Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CARACAS2215
2007-11-21 14:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:
BRV APPOINTS DISMISSED JUDGES TO DIPLOMATIC POSTS
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHCV #2215 3251428 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 211428Z NOV 07 FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0137 INFO RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 1697 RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 3206 RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0639
C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002215
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL VE
SUBJECT: BRV APPOINTS DISMISSED JUDGES TO DIPLOMATIC POSTS
Classified By: Daniel Lawton, Acting Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002215
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL VE
SUBJECT: BRV APPOINTS DISMISSED JUDGES TO DIPLOMATIC POSTS
Classified By: Daniel Lawton, Acting Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(d)
1. (SBU) The Foreign Ministry of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela (BRV) appointed three dismissed appellate court
judges to diplomatic posts in Europe and Latin America in
late October. Judge Belkis Cedeno is the new consul general
to Vigo, Spain. Judge Maikel Moreno is the new commercial
attachQ in Rome and Ivan Dario Bastardo will be an attach
without portfolio at the Venezuelan embassy in Buenos Aires.
All three jurists were implicated in the trial fixing ring
known as "Los Enanos", or the dwarves.
2. (SBU) The "Los Enanos" corruption network became public
knowledge when Supreme Court magistrate Luis Velazquez
Alvaray came under investigation in 2006 by a national ethics
council after falling out of President Chavez' favor.
Alvaray fought back by exposing a trial fixing ring and
naming Cedeno, Moreno and Bastardo, among others, as members.
3. (SBU) Judge Cedeno was chief judge of the appellate
court. In August 2006, the Commission for the Function and
Restructuring of the Judicial System dismissed Cedeno for
abuse of power. As a defense attorney, Judge Moreno had a
history of defending notorious clients, including the
"Pistoleros de Llaguno", a group of Chavez supporters who
fired into an anti-Chavez crowd during the April 2002
interregnum. While on the bench, Moreno was recorded
soliciting Judge Ivan Dario Bastardo to free a known drug
trafficker. Both Moreno and Bastardo were dismissed in June
2007.
4. (C) A lawyer familiar with the cases told PolOff that
the group involved in trial fixing remains active. She
opined that these diplomatic postings are compensation for
being sacrificed to protect other members of "Los Enanos".
DUDDY
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL VE
SUBJECT: BRV APPOINTS DISMISSED JUDGES TO DIPLOMATIC POSTS
Classified By: Daniel Lawton, Acting Political Counselor,
for Reason 1.4(d)
1. (SBU) The Foreign Ministry of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela (BRV) appointed three dismissed appellate court
judges to diplomatic posts in Europe and Latin America in
late October. Judge Belkis Cedeno is the new consul general
to Vigo, Spain. Judge Maikel Moreno is the new commercial
attachQ in Rome and Ivan Dario Bastardo will be an attach
without portfolio at the Venezuelan embassy in Buenos Aires.
All three jurists were implicated in the trial fixing ring
known as "Los Enanos", or the dwarves.
2. (SBU) The "Los Enanos" corruption network became public
knowledge when Supreme Court magistrate Luis Velazquez
Alvaray came under investigation in 2006 by a national ethics
council after falling out of President Chavez' favor.
Alvaray fought back by exposing a trial fixing ring and
naming Cedeno, Moreno and Bastardo, among others, as members.
3. (SBU) Judge Cedeno was chief judge of the appellate
court. In August 2006, the Commission for the Function and
Restructuring of the Judicial System dismissed Cedeno for
abuse of power. As a defense attorney, Judge Moreno had a
history of defending notorious clients, including the
"Pistoleros de Llaguno", a group of Chavez supporters who
fired into an anti-Chavez crowd during the April 2002
interregnum. While on the bench, Moreno was recorded
soliciting Judge Ivan Dario Bastardo to free a known drug
trafficker. Both Moreno and Bastardo were dismissed in June
2007.
4. (C) A lawyer familiar with the cases told PolOff that
the group involved in trial fixing remains active. She
opined that these diplomatic postings are compensation for
being sacrificed to protect other members of "Los Enanos".
DUDDY