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. -------------- The Escape -------------- ¶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. -------------- Escape Indicates Guilt? -------------- ¶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. -------------- Defending Lapi -------------- ¶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. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶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