NATIONAL GUARD DRIVES OUT LOCAL POLICE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000912 SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM SNAR VE SUBJECT: NATIONAL GUARD DRIVES OUT LOCAL POLICE CARACAS 00000912 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Darnall Steuart for Reason 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In the early hours of July 15, Venezuelan National Guard (GN) soldiers, using tear gas, took over a Miranda state police substation in the small town of Curiepe. Townsfolk who gathered to protest the takeover were driven off with plastic bullets and tear gas. The GN soldiers were reportedly operating at the behest of the local mayor, a Chavez supporter who asked for the action "to improve the town's security." Attempts to mediate a solution on July 16 were met with more tear gas. Government supporters blame Miranda opposition governor Capriles Rodonski and his state police for inflaming the situation. Although the first to turn violent, this is the third such take over of a Miranda state police facility and just another in a long list of actions taken by the GBRV against the Miranda police since November 2008. End Summary. CURIEPE -------------- ¶2. (C) At 0530 July 15, forty soldiers from the Venezuelan Guardia Nacional or National Guard (GN),an active branch of the Venezuelan armed forces charged with border and infrastructure security, threw tear gas into a Miranda state police (PoliMiranda) substation in the rural town of Curiepe. A crowd of residents gathered later that morning to protest the take over and were dispersed by the GN with tear gas and plastic bullets, resulting in six injuries. PoliMiranda director Elisio Guzman (protect throughout),a 45 year law enforcement veteran, told PolOff that his police were ordered to remain in town and to conduct regular patrols. However, Guzman had no intention of re-enforcing the police or confronting the GN. Adriana D'Elia, Miranda's secretary of government (LT Governor equivalent) arrived the morning of July 16 to mediate a solution but the GN troops responded with tear gas. As of the evening of July 16, the GN had re-enforced the town with approximately 100 soldiers. Guzman called it "a town under siege." WHY? -------------- ¶3. (C) Motivations behind the building seizure remain unclear. Opposition media claim mayor Liliana Gonzalez, the Chavista mayor of Brion, the municipal government with authority in the region, was trying to gain control of the state Civil Registry, co-located in the police building. Speculation runs that, with access to land and business titles, Gonzalez could make an enemies list. For her part, Gonzalez claims the building is built on municipal property and therefore is not state property; she claims to have court order approving the takeover. By July 17, Gonzalez claimed she never ordered the GN to eject the police. General Alirio Ramirez of the GN 5th corps alternately claimed that "the people" or Mayor Gonzalez petitioned for GN intervention to reduce crime. PoliMiranda's Guzman told PolOff that Chavez makes weekly pronouncements against Miranda, urging his followers in the opposition state to resist. PolOff also queried Colonel Jose Echeverria in the GN's Judge Advocate General staff (strictly protect). When asked if the officer in charge had gone rogue by helping the mayor, the colonel winced and replied, "somebody made a phone call." ¶4. (SBU) Government officials blame Miranda governor Capriles Rodonski and his police for causing the trouble. Minister of Interior and Justice Tarek El Aissami accused Capriles Rodonski of using his police, "to attack facilities that don't belong to him." El Aissami added that the governor had ignored instructions to withdraw and was "acting like a neighborhood bully." Mayor Gonzalez accused the governor of directing the mob claiming, "it is part of his political operations." TARGET POLIMIRANDA -------------- ¶5. (C) In December 2008, DARFA, a bureau of the Venezuelan Army responsible for gun control, seized more than 3000 firearms from PoliMiranda leaving the state police with pistols and one shotgun for every eight officers. Although the law has been in effect for years, DARFA saw no need to enforce it when Chavez confidant Diosdado Cabello was governor. PoliMiranda's Guzman noted that the GN had tried to decommission PoliMiranda's police helicopter in January, and helped take over two other police substations in the last month. When asked why, he replied, "to annoy us, to make it impossible to govern." CARACAS 00000912 002.2 OF 002 COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) Opposition leaders have been under continuous assault by President Chavez and his followers since winning office in November 2008. From having offices looted before the transfer of power to the removal of their authority to raise revenue and provide services once in office, every opposition mayor and governor has been targeted. Although Chavez may have had no involvement in the planning or execution of this latest effort, those involved believe they are carrying out their commander's will. End Comment. CAULFIELD