Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07CARACAS2370
2007-12-19 11:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

CHAVEZ RAMBLES ON ANNIVERSARY OF BOLIVAR'S DEATH

Tags:  PGOV KDEM PREL VE 
pdf how-to read a cable
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P 191126Z DEC 07
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C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002370 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2027
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ RAMBLES ON ANNIVERSARY OF BOLIVAR'S DEATH


Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Richard Downes
for Reason 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002370

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2027
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL VE
SUBJECT: CHAVEZ RAMBLES ON ANNIVERSARY OF BOLIVAR'S DEATH


Classified By: Political Counselor Robert Richard Downes
for Reason 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) In a six-hour speech on December 17 from the Pantheon
(where Simon Bolivar is entombed),a clearly unhappy
President Chavez delivered a particularly rambling discourse
in which he attacked in succession "the Empire" (United
States),Spain, Colombia and the international press.
Speaking on the 177th anniversary of the liberator's death,
Chavez, as he has done in the past, raised the possibility
that Bolivar did not die of tuberculosis, but rather was
assassinated. He suggested the United States was involved.
He also attempted to weave together different events such as
the arrests in Florida related to the Antonini case, critical
articles in Spanish and other journals regarding drug
trafficking and other Venezuelan problems, as well as
Colombian President Uribe's dismissing him as a hostage
negotiator as a grand plot against Venezuela. Chavez did not
use the speech to foreshadow changes in his cabinet as some
had anticipated. (Note: In his December 2006 address on this
event he publicly lambasted then Vice President Jose Vincent
Rangel, preparing the way for the latter's January 2007
dismissal.)


2. (C) Comment: Chavez Pantheon speech, which all
free-to-air television networks were obliged to carry,
received very little coverage in the print media, even by
government outlets. The majority of his speech focused on
Bolivar, while the rest simply repeated, and at times
slightly updated his previous attacks on alleged foes. He
took time for example, to call the United States "a paradise
of terrorism" and a protector of terrorists (referring
specifically to Luis Posada Carriles and unspecified others).
He also denounced the arrest of Antonini's associates as an
attempt to divide Argentina and Venezuela. The lack of
coverage, like the results of the referendum, may signal a
growing fatigue in Venezuela with Chavez' use of constant
confrontation in his discourse.
DUDDY