Chavez Appoints New Vice President, Defense Minister, and

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000099 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PASS TO AMEMBASSY GRENADA AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PASS TO AMCONSUL RECIFE AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/27 TAGS: PGOV PREL CO VE PINR SUBJECT: Chavez Appoints New Vice President, Defense Minister, and Environment Minister REF: 10 CARACAS 91 CLASSIFIED BY: DUDDY, AMBASSADOR, DOS, AMB; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) On January 26, President Chavez announced the appointment of Elias Jaua Milano, currently Minister of Agriculture and Lands, as Vice President to replace Ramon CarrizC!lez, who resigned as Vice President and Defense Minister effective January ¶25. Jaua will retain his agriculture portfolio. Chavez named General (four star equivalent) Carlos Jose Mata Figueroa as Minister of Defense, and Alejandro Hitcher, president of Hidrocapital, the water works of Caracas, as Minister of the Environment. Minister Jaua and General Mata have long standing Chavista credentials. No one has yet been named to replace Minister of Public Banking and President of the Bank of Venezuela Eugenio Vasquez Orrellana. Bios of Jaua, Mata, and Hitcher are provided in paras 2-5 below. Vice President of The Republic cid:image001.png@01CA9F7A.BB948620 ¶2. (SBU) Elias Jose Jaua Milano was born in Caucagua, Miranda state, in 1969. A graduate of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, (UCV),he was President of the Student Council of Sociology and earned a bachelor's degree in that field. Jaua claims to have been a leftist militant since joining the Revolutionary Youth Movement at age 14. Jaua joined Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) in 1996 and became Secretary to the Presidency in 2000. In 2004, Jaua headed the newly-formed Ministry of Popular Economy whose mission was to "foster the development all sectors related to the popular economy, with special emphasis on the rural sector." As Minister of Agriculture and Lands in 2006, he presided over a flurry of land seizures, ranging from local sugar plantations to the tree farms of multi-national cardboard maker Smurfitt- Kappa. Numerous contacts have told the AGATT that Jaua enjoys Chavez's full confidence. ¶3. (SBU) According to the Argentine newspaper Clarin, Jaua was refused agrC)ment in 2002 because of his contacts with leftist groups in Buenos Aires and the Argentine military breakaway movement "Caraspintadas." Jaua is a director in Chavez's socialist PSUV party. In addressing the National Simon Bolivar Farmers' and Fishermen's Front in October 2009, Jaua called for the creation of the Ezequiel Zamora Farmers' Militia to combat "crime and imperialism." Minister of Defense cid:image002.png@01CA9F7A.BB948620 ¶4. (S) Carlos Jose Mata Figueroa was born October 30, 1957 and commissioned in the Army as an artillery officer in 1979. A lieutenant colonel in 1997, Mata moved up quickly under Chavez, becoming a brigadier general in 2002 and receiving his second "star" in 2005. Appointed Commander of the Army in July 2007, Mata emerged unscathed following the Venezuelan Army's embarrassing deployment in the 2008 purported "war" with Colombia. Mata's reputation as a favorite of Chavez was sealed when he was promoted to the newly created three star Major General rank later in 2008. Although he should have retired in July 2009, he was appointed to head the Strategic Operational Command in March 2009. It is rumored Mata had regular contact with armed irregular groups while serving as a new general during 2002 in the state of Barinas. Minister of the Environment cid:image003.png@01CA9F7A.BB948620 ¶5. (SBU) Alejandro Hitcher is a career technocrat. Born in 1960, Hitcher earned a Civil Engineering degree from Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV). While at the university, Hitcher was part of Movimiento 80, a reform movement primarily of engineering CARACAS 00000099 002 OF 002 students to change admission policies and teaching standards at the school. Fellow students in the movement included Jorge Rodriguez, Chavez's vice president from 2007 - 2008 and current mayor of the Libertador municipality of Caracas, and Jacqueline FarC-as, the Chavez-appointed head of Greater Caracas. Hitcher left the Hidrocapital in 2000 to serve as Deputy Minister for Water in the Environment Ministry, but returned to Hidrocapital in 2005. A former classmate of Hitcher's told PolOff that Hitcher speaks excellent English and, although not a Chavista, is critical of the United States. CAULFIELD