JAILED OPPOSITION GOVERNOR ESCAPES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000689

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM VE
SUBJECT: JAILED OPPOSITION GOVERNOR ESCAPES

REF: A. 06 CARACAS 01612


B. 06 CARACAS 03350

CARACAS 00000689 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: ACTING POLITICAL COUNSELOR DANIEL LAWTON
FOR REASON 1.4 (D)


1. (SBU) Summary. Eduardo Lapi, former opposition governor
of Yaracuy state, reportedly escaped from San Felipe prison
late March 31 or early April 1. Lapi, who was identified as
a political prisoner in the 2006 Country Report on Human
Rights Practices, was arrested in May 2006 on corruption
charges. Due to government delays in pursuing a case against
him, he was still awaiting preliminary hearings ten months
later. Zulia Governor and former opposition presidential
candidate Manuel Rosales frequently criticized the
government's prosecution of Lapi as politically motivated.
Lapi's wife and lawyer insist that the prisoner feared for
his life following death threats and violence in the prison.
There appears to be no initial indication of foul play by the
BRV, but his wife and lawyer have called on the BRV to
respect his rights. Lapi's escape comes some eight months
after jailed Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV)
president Carlos Ortega's escape from a military prison. End
Summary.

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The Escape
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2. (SBU) Apparently infuriated BRV officials are blaming
former Yaracuy Governor Eduardo Lapi's prison escape on the
complicity of prison guards. Lapi was reportedly present for
evening roll call March 31, but absent during morning roll
call April 1. Guards later reportedly found masonry tools in
his cell, which he allegedly used to make his way through a
vent and onto a street where a driver and vehicle were
waiting for him. In an April 1 press conference, Minister of
Popular Power for Interior and Justice (MPPIJ) Pedro Carreno
announced a nationwide search for the former governor and
called on the National Guard and Interpol to help capture
Lapi. Carreno said an investigative team has been summoned
to San Felipe prison to question all security personnel on
duty during Lapi's escape. Carreno criticized the "lack of
controls" in the nation's prison system and the
professionalism of the officials who assisted Lapi.
According to local media sources, eighty prison officials
have been arrested for suspected involvement and are being
held by the National Guard, including the director of the
prison Enrique Montes.

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Escape Indicates Guilt?
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3. (SBU) As the search for Lapi continues, BRV officials
claim his escape indicates culpability. President of the
Supreme Court (TSJ) Luisa Estella Morales characterized
Lapi's actions as "illegal and rebellious," and noted that he
will be charged with evasion of justice, in addition to the
pending corruption charges. Vice Minister of Popular Power
for Interior Tarek El Aissani called Lapi a "coward," while
Secretary for Citizen Security in Yaracuy state Oscar Baquero

SIPDIS
said the escape "gives us reason to believe he is guilty."
Separately, Carrreno announced plans to investigate the
ex-governor's financial accounts, citing large transfers of
money to Panama.

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Defending Lapi
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4. (SBU) In the midst of a BRV media blitz, Lapi's wife and
lawyer took to the airwaves to defend the former governor.
In television interviews with the local media, Lapi's wife,
Janet Rojas de Lapi, said she spoke with her husband March
31, but claimed to be unaware of his plans and current
whereabouts. Rojas was skeptical of her husband's escape and
suggested he was possibly "disappeared" or secretly
transferred to Uribana, one of the country's most dangerous
prisons. Both Rojas and Lapi's lawyer Alejandro Arzola
concurred that the prisoner feared for his life following
death threats and riots in San Felipe that left four dead
last week. Rojas and Arzola demanded that BRV officials
respect Lapi's "right to life" as the search for him
intensifies. During the presidential campaign, consensus
opposition candidate Manuel Rosales frequently cited Lapi in
his campaign speeches as an example of politically motivated

CARACAS 00000689 002.2 OF 002


prosecutions by the BRV.

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Comment
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5. (C) Lapi's escape appears to be a considerable
embarrassment for the BRV. Lapi joins the list of other high
profile opposition figures that have escaped from Venezuelan
prisons in recent years, such as CTV president Carlos Ortega
in August 2006 and Pedro Carmona, the transitional president
during the short-lived April 2002 coup, who escaped from
house arrest in 2004. Lapi's escape also highlights the
corruption and lack of professionalism endemic in the
nation's prisons. Interior and Justice Minister Pedro
Carreno, widely considered to be a weak link in Chavez'
cabinet, is likely to take considerable political heat,
despite the quick follow-on arrest of prison officials.
Finally, although there are no indications of foul play by
the BRV, that possibility cannot at this point be ruled out.


BROWNFIELD