Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08CARACAS1284
2008-09-16 14:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:
BRV OFAC DESIGNATIONS OVERSHADOWED BY EXPULSIONS,
how-toVZCZCXRO6186 PP RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHMT RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC DE RUEHCV #1284 2601426 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 161426Z SEP 08 FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1790 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY PRIORITY RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001284
SIPDIS
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT FOR AID/OTI (RPORTER)
TREASURY PASS TO OFAC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL BL CO VE
SUBJECT: BRV OFAC DESIGNATIONS OVERSHADOWED BY EXPULSIONS,
BOLIVIA TENSIONS
REF: SECSTATE 097316
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
REASON 1.4 (D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001284
SIPDIS
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT FOR AID/OTI (RPORTER)
TREASURY PASS TO OFAC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL BL CO VE
SUBJECT: BRV OFAC DESIGNATIONS OVERSHADOWED BY EXPULSIONS,
BOLIVIA TENSIONS
REF: SECSTATE 097316
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
REASON 1.4 (D)
1. (SBU) The designations of three BRV officials as FARC
supporters by the Office of Foreign Assets Control have been
largely overshadowed by President Chavez's bellicose
rumblings about support for Bolivian President Morales.
Chavez made a series of statements on state media September
12 - 14 dismissing the Treasury Department designation of
Hugo Carvajal Barrios, Henry Rangel Silva, and Ramon
Rodriguez Chacin as unimportant. Chavez called the charges
against the three individuals, "absurd...without any
substance, and based in lies."
2. (SBU) Chavez called in to a talk show hosted by United
Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) steering committee member
Vanessa Davies on September 12 and said Rodriguez Chacin's
only contacts with the FARC were to facilitate the release of
hostages. During his weekly television program 'Alo
Presidente,' Chavez defended the three Venezuelan officials
and said the United States was guilty of harboring terrorists
for not extraditing to Venezuela Cuban-born Luis Posada
Carriles.
--------------
COMMENT
--------------
3. (C) Chavez spent much of the weekend of September 13 and
14 making speeches on national television in support of
Morales. While his political support for Morales is genuine,
Chavez's antics are also seen locally as an attempt to both
distract attention from the Antonini trial in Miami and to
energize his base in the run up to November local and
regional elections. The timing of the OFAC designation was
portrayed in the press as a tit-for-tat move in a larger
diplomatic spat between the USG and BRV. Chavez has
dismissed the OFAC designation, in part because of its
timing, as just another in a series of "aggressive" acts
against the BRV. Retaliation for the OFAC designations is
still possible, but may be more subtle than the actions we
have seen recently.
CAULFIELD
SIPDIS
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT FOR AID/OTI (RPORTER)
TREASURY PASS TO OFAC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL BL CO VE
SUBJECT: BRV OFAC DESIGNATIONS OVERSHADOWED BY EXPULSIONS,
BOLIVIA TENSIONS
REF: SECSTATE 097316
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
REASON 1.4 (D)
1. (SBU) The designations of three BRV officials as FARC
supporters by the Office of Foreign Assets Control have been
largely overshadowed by President Chavez's bellicose
rumblings about support for Bolivian President Morales.
Chavez made a series of statements on state media September
12 - 14 dismissing the Treasury Department designation of
Hugo Carvajal Barrios, Henry Rangel Silva, and Ramon
Rodriguez Chacin as unimportant. Chavez called the charges
against the three individuals, "absurd...without any
substance, and based in lies."
2. (SBU) Chavez called in to a talk show hosted by United
Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) steering committee member
Vanessa Davies on September 12 and said Rodriguez Chacin's
only contacts with the FARC were to facilitate the release of
hostages. During his weekly television program 'Alo
Presidente,' Chavez defended the three Venezuelan officials
and said the United States was guilty of harboring terrorists
for not extraditing to Venezuela Cuban-born Luis Posada
Carriles.
--------------
COMMENT
--------------
3. (C) Chavez spent much of the weekend of September 13 and
14 making speeches on national television in support of
Morales. While his political support for Morales is genuine,
Chavez's antics are also seen locally as an attempt to both
distract attention from the Antonini trial in Miami and to
energize his base in the run up to November local and
regional elections. The timing of the OFAC designation was
portrayed in the press as a tit-for-tat move in a larger
diplomatic spat between the USG and BRV. Chavez has
dismissed the OFAC designation, in part because of its
timing, as just another in a series of "aggressive" acts
against the BRV. Retaliation for the OFAC designations is
still possible, but may be more subtle than the actions we
have seen recently.
CAULFIELD