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### Viewing cable 09CARACAS1417, CHARGING OPPOSITION LEADERS AS SPIES,

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09CARACAS1417 | 2009-11-05 19:07 | 2010-11-30 21:09 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Caracas

`

    VZCZCXRO0404
    PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
    DE RUEHCV #1417/01 3091924
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 051924Z NOV 09
    FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3936
    INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
    RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
    RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
    RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 001417

    SIPDIS

    HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
    DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2029
    TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE
    SUBJECT: CHARGING OPPOSITION LEADERS AS SPIES,
    PARAMILITARIES, AND TAX EVADERS

    REF: CARACAS 1389

    CARACAS 00001417 001.2 OF 002

    Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBIN D. MEYER,
    FOR REASON 1.4(D)

    ¶1. (C) Summary: Over the past week, President Chavez and
    his supporters have stepped up attacks against two opposition
    governors, Cesar Perez Vivas (Tachira) and Henrique Capriles
    Radonski (Miranda). Chavez is blaming Perez Vivas for
    several highly-publicized violent incidents along the
    Colombian border (septel), alleging that he has ties to
    Colombian paramilitary groups. The Comptroller General
    agreed to investigate corruption charges against Capriles
    brought by Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela
    (PSUV), which could result in a 15-year disqualification from
    public office. PSUV youth members and National Assembly (AN)
    Deputies have called for investigations of a number of other
    opposition figures on allegations of corruption and
    espionage. These attacks are akin to the smear campaign
    Chavez waged before the past two elections to discredit or
    disqualify particularly popular or vocal opposition figures.
    End Summary.

    ---------------------------------------------
    CHAVEZ ALLEGES PEREZ VIVAS' PARAMILITARY TIES
    ---------------------------------------------

    ¶2. (SBU) On November 3, Chavez publicly linked Tachira
    Governor Cesar Perez Vivas with violence along the border
    with Colombia, alleging that paramilitaries tied to the
    Governor had been responsible for the November 2 killing of
    two members of the Venezuelan National Guard. Chavez
    announced that Perez Vivas "is committed to the paramilitary
    plan and we cannot permit it... heed the consequences. There
    was one person who went running for Peru, (Perez Vivas) is
    going to have to do the same." (Notes: Since Perez Vivas'
    election in 2008, Chavez has repeatedly claimed he was linked
    to the Colombian paramilitaries. Manuel Rosales, former
    Maracaibo Mayor and 2006 Presidential candidate, sought
    political asylum in Lima in April 2009 after being charged
    with corruption. End Notes.) Chavez also suggested that the
    opposition Mayor of Tachira's capital city, San Cristobal,
    Monica de Mendez, should respond before a tribunal, just like
    the Governor." In a press conference in San Cristobal the
    same day, Vice President and Minister of Defense Ramon
    Carrizalez echoed Chavez's comments and said the Governor has
    "one foot in jail" and pledged he would fight against Perez
    Vivas' "dirty war."

    ¶3. (SBU) Perez Vivas responded November 4 that the charges
    were part of a "file" the GBRV had fabricated, with the
    assistance of Cuban intelligence services, to discredit him.
    He asserted to the local press that the central government
    was blaming paramilitary groups for the recent deaths in
    Tachira to "protect Colombian guerrillas" that had taken
    refuge in the area. He added that Chavez was trying to
    remove him from power, asserting that the GBRV "doesn't have
    a way to eliminate me ... so they are in their laboratories
    looking for what they can fabricate to blame me."

