ANGRY MOB BURNS CARACAS POLICE STATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000162 SIPDIS SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/22/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM VE SUBJECT: ANGRY MOB BURNS CARACAS POLICE STATION REF: 06 CARACAS 3521 Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT DOWNES, REASON 1.4 ¶1. (SBU) Angry neighbors set fire on January 17 to a police station after the alleged shooting death of a teenage boy in police custody. The seventeen year old was detained by the Metropolitan Police in the "Silsa Catia" neighborhood, part of "23 de enero," an improvished district and Chavez stronghold in Caracas. The victim subsequently received a gunshot wound to the chest after he reportedly attempted to disarm a police officer. According to the state news agency, Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias, the officer in question was released after police officials decided he had acted in self-defense. ¶2. (SBU) Following the victim's funeral, a mob chased police officers, set ablaze the local police station, and denied firefighters access to the burning building. Police tried to unsuccessfully disperse the crowd with rubber pellets. Some 100 people participated in the mob attack, according to local media reports. ¶3. (SBU) We are reporting this not because of the importance of this particular incident, but because it appears to illustrate festering and growing citizen dissatisfaction with increasing crime rates and police impunity. According to prominent human rights NGO Provea, for example, there were 169 documented unlawful killings at the hands of government security forces between October 2005 and September 2006. Crime and citizen security were also important issues during the 2006 presidential campaign. Opposition candidate Manuel Rosales capitalized on citizen security concerns and questioned why murders had surged during Chavez's tenure. (NOTE: Homicides are up over 60 percent since 1999 and public opinion polls report that violent crime is the top concern of Venezuelans, including among Chavez supporters. END NOTE) BROWNFIELD