stay in touch with Freites and continue to report on Holy See attitudes toward Chavez. SANDROLINI