CHAVEZ CONTINUES ATTACKS ON THE OPPOSITION AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000539 SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2029 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM VE SUBJECT: CHAVEZ CONTINUES ATTACKS ON THE OPPOSITION AND INCLUDES SOME (FORMERLY) PARTY FAITHFUL CARACAS 00000539 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: A/POLITICAL COUNSELOR DANIEL LAWTON, FOR REASON 1.4 (D) ¶1. (C) Summary: President Chavez is now using Venezuela's highly politicized judiciary to go after well-known, but vulnerable, political supporters. He and his supporters also continue to put pressure on the opposition media, pursuing charges against prominent opposition journalist Teodoro Petkoff and legal cases against the Globovision opposition cable news network. The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (GBRV) is also trying to starve the opposition Caracas mayorship of funds. The country's divided opposition is struggling to respond, and its planned May 1 rally will be widely viewed as an indicator of the opposition's relative strength -- or more likely -- weakness. Chavez's ongoing efforts to clamp down on both vocal critics and carefully selected supporters appear to be sending a real chill across Venezuelan politics rather than spur meaningful resistance. End Summary. -------------- CHAVEZ GOES AFTER HIS OWN... -------------- ¶2. (C) The Public Ministry announced that it would begin investigating former Mayor of Greater Caracas (2005-2009) Juan Barreto on charges of corruption. Barreto is a longtime Chavista but allegedly had a falling out with Chavez's current right-hand man, Minister of Public Works Diosdado Cabello while the two were serving as Caracas Mayor and Governor of Miranda State, respectively. Barreto is slated to be formally charged April 29, but has pledged that he has "nothing to fear" and has no plans to go to Caracas for the court hearing. Current opposition Governor of Miranda State Henrique Capriles Radonski called the charges against Barreto a "smokescreen" and fingered Cabello for widely rumored corruption while he was governor, calling him "untouchable before justice." Primero Justicia's (PJ's) Ismael Leon described Barreto's prosecution as "judicial theater" intended to create the illusion of a fair and unbiased judiciary. ¶3. (C) A Venezuelan judge issued an arrest warrant April 23 for former Governor of Guarico State, Eduardo Manuitt, a member of the small, but influential pro-government Patria Para Todos (PPT) party on charges of corruption. These charges are almost certainly in retribution for Manuitt's decision to support his daughter's bid to succeed him. His daughter, Lenny Manuitt, ran a strong, but ultimately unsuccessful race on the PPT ticket in the November 2008 state and local elections. The PSUV contender, William Lara, claimed the governorship probably in large part because her candidacy and that of the opposition's Reynaldo Armas split the vote. Eduardo Manuitt was charged by the Public Ministry in December 2008, just days after the elections, for alleged embezzlement related to the purchase of several air conditioning units for a hospital in 1999. -------------- ... AND THE OPPOSITION, TOO -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The National Assembly (AN) opened a case April 27 to investigate Teodoro Petkoff, editor of the opposition daily Tal Cual and a former leftist guerrilla and highly vocal critic of the GBRV. PSUV AN Deputy Iris Varela accused Petkoff of committing fraud and document forgery by using his deceased mother's name to conduct commercial and real estate transactions. She claimed that she had submitted proof of these misdeeds to Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz, who would open an investigation into the case. ¶5. (C) Local political observers believe that the opposition-oriented Globovision cable news network is a natural target of the GBRV. Minister of Communication Blanca Eckhout announced April 27 that Venezuela's media should simply be "an instrument to gain understanding and deepen democracy" rather than "impeding true communication with the people." She suggested that Venezuela has suffered "excessive and irresponsible media power" and the media should be "regulated by the people." Several suits have been filed in court against alleged illegal practices by Globovision, but the Venezuelan Supreme Court (TSJ) ruled recently that the National Telecommunication Commission (CONATEL) is responsible for sanctioning and administering media outlets. The TSJ ruling appears to give CONATEL carte CARACAS 00000539 002.2 OF 002 blanche to sanction Globovision as it sees fit. -------------- OPPOSITION SCRAMBLING TO RESPOND -------------- ¶6. (C) The opposition has called for a nationwide march on May 1, the start of a three-day weekend when Venezuelans traditionally head to the beach. The level of participation will be widely perceived as an indicator of the opposition's commitment to defending democracy, as well as its relative street strength. Primero Justicia (PJ) spokesman Juan Pablo Guanipa announced that "you would have to be a real fool not to take to the streets" on May 1, and the Christian Democrats (COPEI) have called the march a "national conversation" for the opposition. Nevertheless, political observers have told Poloffs that morale and opposition unity have taken a nose-dive over the past few weeks due to the highly-publicized government cases against former Defense Minister Baduel and Maracaibo Mayor Manuel Rosales. A student leader told POLOFF April 20 that he wanted to focus on his studies and avoid the front-line out of a fear that the GBRV would start issuing arrest warrants. ¶7. (SBU) Greater Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma recently criticized an allegedly unpublished TSJ decision that would prohibit the Caracas boroughs from giving funds directly to his office, calling it part of a "network of aggression" against him. Ledezma claimed that he had a "good source" who had told him that TSJ magistrate Marco Tulio Dugarte from the Constitutional Chamber had prepared the decision. Article 22 of the Metropolitan District Administration Law stipulates that each of the five Caracas municipalities must contribute ten percent of their total income to fund the metropolitan district -- 90 percent of which has been redirected away from Ledezma's office and into the hands of the newly created Vice Presidency of Caracas. This ruling would presumably preempt any attempt by the four opposition municipal-level mayors to maintain funding to Ledezma and circumvent the new Capital District Law. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) President Chavez is flexing considerable political muscle. He continues to concentrate power in his hands and use Venezuela's politicized judiciary to squash remaining opposition and dissidents. Former Greater Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto and Guarico Governor Eduardo Manuitt were widely perceived as corrupt and ineffective administrators, and the GBRV's cases against them are likely to win more public approval than complaint. Such prosecutions may also provide the GBRV greater political cover internationally and domestically as the Chavez administration steps up its efforts to silence or marginalize any opposition or dissidence. 10 (C) The opposition is very much on its heels right now. Contacts in opposition political parties privately concede that they have no strategy to unite and confront Chavez. They also lament that Chavez's centralization of authority at the expense of opposition state and local governments is not an issue that motivates most Venezuelans to protest. Moreover, former opposition unity presidential candidate and Maracaibo Mayor Manuel Rosales is unlikely to be able to play a major opposition role in exile (septel),and there is no obvious contender to replace him. CAULFIELD