POPULAR GOVERNOR LEAVES THE PSUV, JOINS ALLIED PPT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 000227

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SUBJECT: POPULAR GOVERNOR LEAVES THE PSUV, JOINS ALLIED PPT

REF: 10 CARACAS 189

CLASSIFIED BY: Rolf Olson, Acting Political Counselor, DOS, POL;
REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: The second-most popular political figure within
the Chavista movement, Governor of Lara State Henri Falcon,
announced February 22 in an open letter that he was leaving the
United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) for the allied
Fatherland For All (PPT) party. Falcon alleged that the PSUV had
been undermined by favoritism and a "poorly-understood concept of
loyalty," and said that for years he had sought unsuccessfully to
engage in a "frank dialogue without intermediaries" with Chavez.
On February 23, PSUV leaders excoriated Falcon and announced the
party had frozen relations with the PPT, asserting that they had
"joined the counterrevolutionary movement." President Chavez has
not yet commented publicly. End Summary.




2. (C) Falcon enjoys over 90 percent approval ratings in Lara
State, and has been widely praised for his talents as an effective
administrator and a business-friendly Chavista "lite" who has been
open to dialogue. He was briefly expelled from the PSUV in 2008
after announcing his candidacy for the Lara gubernatorial seat
without first seeking Chavez's blessing - a decision that was
quickly reversed after Chavez realized that Falcon could win on his
own merits, without PSUV support. After serving two terms as mayor
of Lara's capital, Barquisimeto (2000-08),Falcon won the 2008
governorship by 58 points - easily the widest margin of any
gubernatorial candidate. (See Reftel A for more reporting on
Falcon.)



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FALCON BOWS OUT OF THE PSUV

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3. (SBU) Falcon's letter, which was addressed to Chavez and
published in several newspapers, began by lamenting the lack of a
"frank dialogue without intermediaries" with the President for
several years running, and claimed that there was no other means
express to his concerns. After affirming his "complete commitment"
to the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution, Falcon extolled his leftist
credentials, asserting: "I have not changed." He suggested that
"the relationship between the head of state and governors and
mayors cannot be limited to the emission of instructions or orders,
without even a minimal opportunity to discuss [our] points of
view." He added that it was "impossible to construct a
participative democracy" if elected officials "are deprived of the
chance to be heard." He also called for "inclusion without
exclusion and national reconciliation." Falcon criticized the PSUV
as "undermined by bureaucracy, favoritism, the absence of
discussion, and a poorly-understood concept of loyalty." He went
on to petition the PPT for membership and "encourage broader
participation of all sectors in overcoming old and new evils that
afflict us as a nation." In a February 23 press conference, Falcon
reiterated the need for local elected officials to have an
"effective and concrete" dialogue with Chavez. He noted that
"friends understand each other's differences" and pledged that
"nobody is failing to recognize the national leadership of the
President of the Republic."




4. (SBU) Falcon's announcement comes soon after Chavez made
several attacks against Falcon's tenure as governor. In early
February, Chavez had threatened to intercede in the Lara police if
Falcon failed to tamp down student protests against the closure of
Radio Caracas TV (RCTV). Rather than crack down on the protesters,
Falcon held a meeting with the leaders to listen to their
complaints. On February 19, Chavez threatened Polar Industries,
which are based in the Lara capital of Barquisimeto, with
expropriation on the grounds that the company's delivery vehicle

CARACAS 00000227 002 OF 003


lot should be used to build low-income housing instead. Falcon
responded by noting that Polar facilities were located in two
industrial zones in the city, along with 180 other
legally-constituted businesses, and thus should continue operating.



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PPT, PCV: FALCON IS NOT A TRAITOR

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5. (C) On February 22, PPT Secretary General Jose Albornoz
announced that he was "surprised" by Falcon's decision, but that
the party had agreed during a hastily convened meeting to accept
Falcon into its ranks. (Comment: Albornoz told Polcouns on
February 4 that Falcon had approached him privately about joining
the PPT. Albornoz's feigned ignorance was likely an effort to
create political cover for PPT, so as not to appear as conspiring
against the PSUV.) On February 23, Albornoz echoed Falcon's
complaint about the lack of space for dialogue within Chavismo, and
contended that Falcon's decision should not be regarded as
"treason" because he had joined an allied party, and not the
opposition. He added that PPT hoped to join the PSUV under a
single unity electoral front for the September 2010 National
Assembly elections, but admitted there was a "Plan B" that
consisted of "looking for alliances with other factors."




