Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CARACAS859
2009-07-09 10:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

INSULZA INVITES LEDEZMA TO WASHINGTON

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM VE 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHCV #0859/01 1901050
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 091050Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3349
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000859 

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2024
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM VE
SUBJECT: INSULZA INVITES LEDEZMA TO WASHINGTON

REF: CARACAS 850

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
REASONS 1.4 (B) and (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000859

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2024
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM VE
SUBJECT: INSULZA INVITES LEDEZMA TO WASHINGTON

REF: CARACAS 850

Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ,
REASONS 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary: After securing salary payments for his
supporters and getting the OAS's attention to his plight,
Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma lifted his six-day old hunger
strike. After days with little movement, there was a flurry
of activity on July 7, with OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel
Insulza calling Ledezma, and reportedly inviting opposition
governors and mayors to meet with him in Washington, DC. The
OAS's agreement to meet received front page treatment, after
Ledezma's hunger strike, which began July 3, had been
relegated to the back pages. Following Insulza's phone
call, the Capital District office, run by Caracas Viceroy
Jacqueline Farias, announced a transfer of 52 million BSF
(about 24 million USD at the official exchange rate) to the
Mayor Ledezma's office for payment of employee salaries.
These were Ledezma's first victories since the April Capital
District Law stripped him of authority and resources. The
Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela's (GBRV's)
quick reaction after Insulza's call suggests that they are
sensitive to potential international pressure, especially as
opposition leaders continue to draw a parallel between the
events in Honduras with the GBRV's actions against opposition
officials in Venezuela. End summary.

--------------
INSULZA CALLS LEDEZMA
--------------


2. (C) Heavy media coverage in major Venezuelan news outlets
included detailed descriptions of Insulza's telephone
conversation with Ledezma on July 7. Former Venezuelan
Ambassador to the United Nations Milos Alcalay, responsible
for international affairs in the Mayor's office, reported
that Insulza had been concerned about Ledezma since the start
of the hunger strike. Alcalay said that Ledezma emphasized
to Isulza the need for a coordinated response to GBRV
harassment of opposition governors and mayors, and said that
in response Insulza had agreed to meet with the governors and
mayors in OAS headquarters in Washington, DC.

--------------
GBRV TRANSFERS MONEY, LEDEZMA ENDS STRIKE
--------------



3. (C) One of the reasons highlighted by Ledezma for the
hunger strike was the lack of payment to municipal workers.
On July 6 Ledezma's Secretary of Finance, Hector Urgelles,
said that the Greater Caracas municipality had not received
from the Capital District 190 million BSF (88 million USD at
the official exchange rate) needed for workers' salaries.
Initially the GBRV response was to accuse Ledezma of
corruption (reftel),but in the evening of July 7 the new
Capital District office, which usurped a large part of
Ledezma's authority when established by law in April, sent a
letter to Greater Caracas Mayor's office stating that 52
million BSF (about 24 million USD) would be deposited in the
Municipality's accounts strictly for the payment of worker
salaries in June and July. It concluded that this amount
would be sufficient, because 11,290 of the municipality's
workers, which number over 20,000, had been transferred to
the Capital District and would be paid by directly by this
new authority.


4. (SBU) On July 8 Ledezma and the other municipal workers
announced the end to the hunger strike. Ledezma thanked the
municipal workers who supported him during the strike, saying
that "when you work together, and when you have deep
convictions, you can achieve objectives worth the greatest
sacrifice." Following a press conference given at the OAS
headquarters in Caracas, Ledezma was driven in an ambulance
to a local hospital for evaluation.

--------------
CHAVISTAS CALL THE STRIKE "A MEDIA SHOW"
--------------


5. (C) While students, civil society representatives, and
major opposition leaders like Governor of Tachira Cesar Perez
Vivas publicly supported Ledezma's strike, pro-government
officials dismissed it. In the National Assembly, where
PODEMOS political party member Saul Castellanos requested on
July 7 that the legislature discuss the situation, United
Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) member Alberto Castello
categorically rejected the proposal, calling the Ledezma's
activities "a media show". Castello also said that he
doubted that Ledezma was truly not eating. While
municipality workers demonstrated outside of the National
Assembly on July 7 in support of Ledezma, on July 8 several
municipality workers protested against the hunger strike,
accusing Ledezma of lying and not paying the workers.


6. (C) Comment: The passage of the law defining a new
Capital District in April drastically diminished Ledezma's
authority and resources. Ledezma's hunger strike appears to
have raised attention, both domestically and internationally,
about the issue. That the first concession from the GBRV to
Ledezma concerned payment of workers' salaries is consistent
with President Chavez's careful stewardship of his image as a
supporter of the poor and working classes. The opposition,
while slow to organize, eventually coordinated activities
well, presenting multiple letters to the OAS member embassies
in Caracas (reftel),ensuring renewed media coverage of the
hunger strike after OAS engagement, organizing worker
demonstrations, and using different opposition leaders to
repeat the message that the OAS should respect democracy in
Venezuela as it does in Honduras. As President Chavez and
the GBRV have embraced the OAS as a legitimate institution
responsible for protecting democracy from the coup in
Honduras over the past week, it will be difficult for the
GBRV to ignore or dismiss Insulza's decision to meet with
opposition officials. End comment.

DUDDY