CHAVEZ'S NEW CABINET: A LOOK AT SOME NEW MINISTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 CARACAS 000184

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ'S NEW CABINET: A LOOK AT SOME NEW MINISTERS

REF: A. CARACAS 00025

B. CARACAS 00052

C. CARACAS 00149

D. 05 CARACAS 03755

E. 06 CARACAS 00522

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Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT DOWNES, REASON 1.4 (D)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. President Chavez swore in a new cabinet of
hard-line loyalists on January 8. His picks include a number
of his party's, the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR),National
Assembly (NA) deputies who gave up their seats to assume the
ministry positions. The ideological and political tendencies
of most of these appointments indicate that President Chavez
is eager to advance the "socialist" phase of his "Bolivarian
Revolution." At the swearing-in ceremony (ref A, B),Chavez
charged the new ministers with implementing his government's
plan of "21st century socialism" as a part of their oath.
This cable reviews the background of several of the new
ministers. END SUMMARY.

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Education - Adan Chavez
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2. (SBU) President Chavez tapped his older brother to lead
the Education Ministry. Adan is replacing one of Chavez's
longest-serving ministers, Aristobulo Isturiz. Adan, a
former physics professor at the Universidad de los Llanos,
has held several influential positions within the MVR party.
During Chavez,s first seven years in office Adan served as
Head of the National Land Institute (INTI),Ambassador to
Cuba (2004-2006),and most recently as Minister of the Office
of the Presidency. Adan held a similar position as private
secretary to the President in 2001. He was a member of the

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constitutional assembly in 1999 that drafted the revised
constitution. Adan holds a degree in Physical Engineering
from the Universidad de los Andes. He was born on April 11,
1953 and is the eldest of six children.


3. (SBU) Educational reform has long been a priority for the
MVR. The NA approved in August 2006 a first draft of an
omnibus education bill. While the bill ostensibly aims to
make education more universal and accessible in Venezuela, it
would also give the BRV greater authority to regulate
curriculum and accredit schools and universities. During the
cabinet's swearing-in ceremony, President Chavez specifically
cited educational reform as one of the five "transformational
motors" of his administration. As minister, Adan will be
responsible for introducing "popular education" in schools as
well as public spaces.

(4) (SBU) Adan blames the "Fourth Republic" for "hijacking"
the national education system. He announced plan to
transform the current system into an "authentic bolivarian
educational model," based on the beliefs of Simon Bolivar and
other national heroes, during a swearing-in ceremony for the
president's commission on the five "transformational motors."
Adan said he is working on a strategic plan and will soon
install a working group, which he will chair, to initiative
reforms.


5. (C) Adan Chavez has a long history of left-wing political
activism: at the age of 16 he joined the Revolutionary Left
Movement (Movimiento Izquierda Revolucionaria); as a
university student he was a member of the Party of the
Venezuelan Revolution; and he was instrumental in founding
President Chavez's civilian-military alliance, the MBR 200.


6. (C) COMMENT. The appointment of Adan has led to wide
speculation over the likely radical influence he will have on
pending reform laws. He has credited Isturiz for laying the
groundwork for such reforms, but it will be Adan who
implements a new national curriculum and training standards
for teachers. Adan is widely perceived to be even more
ideologically driven than the Venezuelan president. He may
also be the only minister capable of influencing Chavez. END
COMMENT.

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Higher Education - Luis Acuna
--------------


7. (SBU) Acuna, 60, is the new Minister for Higher Education.
Acuna has publicly said that universities have divorced
themselves from the country's social problems, a situation he
deems unacceptable. He proposes to bridge that gap by

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reinforcing the connection between higher education and the
"popular" sectors. Acuna will manage "Mision Alma Mater," an
ambitious, yet-to-begin program for building 50 new centers
of higher learning, announced by President Chavez in
November, as part of his portfolio. Acuna served as an MVR
deputy from Sucre in the NA since 2000. He presided over the
Education Committee after his 2005 reelection. Acuna
occasionally met with Embassy officials during his time in
the NA. He holds several advanced degrees: a BA in Physics
from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in 1972; a Masters
Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New
York in 1974; and a Ph.D. from the University of Western
Ontario in 1979. Acuna later worked as an investigator for
the Scientific and Technical Research National Council
(CONICIT) from 1980-2000. He was also a member of the
Constituent Assembly in 1999 that created the current
constitution. Acuna was born May 21, 1946.

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Labor and Social Security - Jose Ramon Rivero
-------------- -


8. (SBU) Rivero, 44, is the incoming Labor Minister. Rivero
will be responsible for negotiating key contracts with oil
workers and public employees. Rivero is also a member of
Chavez's new constitutional committee, a body charged with
drafting legislation to reform the constitution. (NOTE:
According to local media reports, Rivero allegedly told
Chavez he is a Trotskyist. Chavez, in turn, stated that he
too was a Trotskyist. END NOTE) Prior to his appointment as
minister, Rivero served as an MVR deputy in the NA for the
state of Bolivar and as president of the assembly's Mines
Commission. Rivero, an electrical engineer by training, was
formerly a trade union leader in the state-owned aluminum
smelter Venalum. He founded the National Union of Workers
(Union Nacional de Trabajadores),a federation of labor
unions which sought to supplant the opposition-oriented
Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV)in 2003. Rivero was
also Chief of the Miranda Command, which oversaw MVR and
government activities in the state of Bolivar. He was born
on November 16, 1962 in Caracas.


9. (C) COMMENT: According to media sources and based on the
BRV's intentions to nationalize strategic industries, Post
believes it likely that Rivero's office will be responsible
for handling worker claims related to the affected
industries. END COMMENT.

