NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO SELECT NEW OMBUDSMAN,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 002269

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV VE
SUBJECT: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO SELECT NEW OMBUDSMAN,
ATTORNEY GENERAL, COMPTROLLER

REF: 06 CARACAS 02275

CARACAS 00002269 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT R. DOWNES
FOR REASON 1.4 (D)


1. (C) Summary. The National Assembly (NA) is expected to
name a new Human Rights Ombudsman, Attorney General, and
Comptroller in the coming weeks. Together these positions
make up the "Public Power" branch of government, also known
as the Moral Republican Council (CMR). The CMR's Candidate
Evaluation Committee (Committee) presented three candidates
for each position to the NA for consideration on November 27.
NA deputies must select one candidate per position for a
seven-year term. The selection of these three high level
positions is being overshadowed by the upcoming December 2
referendum. Human rights organizations have accused the
Committee of irregularities and of marginalizing their
participation in the nomination process. The selection of
politically loyal, and potentially underqualified, candidates
could make it increasingly difficult for human rights
organizations to mount legal cases against the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela (BRV). End Summary.

--------------
The Selection Process
--------------


2. (SBU) In the coming weeks the National Assembly (NA) is
expected to name new members to the "Public Power" branch of
government, also known as the Moral Republican Council (CMR).
The CMR is composed of the Human Rights Ombudsman, the
Attorney General, and the Comptroller, each of which is
selected for a seven-year term. Currently, German Mundarain
serves as the Human Rights Ombudsman, Isaias Rodriguez as the
Attorney General, and Clobosbaldo Russian as the Comptroller.
Their tenure expires in late December. The CMR's Candidate
Selection Committee (Committee) presented the names of three
candidates for each position to the NA on November 27. The
NA now has 30 days to make its selections. The selection
process for these three important positions is being
overshadowed by the upcoming December 2 referendum on
President Chavez' sweeping changes to the constitution.
(Note: The Constitution of 1999 created a Comptroller and a
Human Rights Ombudsman. These officials along with the
Attorney General were grouped together to form the CMR. End
Note).


3. (SBU) The Venezuelan Constitution and the Organic Law for
"Public Power" outline the selection procedures for aspiring
candidates to the CMR. First, CMR members convoke the
Committee, which should be composed of no more than
twenty-five members from civil society. Second, the
Committee issues a call for resumes, after which it reviews
and vets all candidates. Third, it submits three candidates
for each position to the NA for consideration. Lastly, NA
deputies deliberate and designate the officials.

--------------
The Candidates
--------------


4. (SBU) According to the CMR's website, 124 candidates
applied for the three positions. The candidates on the short
list for the position of Ombudsman include: Yadira Vargas,
Edwin Sambrano Vidal, and Gabriela Ramirez. Vargas appears
to be this group's front-runner. She is currently the
director of outreach for the Ombudsman's human rights
campaign. Sambrano, a former NA deputy elected from Chavez'
former party, the Fifth Republic Movement, is also considered
a favorite. Ramirez is a NA deputy and president the NA's
Committee on Families, Women, and Youth.


5. (C) It was widely speculated that German Saltron,
Venezuela's representative to the Inter-American Human Rights
Commission (IAHRC) of the OAS, would be the BRV favorite in
this group, but he did not make the final cut. Local NGOs
believed Saltron's nomination would serve as a reward for his
outspoken defense of the BRV's human rights record. In a
July IAHRC session to discuss human rights in Venezuela,
Saltron refused to reach an "amicable agreement" between
human rights organizations and the BRV. At a similar session
in March, he accused the IAHRC of being "biased," and of only
taking into account the arguments presented by groups opposed
to the government.


6. (SBU) Attorney General Rodriguez announced several weeks

CARACAS 00002269 002.2 OF 002


ago that he would not seek re-election. The candidates vying
for his slot include: Luis Ortega Diaz, Carmelo Borrego, and
Juan Luis Ibarra Verenzuela. Borrego is a criminologist,
while Ibarra serves as a judge on the Aragua state Appeals
Court. Ortega currently works as a public prosecutor at the
Attorney General's office.


7. (SBU) Current Comptroller Russian is running for a second
term, and it is widely believed the NA will renew his
mandate. The two other candidates include Jose Martinez
Ortiz and Digna AMERICA Luna. Luna works in the Lara state
government's Office of Management.

--------------
NA Picking Favorites
--------------


8. (C) The selection of the CMR's membership is a relatively
new exercise given the manner in which its current members
were chosen in 2000 (Reftel). In order to secure that
persons loyal to the "revolution" would sit on the CMR,
Chavez' former mentor Luis Miquilena bypassed the lengthy and
onerous selection process established in the Constitution,
effectively allowing the provisional legislature to appoint
all the CMR positions. Chavez' then-Vice President Isaias
Rodriguez became Attorney General. Miquilena's lawyer, who
had no human rights experience, was chosen to replace the
interim Ombudsman. This time around the NA is 100 percent
pro-Chavez. It is likely that deputies will nominate persons
they believe to be most loyal to the "revolution."

--------------
NGOs Contest Process
--------------


9. (C) Human rights organizations have accused the Committee
of irregularities and of marginalizing their participation
throughout the selection process. Monica Fernandez, director
of the judicial NGO Foro Penal, recently told Poloff that
none of her organization's members, or those of other
opposition-minded NGOs, were chosen to sit on the Committee
despite their expertise in the area of human rights. VIVE, a
victims' of state-sponsored violence advocacy organization,
and Foro Penal accused the CMR of not ensuring "that diverse
sectors of civil society are represented in the Committee,"
as is stipulated by law. Instead, the Committee was solely
made up of persons who were affiliated with pro-government
organizations. In addition, NGOs argued that none of the
candidates they presented for CMR positions made the final
cut. Foro Penal member and lawyer Alfredo Mendoza Romero,
for example, ran unsuccessfully for the Human Rights
Ombudsman position.

--------------
Comment
--------------


10. (C) The selection process for a new Human Rights
Ombudsman, Attorney General, and Comptroller is a source of
frustration and concern for local human rights NGOs.
Mundarain, Rodriguez, and Russian have generally espoused an
antagonistic attitude towards human rights groups, and the
absence of a working relationship, even at the technical
level, has greatly complicated their advocacy work. While
Venezuelan NGOs have been particularly successful in exposing
BRV human rights violations via the Inter-American system,
the selection of politically loyal, but potentially
unqualified, candidates could make it even more difficult for
victims of state-sponsored abuses or human rights
organizations to mount legal cases against the BRV.

DUDDY