GBRV ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR ANOTHER OPPOSITION LEADER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 001557 SIPDIS NOFORN HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PASS TO AMEMBASSY GRENADA AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PASS TO AMCONSUL RECIFE E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/15 TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE SUBJECT: GBRV ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR ANOTHER OPPOSITION LEADER CLASSIFIED BY: Robin D. Meyer, Political Counselor, DOS, POL; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Summary: The Venezuelan Government (GBRV) issued an arrest warrant December 8 for Ramon Martinez, an ex-governor and the nominal president of the Podemos opposition party, on corruption charges. Although the case has generated only minimal press interest, the prosecution is probably targeted at intimidating vocal Podemos leader and National Assembly (AN) Deputy Ismael Garcia, who was one of the people responsible for releasing information to the press on Chavez insiders allegedly involved in corrupt banking and other illicit deals. Martinez is currently in hiding but if he is arrested and tried, could face up to ten years in prison. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) A tribunal in Sucre State issued an arrest warrant December 8 for Ramon Martinez, the president of the opposition Podemos party and the former governor (1992-98, 2000-08) of Sucre. (Note: Martinez was elected to his most recent two terms with Chavez's support prior to Podemos' break with Chavismo in 2007. End Note.) According to local press, he is being charged with corruption and illicit enrichment that allegedly occurred during his tenure in office. The charges include financial "irregularities" purportedly related to the sale of houses that were destined for the Barrio Adentro medical social "mission" program and the diversion of funds from a fisheries project that took place between 2001 and 2004. The ex-governor's son and the former president of the Regional Housing Foundation, Jose Diaz, are also included in the arrest warrant. The corruption charges can carry a prison sentence from six months to ten years. -------------- -------------- RETALIATION AGAINST ISMAEL GARCIA? -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) Podemos AN Deputy Juan Jose Molina confirmed to Poloffs December 10 that Martinez was in hiding after a raid on his house by the National Guard and representatives from the State Attorney General's Office. Molina did not show much visible concern that the president of his party was being sought by the police. He speculated that the charges might be an effort to intimidate AN Deputy and party spokesman Ismael Garcia, who along with "Accion Democratica" leader Henry Ramos Allup, have publicly denounced key figures in Chavez's inner circle, including Diosdado Cabello, Jose Vicente Rangel, Hugo Carvajal, and Chavez's brother, Adan. Molina agreed that the tactic was similar to the August 2009 arrest of Richard Blanco, the head of Mayor of Greater Caracas Antonio Ledezma's Brave People's Alliance (ABP) party, which occurred following Ledezma's internationally publicized criticisms of Chavez. (Comment: Both Blanco and Martinez are nominally the presidents of their parties, but Ledezma and Garcia are widely perceived as the true "leaders" of ABP and Podemos, respectively. End Comment.) Molina said that despite these apparent intimidation tactics, Garcia "would not shut up" and would continue in his criticisms of Chavez. He dismissed the charges as purely political, commenting that "nobody in Podemos is corrupt." ¶4. (SBU) The current PSUV Governor of Sucre Enrique Maestre announced December 10 that he would order his Attorney General's Office to continue investigations into his predecessor's government. He said that "I am not the one who will send anybody to jail, but I ask the judiciary to see justice done." Maestre suggested that AN Deputy Hermes Garcia, who is also from Podemos, should be among those investigated, asserting that "Garcia was living in a rented house and now has private houses in 14 states in the country, including mansions." Regarding upcoming AN elections slated for September 2010, Maestre said that "those who involve themselves in Martinez's little gangster group, of which each day there are fewer, we are going to pulverize them." On December 14, CARACAS 00001557 002 OF 002 PSUV representative Gerson Perez called on the Comptroller General to disqualify ("inhabilitar") Garcia from running for future public office, an administrative sanction that can be issued in cases of purported financial wrongdoing without a judicial ruling. Perez alleged that Garcia had absconded with over 27 million BsF (12.5 million USD at the official exchange rate) and evaded millions of dollars in taxes. ¶5. (SBU) AN Deputy and Podemos leader Ismael Garcia responded the December 11 that the arrest warrant was political retaliation for his party's attacks against the central government. The Sucre opposition "unity table" issued a communique December 12 that said the arrest warrant's "primary objective is to force the democratic opposition to kneel, and also to serve as a smokescreen to distract the population from all the problems there are in Sucre." -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) The arrest warrant against Martinez barely registered a blip in the national press, none of which noted the fact that he is the president of Podemos - the only major opposition party with representation in the AN. End Comment. DUDDY