TWO CHAVISTAS ELECTED AS NEW "INDEPENDENT" CNE RECTORS

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/11
TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE
SUBJECT: TWO CHAVISTAS ELECTED AS NEW "INDEPENDENT" CNE RECTORS

CLASSIFIED BY: Robin D. Meyer, Political Counselor, DOS, POL; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: The National Assembly (AN) selected two new
rectors to the five-person committee that oversees the National
Electoral Council (CNE),replacing the two outgoing Chavista
rectors with two more of the party faithful. Incoming rectors
Socorro Hernandez and Tania D'Amelio, respectively, have served as
the Minister of Telecommunications and as an AN Deputy from
Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) - a violation
of the Venezuelan Constitution's requirement that rectors have no
party ties. The political opposition and civil society claim to be
seeking redress from the Supreme Court (TSJ),but it is virtually
assured that their calls will go unheeded. Current CNE President
Tibisay Lucena will continue as CNE President. The sole
politically independent rector, Vicente Diaz, may face even greater
marginalization due to the new picks. End Summary.




2. (SBU) Socorro Hernandez and Tania D'Amelio were sworn into
their new seven-year posts as CNE rectors on December 3, replacing
outgoing CNE rectors Janeth Hernandez and German Yepez, whose terms
expired over a month ago. AN President Cilia Flores also swore in
their four substitutes ("suplentes"): judicial consultant Andres
Eloy Brito; AN Secretary Ivan Zerpa; TSJ administrative manager
Abdon Hernandez; and former judicial consultant to the Ministry of
Infrastructure Gustavo Guevara Sifontes. The following day,
Tibisay Lucena was reelected president of the CNE by an internal
vote among the five rectors. Sandra Oblitas was elected as CNE
Vice President, and will continue to head the Civil and Electoral
Registration Commission. The only rector considered to be
independent, Vicente Diaz remains the head of the Political
Participation and Financing Commission. Lucena held a press
conference December 4 to confirm that AN elections would be held on
September 26, 2010, and pledged that balloting to elect 13 mayors
and the Governor of Amazonas would occur at the end of 2010.



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RECTORS' TIES TO CHAVISMO

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3. (SBU) Opposition parties and civil society reacted swiftly to
the rectors' selection, arguing that their political ties to
Chavismo violate the Constitution. Articles 294 and 296 stipulate
that "the CNE will be comprised of five people not linked to
organizations with political ends" so as to ensure the
institution's political autonomy. PSUV AN Deputy Alfredo Murga,
who was a member of the AN's nominee committee, pledged November 27
that any candidates for CNE rector with party links had renounced
their membership. The NGO Sumate issued a communique December 1
criticizing the picks as "unconstitutional and illegal" due to
their ties to the PSUV, and expressed their hope that the Supreme
Court's Political-Administrative Chamber would "rescue" Venezuela's
legal and electoral systems by throwing out the nominations.




4. (SBU) Although the new CNE picks may have renounced their PSUV
membership, both have long-standing ties to the central government.
Soccoro Hernandez served as Minister of Telecommunications and
Information from January 2008 to May 2009, and she is rumored to be
close to Libertador municipality Mayor (and former CNE head) Jorge
Rodriguez. Before her Cabinet appointment, Hernandez served as the
head of the state-owned telecommunications company (CANTV) since
May 2007. Local press report that she had run as a delegate for
the Capital District for the PSUV party congress that began in
November 2009. (Comment: The National Democratic Institute's
representative in Caracas told Polcouns on December 1 that
Hernandez, despite her Chavista credentials, had a good,
professional relationship with the NGO electoral wachdog, "Ojo
Electoral." End Comment.)

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5. (SBU) D'Amelio has served as a PSUV AN Deputy representing
Vargas State since 2005, and as a member of the Permanent Committee
on Interior Politics, Justice, Human Rights, and Constitutional
Guarantees. She has also been a member of the Sub-Committee for
Citizen Security and the Inter-Parliamentary Venezuela-Italy
Friendship Group. Local press report that D'Amelio has been
involved previously in PSUV get-out-the-vote electoral patrols
("patrullas"). (Comment: While the Carter Center's representative
in Caracas also told Polcouns that Hernandez was a "moderate," he
characterized D'Amelio as a radical Chavista. End Comment.) Of
the four new CNE substitutes, Zerpa and Guevara are rumored to be
close to both AN President Cilia Flores and Minister of Public
Works Diosdado Cabello. Abdon Hernandez and Brito, in turn,
allegedly are closely aligned with the PSUV's electoral
coordinator, AN Deputy Francisco Ameliach. Sumate's statement
alleged that Guevara and Abdon Hernandez appeared in the list of
PSUV members for the party's primary elections in June 2008.



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DIAZ FACING EVEN GREATER MARGINALIZATION?

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6. (C) Vicente Diaz remains the sole politically independent
rector of the CNE, but he may have lost what leverage he enjoyed as
the "bridge" between the other four rectors who were split into two
feuding factions (Reftel). He publicly criticized the picks as
"unfortunate" and warned about the impact of their selection on the
CNE's credibility as an institution. While Diaz was careful to
caveat that he did not personally know either Hernandez or
D'Amelio, his public criticisms are unlikely to engender goodwill
among his new colleagues. Local press speculate that Diaz may also
lose what control he had over the CNE's Political Participation and
Financing Commission, which he will continue to head. Previously,
most of the votes on the three-member commission had split
two-to-one with Diaz and substitute Luis Salamanca voting together,
and outgoing CNE Rector German Yepez voting against. Salamanca and
Yepez will both be replaced with, respectively, one of the new
substitutes and rectors - all of whom are likely to side against
Diaz on any issue with political implications. Diaz also lost his
bid to serve as CNE Vice President, a position created in 2003 by
the Supreme Court (TSJ) to serve as a counterweight against the
presidency. Nevertheless, Diaz pledged December 3 to remain
"alert" and to continue acting to guarantee the transparency of the
CNE.



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COMMENT

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7. (C) In practical terms, the CNE probably will not change
course dramatically as a result of the election of two new Chavista
rectors. Diaz will face challenges in negotiating with the new
members of his committee, but may still be able to exploit the
internal divisions within Chavismo that have resulted from the
ongoing power struggle between Jorge Rodriguez and Diosdado
Cabello. If the opposition focuses excessively on the
unconstitutionality of the new rectors, they also run the risk of
undercutting the credibility of the CNE - which is still widely
regarded as at least technically capable - and generating voter
apathy in the run-up to AN elections in 2010. End Comment.
DUDDY