6. (SBU) Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) spokesman Pedro Eusse
said February 22 that Falcon's resignation showed the necessity for
dialogue among the different factions that support Chavez. He
argued that Falcon "had not abandoned the revolutionary struggle,"
and that an individual's change in party affiliation within the
allied movement (PSUV, PPT, PCV) "did not make the governor a
traitor." Eusse further pledged that the PCV membership continued
to support the PSUV and should not be designated
"counterrevolutionaries."



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OPPOSITION: WATCH OUT, HENRI

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7. (SBU) Accion Democratica (AD) leader Henry Ramos Allup
asserted February 22 that Falcon's decision did not represent a new
faction within Chavismo. He said that "I do not see Henri Falcon
heading Chavismo without Chavez because if he was, he would have
said so expressly. What he did was to change rooms within the same
house." Allup noted that "it will be worthwhile to see if [Falcon]
is well-treated by Chavez," noting that "there is no boss except
Chavez, there is no dissent, no discrepancies, no distinct visions
of the same [revolutionary] project." He added that Falcon was
trying to choose "a type of political asexuality that does not
exist in Chavismo."



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PSUV DRAWS ITS SWORDS

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8. (SBU) Due to Chavez's attendance at the Cancun Summit February

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21-23, the PSUV's initial response was limited to party Vice
President Jorge Rodriguez's February 22 comment that "we are not
going to resolve party affairs by communicating through the media."
On February 23, however, multiple PSUV leaders unleashed a hail of
insults and allegations at Falcon and the PPT. National Assembly
(AN) President Cilia Flores assailed Falcon as a "weakling" who
"for a long time had not been a team player," and who had cut deals
with the private sector to enrich himself: "Falcon switched from
popular power to Polar power." Flores asserted that the PSUV had
"frozen relations" with the PPT, to confirm whether the PPT "is
dedicated to Falcon's vision, because his is a counterrevolutionary
vision that seeks to attack the leader of the revolution." Guarico
state Governor William Lara derided Falcon's assertions that there
was no room for internal debate within the PSUV, and that Falcon
had intentionally passed up opportunities to have the type of
discussion with Chavez that he claimed to be seeking.




9. (SBU) PSUV loyalists in Lara state were even more aggressive,
with state legislator Luis Jonas Reyes - son of GBRV Health
Minister Luis Reyes Reyes - addressing Falcon with "Henry the
Fascist, you are no Socialist." Pledging loyalty to Chavez, Jonas
Reyes applauded Falcon's departure, stating "We do not recognize
Chavismo without Chavez, therefore we believe today the party has
been purified." Fellow state legislator Julio Chavez affirmed that
of 45 PSUV mayors and other elected officials in Lara, only five
had left the party along with Falcon. He further accused Falcon of
having participated in "treason" as far back as the April 2002 coup
against Chavez. As of the afternoon of February 24, Chavez still
had not responded publicly.



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COMMENT

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10. (C) News of Falcon's announcement on February 22 was
juxtaposed with coverage of Chavez's broadside the previous day
against the potential opposition candidates for the September AN
elections, whom he referred to as "assassins, rapists, robbers,
muggers, paramilitaries, and fugitives from justice." Falcon's
non-confrontational style and savvy choice of words in his letter -
"diversity," "dialogue," "participation," "inclusion," and the
sentence "I adhere to the thesis that the ills of democracy are
only cured by justice and more democracy" - threaten Chavez because
they call to mind images of what Chavez is not: a leader who can
reconcile competing national visions.




11. (C) Falcon's stature as the most popular Chavista leader apart
from Chavez is confirmed by Falcon's approval ratings in Lara and a
few neighboring states, which far surpass those of the President.
Falcon's potential command over a sizable electorate puts Chavez in
a difficult position. If he brooks this disobedience, Chavez risks
appearing weak and losing other disaffected Chavistas, who may
judge that they can remain credible "revolutionaries" without
necessarily staying in the party (and under Chavez's thumb).
However, cracking down on Falcon - either by punishing the PPT or
going after the governor personally, or both - could cause a public
backlash among Falcon's supporters, jeopardizing PSUV support in
the key populations in and around Lara State just three months
before the PSUV is slated to hold national party primaries.
DUDDY