GBRV EXPELS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIAN OVER CRITICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000222 SIPDIS SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/18/2019 TAGS: PREL SP VE SUBJECT: GBRV EXPELS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIAN OVER CRITICAL REMARKS REF: A. CARACAS 216 ¶B. 08 CARACAS 1312 Classified By: Francisco Fernandez, Political Counselor, for Reason 1.4(d) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (GBRV) forcibly expelled European Parliament member Luis Herrero February 13 after Herrero criticized both President Chavez and the Venezuelan electoral system. National Electoral Council (CNE) President Tibisay Lucena called Herrero's comments an unacceptable intrusion into Venezuelan domestic politics and ordered his expulsion. According to the DCM of the Spanish Embassy in Caracas, the Spanish Foreign Ministry has already called in an unrepentant Venezuelan Ambassador to complain. The GBRV's expulsion is reminiscent of the GBRV's September 2008 decision to expel two Human Rights Watch visitors (Ref B). End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) European Parliament member Luis Herrero was forcibly expelled from Venezuela on the evening of February 13 after he made televised comments critical of President Chavez and the CNE's decision to extend voting hours for the February 15 referendum on eliminating term limits. Herrero suggested that Chavez's public comments that security forces clamp down on student protests were more consistent with a "dicatatorship than democracy." Herrero was part of a group of five European Parliament members (one Portuguese and four Spaniards) invited by the center-right COPEI party to "accompany" the referendum. Calling Herrero's comments "disruptive to the harmony of the election," National Election Council (CNE) President Tibisay Lucena requested his expulsion from Venezuela. In a display of state authority, some 30 DISIP officers hustled Herrero out of his hotel room with only the clothes on his back and put him on the a flight to Sao Paolo, the first available flight out of the country. ¶3. (C) Ignacio Aguirre de Carcer, Spain's DCM in Caracas, told PolOff February 17 that Spanish diplomats recovered Herrero's luggage, asthma medication and documents from the hotel, and forwarded them to Brazil. Aguirre added that, perhaps as a sop to the European parliament, the CNE upgraded Herrero's companions from election attendee to observer status. Aguirre also confirmed to PolOff that Spain's Foreign Ministry called in Venezuelan Ambassador Toro Hardy to protest the manner in which Herrero was expelled from Venezuela. According to Aguirre, Toro Hardy took a hard line in response to the dressing down. ¶4. (C) Comment: The GBRV's quick expulsion of European parliament member Herrero is reminiscent of the GBRV's September 2008 expulsion of Miguel Vivanco and Daniel Wilkinson of Human Rights Watch after they released at a Caracas press conference a report criticizing the GBRV's human rights record. It is also consistent with the GBRV's decision to discourage former Polish President Lech Walesa from visiting. Chavez is likely to continue to try to deter credible foreign critics from publicly voicing their opinions in Venezuela. Ironically, in so doing, Chavez is only reinforcing the substance of their criticism of the increasingly authoritarian nature of the GBRV. CAULFIELD