Venezuela: The GBRV's Political Response to Colombian Offer

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000201 SIPDIS ENERGY FOR ALOCKWOOD AND LEINSTEIN, DOE/EIA FOR MCLINE HQ SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD TREASURY FOR MKACZMAREK COMMERCE FOR 4332/MAC/WH/JLAO NSC FOR DRESTREPO AND LROSSELLO AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PASS TO AMEMBASSY GRENADA AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PASS TO AMCONSUL RECIFE E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/18 TAGS: ENRG ECON EINV CO VE SUBJECT: Venezuela: The GBRV's Political Response to Colombian Offer ofAssistance REF: 10 CARACAS 35; 10 CARACAS 139; 10 CARACAS 173 CLASSIFIED BY: DarnallSteuart, Economic Counselor, DOS, Econ; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (SBU) In response to press reports of Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy HernC!nMartC-nez' offer to help Venezuela through its current electricity crisis, Venezuela's Executive Vice President ElC-as Jaua rejected the Colombian offer on Tuesday, February 16. On Wednesday, February 17, Venezuelan Minister for Electricity AlC- RodrC-guez clarified the GBRV's position, stating that it would analyze any Colombian offer, just as it had done with Brazil's offer of assistance. ¶2. (SBU) Venezuelan press reports on February 18 quote RodrC-guez as modifying the GBRV's position even further, expressing skepticism about Colombia's intentions and noting, "The most that Colombia has supplied Venezuela is 140 MW and the consumption here is 17,000 MW. If the Colombian offer is serious, it could contribute to resolving part of the problem, but only a small part." Press reports, however, state 140 MW represents 70% of the GBRV's goal in its electricity reduction program for Caracas (200 MW) and that 140 MW could supply the electricity needs of an entire city, such as Puerto La Cruz. ¶3. (SBU) According to statements published in the Venezuelan press on February 11, Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime BermC:dez said that the GOC had not ceased dialogue with Venezuela despite bilateral tensions. This was followed up on February 12 with Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva's statement saying the GOC was expecting "a signal of the GBRV's willingness to settle differences and fight regional enemies..." He added that if the bilateral relations between the two states "limped back together," Colombia could help Venezuela on security issues. According to press reports, the GBRV expected to receive a formal Colombian offer on Thursday, February 18. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: After months of the GBRV demonizing Colombia and politicizing the bilateral relationship, Colombia's offer caught the GBRV unprepared. Newly named Vice President Jaua was quick to reject a potential offer of assistance, RodrC-guez walked back Jaua's comments, and then added his own political spin to Colombia's offer. For its part, the GBRV has (1) created a ministry to confront the issue, (2) appointed, fired, and appointed a new electricity minister, (3) enacted unpopular electricity rationing measures across the country, (4) accepted assistance from Brazil, Argentina, and Cuba, (5) declared an electricity state of emergency and (6) appointed an "Electricity General Staff" to handle the crisis. The GBRV would be hard pressed to explain how a Colombian offer is "political" when most of its own responses to the crisis could also be construed as "political" and "bureaucratic." Given the Venezuelan public's frustration with the GBRV's own efforts to date, it appears that Minister RodrC-guez understood better than the new Vice President that for both political and practical reasons a more open response to Colombia constituted the wiser course. END COMMENT. DUDDY