    --------------------------------------------- -----------
    National Assembly Investigates the Opposition as "Spies"
    --------------------------------------------- -----------

    ¶4. (SBU) On November 3, the AN approved a proposal
    submitted by AN Vice President Saul Ortega to investigate
    travel to Colombia by key opposition leaders, alleging that
    they have been involved in espionage against Venezuela. The
    named individuals are: Miranda State Governor Henrique
    Capriles Radonski, Tachira State Governor Cesar Perez Vivas,
    former Ambassador Milos Alcalay, former Chacao Mayor Leopoldo
    Lopez, Mayor of Greater Caracas Antonio Ledezma, former
    student leader Yon Goicochea, and exiled opposition leader
    Manuel Rosales. Ortega asserted that the opposition's "unity
    table" had been in Colombia in the past few months and days
    and that the former head of Colombia's Administrative
    Department of Security (DAS) had said they were plotting
    against the Venezuelan government.

    --------------------------------------------- ----------
    Comptroller Pursues Corruption Charges against Capriles
    --------------------------------------------- ----------

    ¶5. (SBU) On October 27, the General Comptroller
    ("Contraloria General") accepted corruption charges brought
    against Miranda State Governor Henrique Capriles Radonski.

    CARACAS 00001417 002.2 OF 002

    The charges were levied on August 26 by the PSUV based on
    Capriles' tenure as Mayor of Baruta municipality (part of
    greater Caracas) between 2000-2008. The PSUV alleged
    "financial irregularities" involving several companies owned
    by Capriles and his family, including purported tax evasion
    related to the sale of two plots of land valued at USD 1.8
    million. PSUV representatives claimed October 27 that
    Capriles would have to present himself before the
    Comptroller's Office the following week. (Note: These
    "administrative" charges are distinct from the legal case
    brought against Capriles for his alleged involvement in
    violence outside the Cuban Embassy during the 2002 coup
    against Chavez. Although the latter case could be reopened,
    post is not aware that any legal steps have been taken to do
    so. End Note.)

    ¶6. (C) Lawyer Rafael Chavero told Poloff on November 2 that
    the next step would be for the Comptroller to begin an
    administrative investigation into the case against Capriles,
    which could result in a determination of an "administrative
    irregularity." He said that if Capriles was found
    responsible, the Comptroller General could "disqualify"
    ("inhabilitar") Capriles for up to 15 years without the need
    for any court decision. He noted that this power has been
    used extensively by the GBRV in the past -- most famously to
    disqualify over 200 candidates in advance of the 2008
    municipal and gubernatorial elections -- and called it a
    "fundamental tool used (by the GBRV) to remove political
    adversaries from the game."

    ------------------------------------------
    ...AND POSSIBLY AGAINST LEDEZMA AND GARCIA
    ------------------------------------------

    ¶7. (SBU) Several youth members of the PSUV urged the
    Comptroller's Office on October 30 to open an investigation
    into Mayor of Greater Caracas Antonio Ledezma's trip to
    Brazil. According to the state-owned media, the trip cost
    USD 20,000. The PSUV representatives asserted that an
    investigation was necessary "to explain to the country where
    these resources were taken from, in order (for Ledezma) to
    carry out political tourism... throughout Latin America and
    Europe." Ledezma has claimed the funding for his mid-October
    trip to Brazil, Spain, and France came from private sources
    (reftel).

    ¶8. (SBU) PSUV officials claimed October 27 to also have
    corruption evidence against opposition political party
    "Podemos" founder and AN Deputy Ismael Garcia. Although
    Garcia enjoys immunity from prosecution as an AN Deputy, that
    immunity could be lifted through a vote in the AN.

    -------
    COMMENT
    -------

    ¶9. (C) Of all the charges, those against Perez Vivas appear
    to be the most threatening, given the increased tensions with
    Colombia and Chavez's pledge that the Governor could be
    forced into exile. The charges against Capriles, one of the
    opposition's most popular figures, smack of political revenge
    due to Capriles' long-running rivalry with his predecessor
    and Chavez ally Diosdado Cabello and his repeated calls for a
    corruption investigation into Cabello's gubernatorial
    administration. Disqualifying Capriles from running for
    public office in the foreseeable future could both derail his
    political career and intimidate other opposition officials.
    CAULFIELD

`