Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06VATICAN244
2006-11-27 16:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Vatican
Cable title:  

HOLY SEE: VENEZUELAN PRIEST DESCRIBES UNDEMOCRATIC

Tags:  PREL VE VT 
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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)
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