CHAVEZ WARNS OF WAR IN SOUTH AMERICA, CALLS OBAMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 001028 SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2029 TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE SUBJECT: CHAVEZ WARNS OF WAR IN SOUTH AMERICA, CALLS OBAMA A "DISAPPOINTMENT" CARACAS 00001028 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: ACTING POLITICAL COUNSELOR DARNALL STEUART, FOR REASON 1.4(D) ¶1. (C) Summary: In an August 5 press conference at Miraflores, President Chavez's discourse was notable in its more direct personal attacks on President Obama, calling him a "disappointment" and a "frustration" as Chavez warned that the planned joint defense agreement with Colombia could herald war in South America. In his comments to the international press, Chavez contended that the FARC had stolen Swedish-made anti-tank missiles during a 1995 raid on a Venezuelan military installation in Apure State, which borders Colombia. He blasted Colombia as a "narco-state" and said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's announcement of the missiles' discovery was a "dirty, crude maneuver." During the lengthy speech, Chavez again called for the National Assembly (AN) to grant him "enabling" decree power -- presumably so that he can push through new "revolutionary" legislation more quickly. END Summary. -------------- CHAVEZ ATTACKS URIBE, OBAMA... -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Chavez held a five-hour press conference for the international media at Miraflores presidential palace August 5 announcing that anti-tank missiles, sold by the Swedes to Venezuela and discovered in FARC hands, had gone missing from Venezuelan stores in 1995. He asserted that "terrorist forces" had stolen them during an attack on the Carabobo naval post in Apure State, in southwestern Venezuela, along with other munitions. (Note: That attack is widely known to have been perpetrated by the ELN. Chavez did not describe how ELN arms ended up in the hands of its FARC enemies. END Note.) Chavez claimed that "Uribe is to blame" and said his Colombian counterpart had employed a "dirty, crude maneuver" in announcing the discovery of the missiles, allegedly to divert attention from the planned joint defense agreement between Colombia and the United States. Chavez said Bogota's actions "hurt a lot" because he "feels Colombian too," criticizing that "this is Uribe, this is Uribe's game, this is the type of person that he is." He added that Colombia is a "narco-state," a "yanqui operational base," and he cautioned that the world should be concerned about the "dangerous Bogota-Tel Aviv axis that almost nobody talks about." ¶3. (SBU) Chavez went on to blast the United States and President Obama personally, arguing that "these bases (in Colombia) could be the start of a war in South America. They concern the yanquis, the most aggressive nation in the history of humanity, capable of launching nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki." He said that Obama should "withdraw" instead of "sending more soldiers and airplanes and dollars and helicopters and bombs to Colombia so that there will be more war, more death." Chavez called Obama a "frustration" and a "disappointment," lamenting that "the Obama of Trinidad is disappearing, he is blurring. The policy of aggression against Latin America is the same" as under the Bush administration. He said that "we are not revising relations with the United States because they have not changed at all. We are in a (diplomatic) period that we have not left. We gave signs, we accepted the return of the US Ambassador, but there (in Washington) absolutely nothing has happened." -------------- ... AND ASKS FOR DECREE POWERS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Chavez reiterated his call for an "enabling law" from the National Assembly (AN) that would permit him to issue decrees. He argued that "the laws have been instruments made by the rich, to finance their dominion over the majority poor." He said he had talked to the Chavista-dominated AN, and "if the deputies see themselves with a lot of work," they will grant him decree power. Chavez went on to say that "I like to make laws, but it's not my turn" and that the laws recently passed by the AN "bother the rich... (by regulating) capitalist speculation." ¶5. (C) Comment: Before yesterday, Chavez had carefully distinguished between the President and the rest of the US Government, attacking what he perceives to be nefarious coup-supporting elements in Washington while contending that President Obama himself was either unaware of or unable to control what his government is up to. This latest discourse, CARACAS 00001028 002.2 OF 002 however, pointedly directed at the international media, shows a rhetorical shift towards more aggressive, personal criticisms of the President. END Comment. DUDDY