Chavez Blasts IACHR Human Rights Report as "Pure Garbage"

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2035/02/26
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV VE OAS
SUBJECT: Chavez Blasts IACHR Human Rights Report as "Pure Garbage"

REF: 09 CARACAS 1545 AND PREVIOUS

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


1. (C) Summary: On February 25, Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez strongly rejected the special report issued by the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the
Organization of American States (OAS),calling it "pure garbage"
that reflected the continued "demonization" of Venezuela. The
report, released on February 24, was highly critical of Venezuela's
human rights record, noting the lack of an independent judiciary,
political discrimination against Chavez's opponents, and claims
that both human rights defenders and journalists are unable to
freely carry out their work in the country. We can expect a similar
response when our own Human Rights Report is released on March 9.
End Summary.



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IACHR Report Highly Critical

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2. (SBU) The IACHR's special report, entitled "Democracy and
Human Rights in Venezuela," was highly critical of Chavez's human
rights record. The 300-plus page report lamented "political
intolerance, the lack of independence of the branches of State in
dealing with the executive; constraints on freedom of expression
and the right to protest peaceably; the existence of a climate
hostile to the free exercise of dissenting political participation
and to monitoring the activities on the part of human rights
organizations." It also criticized the "prevailing impunity
affecting cases of human rights violations" as a contributor to
weakened rule of law and democracy in Venezuela.




3. (SBU) While the Commission praised the GBRV's efforts in
seeking to eradicate illiteracy, reduce poverty, and increase
access for the most vulnerable sectors to basic services such as
health care, it also noted that "observance of other fundamental
rights cannot be sacrificed for the sake of realizing economic,
social, and cultural rights in Venezuela."



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GBRV Lashes Out

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4. (SBU) Upon his return from a trip to the Rio Summit in
Cancun and to Cuba, Chavez unleashed his ire at the report's
findings. Speaking at a press conference, Chavez called the report
"pure garbage" and complained of the "demonization" of his
Bolivarian revolution by the United States and the IACHR. Chavez
described the report as part of a "conspiracy to sabotage" the
Cancun Summit-proposed Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States (CELAC) from a "mafia" that included the OAS. Building on
arguments he made in Cancun about the perceived need for "an
Americas organization without the United States," Chavez added
"someday the OAS needs to vanish." Chavez noted to Foreign Minister
Nicholas Maduro that the report "wasn't worth responding to," but
instead instructed him to look into withdrawing from that "awful
commission." Chavez also heaped scorn on IACHR Secretary General
Santiago Canton, calling him "pure excrement."




5. (SBU) During a February 25 press conference, Venezuela's
top human rights official, Ombudswoman Gabriela Ramirez, echoed
Chavez's remarks by accusing the IACHR of "attempting, once again,
to discredit and weaken the democratic institutions of the
(Venezuelan) state." Ramirez accused the IACHR of taking some

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statistics out of context and using others selectively, which she
said, "takes away credibility and shows that bias of this
organization." Ramirez also rehashed longtime GBRV arguments that
the IACHR had recognized the de facto Carmona government after the
April 2002 coup, and therefore could not be trusted.



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IACHR Responds

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6. (SBU) In an interview published in the February 26 edition
of El Universal, IACHR Commissioner for Venezuelan Affairs Paulo
Sergio Pinheiro noted that the report dedicated 70 pages to
documenting Venezuela's advances in social justice. The Brazilian
jurist stressed that the IACHR "is not the enemy of any
government," and dismissed the GBRV's accusations of having
supported the 2002 coup as "absurd." Pinhiero highlighted that
Venezuela was the only country in the hemisphere to have refused
admission to IACHR investigative teams in recent years, and
lamented that Venezuela had "missed an opportunity" to establish a
fluid dialogue with the commission. (Note: The last IACHR site
visit to Venezuela took place in May 2002. The GBRV has
consistently refused the Commission's requests to conduct
subsequent site visits, as noted in reftels. End Note.)




7. (C) Comment: President Chavez has threatened to pull out
of the Inter-American system before. With the scheduled March 9
release of our own Human Rights Report, we can expect a similar
response from the GBRV to the perceived U.S. criticisms. End
Comment.
DUDDY