VENEZUELA'S JEWISH COMMUNITY SEES "DARK HORIZON"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 001401 SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2029 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM VE SUBJECT: VENEZUELA'S JEWISH COMMUNITY SEES "DARK HORIZON" REF: A. CARACAS 1389 ¶B. CARACAS 1271 ¶C. CARACAS 1090 CARACAS 00001401 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political Counselor Robin D. Meyer, for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) Summary: In an October 28 breakfast meeting with the Confederacion de Asociaciones Israelitas Venezolanas (CAIV) Board of Directors, XXXXXXXXXXXX, said he privately encouraged Brazilian senators to allow Venezuela to join MERCOSUR. At the same time, Jewish community leaders told PolCouns the Venezuelan government's (GBRV's) attacks and "double-talk," constant criticism of Israel, growing alliance with Iran, and increasing limitations on freedom of speech contribute to a heightened sense of vulnerability by the Jewish community. End Summary. -------------- SUPPORTING MERCOSUR -------------- ¶2. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX said he had spoken by phone to a Brazilian senator and had privately urged the Brazilian Senate on October 27 to allow Venezuela to join MERCOSUR, believing that membership in the organization would help promote and defend human rights. Given the ongoing sense of threat, CAIV members agreed on the need for close relations with the U.S. and other Embassies as a form of diplomatic protection for the Jewish community. -------------- MEDIA ATTACKS SINCE 2004 -------------- ¶3. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX said "2004 was a turning point in Venezuela," when Chavez began referring to support of certain Jewish leaders for the 2002 post-coup government as justification for verbal and physical attacks against the Jewish community and synagogues. XXXXXXXXXXXX said anti-Semitic programs and articles have been regular features of government-owned media since 2004, and "international anti-Jewish campaigns have been tailored for use domestically." XXXXXXXXXXXX emphasized that the anti-Semitism is "government-sponsored." He noted that Emilio Silva, the author of a January 20 article on the government website aporrea.org which called for violent demonstrations at the Tiferet synagogue just 10 days before the synagogue was attacked, is still teaching at the pro-government Bolivarian University of Venezuela. They also noted that there are regular government media attacks on Miranda State Governor Henrique Capriles Rodonski as a Jew, despite the fact that, while of Jewish ancestry, he is Christian. -------------- CONSIDERED FOREIGN, NOT VENEZUELAN -------------- ¶4. (C) CAIV continues to be in weekly contact with senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Temir Porras, and occasionally meets with Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolas Maduro; they last met with him three months ago. They noted the irony of having the Foreign Ministry, rather than the Interior Ministry, as their designated GBRV interlocutor, which emphasizes the GBRV's view of the Jewish community as "foreign" rather than Venezuelan. While Chavez's rhetoric once clearly differentiated criticism of Israel from that of the Venezuelan Jewish community, since 2004 they believe he has merged his anti-Zionist views with anti-Semitic ones. (Note: Chavez has adamantly denied that he or his government is anti-Semitic. End Note.) They pointed to repeated "double-talk" from the GBRV, CAIV had a cordial discussion with former GBRV official Jose Vicente Rangel, and then he published a virulently anti-Semitic op-ed article; the GBRV admitted that Emilio Silva's January 20 article on aporrea.org was anti-Semitic and a "mistake," but took no action against him. XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that the charge of having an arms cache, which was used as justification for the 2004 searches of the Club Hebraica, has never been officially and fully resolved. In spite of repeated requests by CAIV, court officials claim they are "unable to find the necessary documents to close the case." -------------- CARACAS 00001401 002.2 OF 002 VENEZUELA'S RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL AND IRAN -------------- ¶5. (C) Members of the CAIV Board said they have felt "orphaned" since the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador and the breaking of diplomatic relations between the two countries. XXXXXXXXXXXX said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a ban on visas for Israeli citizens. While grateful that the Canadian Embassy was taking on Israel's consular responsibilities (ref C),many members lamented that it was taking a long time to set up the new operation. (Note: Both the CAIV members and the Canadian Deputy Chief of Mission have attributed the delay to the training needed by the individual Israel selected to serve as its consular agent. The person had previously served as a receptionist at the Israeli Embassy. XXXXXXXXXXXX said Israel's choice of this person was probably intended to keep Israel's profile low. End note.) ¶6. (C) The CAIV leadership was also very concerned about the growing relationship between Iran and Venezuela. XXXXXXXXXXXX thinks the GBRV "wants to use the treatment of the Jewish community in Iran as a model" for Venezuela, and there was widespread agreement among CAIV leaders that President Chavez's close alliance with Iranian President Ahmadinejad did not bode well for the Venezuelan Jewish community. Many members expressed deep concern about Iranian activities in the country, citing the lack of transparency at the international Maiquetia airport in Caracas on flights to and from Iran and the suspiciously inefficient Iranian factories for bicycles. "What are these factories really producing?" asked one CAIV member. -------------- A DETERIORATING ENVIRONMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) Several CAIV members noted the effect of the decreasing democratic space on freedom of religion. XXXXXXXXXXXX said that while there was freedom of religion, there was not freedom of expression. "When there are restrictions on freedom of speech you do not have freedom of religion," he said. CAIV members are also concerned about the effect of the new Education Law (ref B) on the Jewish day school. To a great extent, many members of CAIV agreed, religious freedom cannot be separated from the general state of human rights, and "the horizon is dark." Even though the number of Jews in Venezuela is declining as people leave the country, the threat to the community will remain, one member said, because of the prominence of many Jews in business, education, and Venezuelan society. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) The Jewish community's quiet support for Venezuela's entry into MERCOSUR suggests that it will be better protected by having Venezuela part of an alliance of states pledged to the Democracy Charter than by having Venezuela left only to its partnership with the "revolutionary" ALBA countries. This conclusion is similar to that expressed by opposition Mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma (ref A),who told Brazilian legislators that Chavez was more dangerous isolated than if brought into an organization of democratic countries. DUDDY