LEDEZMA TRIES TO WIN OAS ATTENTION WITH A HUNGER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000850

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2029
TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE
SUBJECT: LEDEZMA TRIES TO WIN OAS ATTENTION WITH A HUNGER
STRIKE

REF: CARACAS 00724

CARACAS 00000850 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
FOR REASON 1.4(D)


1. (C) Summary: Mayor of Greater Caracas Antonio Ledezma
entered the offices of the Organization of American States
(OAS) in Caracas July 3 and began a hunger strike to demand
an OAS response to President Chavez's transgressions against
the opposition in Venezuela. Ledezma has argued that the OAS
owes as much attention to Venezuela as it has given to
Honduras, including sending a delegation to observe the
current situation in Caracas. This move comes on the heels
of his well-publicized visits to Washington and New York
City. The rest of the opposition has begun to more actively
support Ledezma's cause, and on July 7 representatives of the
opposition visited all OAS member embassies in Caracas to
deliver letters requesting the OAS to investigate actions in
Venezuela. A group of former Ambassadors and academics
delivered similar letters July 6 to the same Embassies. The
rest of civil society remains lukewarm in their support,
however. With most remaining elected opposition officials
focusing on governance over confrontation with the Government
of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (GBRV) (septel),
Ledezma's latest maneuver may represent a desperate gesture
to avoid political irrelevance. End Summary.

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STARVING FOR ATTENTION
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2. (SBU) Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma began a
highly-publicized hunger strike July 3 in the Caracas office
of the OAS Mission in the affluent Las Mercedes neighborhood
of Caracas to demand a response from Secretary General Jose
Miguel Insulza regarding GBRV aggressions against opposition
officials. (Note: Although popularly elected in November
2008, his office was stripped of resources and authority with
the passage of the District Capital Law, which created a
parallel Vice President of Caracas appointed directly by
Chavez. End Note.) In a letter to Insulza dated July 3,
Ledezma decries the "neo-dictatorial" behavior of the Chavez
administration which he says has committed multiple
violations of democratic principles to strangle the
governorships of Tachira, Zulia, Miranda, Nueva Esparta,
Carabobo, and "the most important mayorships in the country."
He contends that this behavior requires the same level of
attention that the OAS has granted to Honduras, including
sending adelegation to Venezuela to evaluate the situation.

3 (SBU) Initially, 12 other workers from themayor's
office joined the strike, although at lest two left by July
7 due to medical complicatios. The other strikers and the
media have been lagely limited to an outer area of the
building. ress photos of Ledezma 72-hours into the strike
how him looking physically alert, propped up on pilows and
a blanket and holding a copy of the Venzuelan constitution.
In an interview with pro-oppsition Globovision TV July 6,
Ledezma's wife Miti pledged that "this is not about Antonio,
this is about the people." She cautioned that her husband
suffers from kidney and lung problems -- the latter caused
allegedly by being tear gassed during a past protest -- and
that he was going against doctor's orders by carrying out the
strike. A Globovision representative told PAS officials July
6 that Ledezma's health is "in a bad condition."

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GROWING LOCAL SUPPORT??
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4. (C) Former Venezuelan diplomat Sadio Garavini di Turno
delivered a letter to Polcouns July 6 in support of Ledezma,
noting the OAS's "uncommonly quick and laudable" response to
the situation in Tegucigalpa and in defense of Honduran
democracy. The letter, signed by a number of mid-level
opposition party officials and former diplomats, argues that
the "numerous irregular acts committed by the state against
mayors and governors" in Venezuela warrants an equivalent
level of attention from the OAS. An attached copy of an
official gazette issued by the Caracas metropolitan council
asserts its support for the "democratic institutionality" of
Ledezma's office and demands the immediate return of the
mayor's budget; the end of the "arbitrary dismantlement" of
his office; and that the OAS should designate and send a
commission to Venezuela to observe the situation. On July 7,
PODEMOS National Deputy Juan Jose Molina, accompanied by two

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other PODEMOS members delivered a similar letter to POLCOUNS
claiming to be representing the opposition roundtable
(reftel). Per Molina, the opposition parties divided up all
OAS member embassies and delivered the same letter the
morning of July 7.


5. (SBU) Workers from Ledezma's office July 6 called on the
National Electoral Council (CNE) to convoke a referendum in
greater Caracas to ask residents who they want to govern the
city. Spokesman Miguel Angel Nieto contrasted Ledezma's
election in November 2008 which he won with 800,000 votes to
Caracas Viceroy Jaqueline Farias, "elected by just one vote."
Mayors Gerardo Blyde (Baruta),Emilio Grateron (Chacao),
Carlos Ocaritz (Sucre),and Myriam Donascimento (El Hatillo)
temporarily joined the protest July 5 to show their support
of Ledezma. Evelyn Trejo de Rosales, the wife of self-exiled
former mayor of Maracaibo Manuel Rosales, noted that her
husband had also been the subject of GBRV aggressions and
pledged her support for Ledezma.

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CHAVISTAS FIGHT BACK
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6. (SBU) Ledezma's Secretary of Finance, Hector Urgulles,
complained July 6 that the Caracas municipality had not
received 190 million BsF (about USD 88 million at the
official exchange rate) from the central government owed
since May that is needed to pay workers' salaries. Two
United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) National Assembly
Deputies, Juan Carlos Dugarte and Alexander Nebreda, refuted
the claim and publicly accused Ledezma July 6 of corruption,
pledging to take the accusations to the Attorney General.
Dugarte alleged that Ledezma had diverted funds for his own
use, resulting in his office's inability to pay employees'
salaries. Nebreda called the hunger strike a "parapet" and
said "I told Ledezma to watch his cholesterol and
triglicerides because at night he sends his bodyguards out to
buy chicken and salad."


7. (C) Comment: In taking such a dramatic stand, Ledezma
may be showing signs of desperation over his increasing
irrelevance. After failing to generate enough public outcry
at home to pressure the GBRV, NOW he is trying to
internationalize his plight -- first by heading to the United
States, and NOW by appealing to the OAS. His efforts seem to
be gaining support among the opposition parties, but more
widespread popular support for his plight is still lacking.
End Comment.
DUDDY