FM MADURO INSULTS NEGROPONTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000090 SIPDIS SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/16/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL VE SUBJECT: FM MADURO INSULTS NEGROPONTE REF: CARACAS 00053 Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT DOWNES, REASON 1.4 (D) ¶1. (U) On January 12, Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro called U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte a "criminal" after Negroponte expressed concern over the state of democracy in Venezuela and Bolivia during a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Grossly mischaracterizing Ambassador Negroponte's service in Honduras in the 1980s, Maduro said Negroponte did not have the "moral high ground" to speak about Venezuela in such terms. Maduro rejected Negroponte's comments and said that President Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales are leading their countries down the "right path" toward democracy and social justice. ¶2. (U) Maduro issued his statement from Managua where he and President Chavez were attending the swearing-in ceremony of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. His personal attack on Negroponte received wide press play in Venezuela. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Maduro's remarks come on the heels of Chavez's insults against OAS Secretary General Insulza (reftel). Since his appointment as Foreign Minister in August 2006, Maduro has repeatedly amplified, rather than tempered, Chavez's anti-American rhetoric. END COMMENT. BROWNFIELD