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Popular Participation - David Velasquez
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10. (U) Minister Velasquez drafted Venezuela's proposed
communal council law, which if implemented, will transform
the way local government is organized. Born in Caracas and
only 28 years old, he is the youngest member of Chavez's
cabinet. Formerly, he served in the NA as President of the
Citizen Participation Commission and as Advisor to the
Presidency of the National Youth Institute. Velasquez
initiated, but never completed, a degree in administration
and information. Velasquez is also a member of the Political
Bureau of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV). Velasquez
was one of eight PCV members elected as deputies to the NA
following the December 2005 legislative elections. The local
media refers to Velasquez as the "first communist minister"
in the Venezuelan government.

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Office of the Presidency - Hugo Cabezas
--------------


11. (SBU) Hugo Cabezas Bracamonte, 35, is replacing Adan
Chavez as Minister of the Presidency. Cabezas was formerly
Secretary to the Governor of Tachira state. In 2003, Cabezas

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led the Office of Identification (Onidex),which issues visas
and national identity cards. His appointment came as
opposition leaders began collecting signatures for the
referendum to recall Chavez that year. Cabezas also
coordinated the BRV's "Mision Identidad" (Identity Mission),
an initiative that provided national ID cards to millions of
Venezuelans.


12. (C) "Mision Identidad's" directorate was criticized for
allegedly granting identity documents to unqualified foreign
nationals. In one case, a Colombian drug trafficker, Farid
Feris Dominguez, recently arrested in Venezuela, alleged he
obtained a Venezuelan national ID card and passport directly

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from Cabezas, then Director of Onidex.


13. (SBU) Cabezas first came to note as a student leader at
the University of the Andes in the city of Merida. He was a
founding member of a group called Utopia, which is suspected
of links with the clandestine paramilitary group, the
Bolivarian Liberation Forces (FBL),according to the local
media. Cabezas was born September 22, 1972. He is the
brother of newly named Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas (ref
C).

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Interior and Justice Ministry -
Pedro Carreno and Tareck el-Aissami
--------------


14. (SBU) For biographical information on the new Minister of
the Interior and Justice, Pedro Carreno, see reftel A.


15. (SBU) El-Aissami, 32, is the Vice Minister of this
renamed ministry. He previously served as Hugo Cabezas'
deputy at Onidex. Until recently he was a deputy in the NA
for the state of Merida. Like Cabezas, el-Aissami was a
student activist at the University of the Andes in Merida and
a member of Utopia. He was also president of the student
union for two years. Contemporaneous media reports indicate
a surge in radical student and criminal activity was reported
by school officials and students during el-Aissami's tenure.
El-Aissami graduated with a degree in criminology, magna cum
laude. He was born in Venezuela, but is of Syrian origin.
The media reported in 2003 that his father headed the
Venezuelan branch of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, while his great
uncle was assistant secretary general of the Ba'ath Party in
Baghdad, under Saddam Hussein.

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Indigenous Peoples Ministry - Nicia Maldonado
-------------- --


16. Maldonado, 37, heads this newly created ministry.
Maldonado represented approximately 30,000 indigenous people
in the southern Venezuelan states of Apure and Amazonas as a
deputy in the NA. She is most known for her tenure as the
President of the National Indigenous Council of Venezuela
(CONIVE),an umbrella group representing various indigenous
groups. Maldonado frequently spoke at indigenous conferences
abroad as president of CONIVE. She organized the "First
National March of Indigenous People," held in Caracas in June
2006, where participants presented declarations to the
Attorney General's office, the NA, and the Vice-President's
office affirming their support for President Chavez during
the December elections. She is also a member of "Mision
Guaicaipuro," an initiative launched in 2003 to address
indigenous issues. Maldonado is a teacher and has taken
graduate courses in Education. She is a Ye'kuana indian from
Esmeralda, state of Amazonas. Maldonado was born September
10, 1969.

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Sports Ministry - Eduardo Alvarez
--------------


17. (SBU) Alvarez, 51, was appointed November 22 as the
Minister of Sports. He was affiliated with the opposition
Causa R party and is now a member of the pro-Chavez Patria
Para Todos (PPT) party. Alvarez served as the President of
the National Sports Institute (IND) beginning in 2002.
Post's Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU),reported on suspected
visa fraud by applicants sponsored by IND during Alvarez's
tenure as president. FPU concluded that IND provided
financial or other backing to athletic delegations consisting
of individuals with questionable qualifications (ref D, E).


18. (U) Alvarez worked as a physical education teacher and
volleyball instructor since 1977. Alvarez graduated from the
Pedagogical Institute of Caracas as a physical education
teacher. He is a member of the organizing committee for the
Copa America, a regional soccer tournament that will take
place in Venezuela, summer 2007. Alvarez is also a member of
Venezuela's Olympic Committee. Eduardo Alvarez was born
November 28, 1955.

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New Ministries
--------------


18. (U) Three new ministries have been added to the 25

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existing ones in Chavez's latest cabinet shuffle. These
include Telecommunications, Indigenous Peoples, and Sports.
In addition, three ministries have undergone name changes:
Ministry of the Interior and Justice (now Ministry of
Interior Relations and Justice)(ref a),Labor Ministry (now
Labor and Social Security Ministry),and Environmental and
Natural Renewal Resources Ministry (now Environmental
Ministry). It remains unclear whether the Integration and
International Commerce Ministry will be eliminated, following
the departure of former Minister Gustavo Marquez. Chavez
also decreed that all new ministries would begin with the
title "Popular Power for..." Despite Chavez's vows to reduce
bureaucracy, the Venezuelan public sector has expanded from
13 to 27 ministries since he became president in 1999.


BROWNFIELD