VENEZUELA AND CUBA -- CONFEDERATION?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 002010 SIPDIS SIPDIS USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2032 TAGS: PGOV PHUM ELAB KDEM SCUL VE SUBJECT: VENEZUELA AND CUBA -- CONFEDERATION? CARACAS 00002010 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Robert Downes, Political Counselor, for Reason 1.4(b). ¶1. (C) Summary - President Chavez visited Cuba October 13-14, reportedly spending four hours with Fidel Castro. Chavez hosted his weekly Alo Presidente television program, in honor of Che Guevara, from Santa Clara, Cuba. The program included a video tape of his meeting with Castro as well as an apparently live telephone call-in by the aging Cuban leader. During the program Chavez said Cuba and Venezuela were moving towards a "Bolivarian Confederation". He announced that on October 27 he will lay the cornerstone for a factory in Venezuela to produce assault rifles (AK-103s) and munitions for those weapons. He did not mention the 25 new amendments proposed to the Venezuelan constitution late on October 12, including one that would suspend civil liberties in special circumstances. Following the Alo Presidente program Chavez repeatedly toured the Cienfuegos refinery which is being refurbished with the assistance of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, and announced plans to build fertilizer and gasification plants in Cuba. These were intended, Chavez said, to help the expansion of his alternative Bolivarian trading regime (ALBA). End Summary. Chavez Visits His Mentor -------------- ¶2. (C) On October 13 President Chavez visited aging Cuban leader Fidel Castro and reportedly spent over four hours with him. This is at least Chavez' seventh visit to Cuba since Castro had surgery and turned over day-to-day management of Cuba to his brother Raul in 2006. Chavez broadcast his 298th weekly Alo Presidente television program on October 14 from Santa Clara, Cuba. This is the second time he has broadcast from Cuba, the first time from Pinar del Rio on August 21, 2005 where he was joined by Fidel Castro. This time, during the more than four hour October 14 broadcast, Castro attended only via a 22 minute apparently live telephone call-in in which he spoke extensively on private property. There was also a 17 minute video tape purportedly from Chavez' October 13 meeting with Castro. The program was in honor of the 40th anniversary of the death of Che Guevara. ¶3. (C) In addition to having the first apparently live participation from Castro in more than a year, the program was notable for Chavez' return to his early remarks about a Cuban-Venezuelan confederation. He asserted that Cuba and Venezuela each had two presidents and were moving towards a "Bolivarian confederation", implying other states would also be subsequently included. (Note: This is an assertion Chavez has made in the past, and there are even walls painted with joined Cuban and Venezuelan flags in both countries. End Note.) ¶4. (C) In the program Chavez referred to Bolivia as the new Vietnam in the fight against imperialism. He also announced his plans to lay the cornerstone for a factory in Venezuela to produce assault rifles (AK-103s) and their ammunition on October 27. While Chavez talked at length about his program to further centralize his power by amending the constitution, he did not mention the 25 additional amendments announced late on October 12, including powers to suspend civil liberties in certain circumstances. Oil and ALBA -------------- ¶5. (C) Following his Alo Presidente appearance, Chavez toured the Cienfuegos petroleum refinery, where he also made extensive remarks. PDVSA is scheduled to invest USD 83 CARACAS 00002010 002.2 OF 002 million in order to reactivate the refinery. Once the project is completed, the refinery is supposed to produce enough to meet Cuba's domestic needs as well as to export gasoline and aviation fuel to the Caribbean. Cienfuegos will be operated as a joint venture between PDVSA and CUPET, the Cuban state oil company. Chavez also announced plans for joint fertilizer and gasification plants in Cuba. These he noted were intended to reinforce expansion of ALBA, his alternative Bolivarian trading regime. DUDDY