GOCR: VENEZUELANS FACILITATING ARAB TRAVEL WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN JOSE 000895 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/AND, WHA/PPC, NEA AND CA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2008 TAGS: PREL PTER PINR ASEC KCRM KFRD VZ CS SUBJECT: GOCR: VENEZUELANS FACILITATING ARAB TRAVEL WITH BRV PASSPORTS REF: SAN JOSE 882 (NOTAL) Classified By: DCM Peter M. Brennan for reason 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Mario Zamora, head of the GOCR General Directorate of Immigration (DGI, acronym in Spanish),told us on October 30 that Costa Rica had seen a small (undefined) number of non-Venezuelan-born Arabs traveling with real Venezuelan passports, using Arab names. According to Zamora, Venezuela is issuing "courtesy" passports to persons affiliated with OPEC offices in Caracas. Zamora recognized that this practice could mask or facilitate terrorist travel to the U.S. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Zamora told us that the DGI became aware of Venezuela using passports as a political tool from Venezuelan refugees seeking asylum in Costa Rica. Those who oppose Chavez have trouble getting passports, which allows the BRV to limit travel of the opposition. However, as part of the courtesies that the Chavez government extends to OPEC members, the BRV issues Venezuelan passports to personnel in the OPEC offices in Caracas to help facilitate their travel in Latin America. The idea is that a Venezuelan passport will not be scrutinized as closely as, for example, an Iraqi passport, according to Zamora. ¶3. (C) At this point, Zamora has not detected indications of terrorist movement. However, he did not discount that the "terror angle" was possible. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: We are passing along the information that Zamora provided regarding Venezuelan passports, as well as reftel on Zamora's readout on the fallout of Ecuador dropping its tourist visa requirements, as anecdotal evidence of potential areas of security concern for the U.S. We would appreciate knowing whether Embassy Caracas can confirm this use of BRV passports, and whether the BRV is extending this "courtesy" to legitimate OPEC members or whether the government is giving out passports more liberally. Zamora is a credible and serious interlocutor on all immigration-related security issues. If there is something to this BRV passport gambit, we want to work with him to help stop it. END COMMENT. CIANCHETTE