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