This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS  CARACAS 001727 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR TOM SHANNON 
STATE FOR INR/R/MR:IMARR AND STHIBEAULT, WHA/AND:HOEY, 
WHA/PDA:CAVANAUGH, PACE/PR/FPCW/WHA:DPRINCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO OPRC KIRC VE
SUBJECT:  HUGO CHAVEZ' MAY 9 ALO PRESIDENTE SPEECH 
 
¶1.  The following is a summary of Venezuelan president 
Hugo Chavez' May 9 Alo Presidente program.  Chavez' 
marathon speeches, of three to five hours, increasingly 
contain accusations of U.S. interference in domestic 
affairs and conspiracy to overthrow his government.  This 
191st Alo Presidente was delivered at the Barinas 
Maternity Hospital in Barinas, Barinas state.  Topics 
included U.S./Venezuelan relations, in particular, the 
Iraqi prisoner scandal and U.S. government policy on 
Cuba.  Other topics were the capture of paramilitaries on 
Roberto Alonso's hacienda; the "enemies of the state," 
including broadcast and print media outlets Globovision, 
Venevision, RCTV, "El Nacional," and "El Universal;" and 
the inauguration of the Barinas hospital. 
 
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Iraqi Prisoner Scandal 
---------------------- 
 
¶2.  "Venezuela condemns the United States Government for 
the violations of human rights in Iraq," said Chavez.  He 
called the photos of American soldiers abusing the human 
rights of the Iraqi prisoners "heinous" and "savage" and 
asked the international community to judge President 
George W. Bush's "anti-terrorist war." 
 
"This is called terrorism and, even more, savagery," said 
President Chavez when he showed the photos of a pile of 
naked Iraqis before American soldiers in a prison in 
Baghdad. 
 
"It is an aberrant thing, they are piled up naked, as if 
it were a sexual witches' Sabbath, and a woman soldier 
was enjoying it.  That is a sick woman," said Chavez. 
 
"They will be accountable for these war crimes and, also, 
for these heinous photos. Let the world be the judge! 
This is Mr. Bush's war.  These are not rumors, these are 
photos of smiling faces of the American soldiers," he 
said. 
 
The President stated that the photos have not only 
provoked outrage in the Arab world, but also "in the 
entire world, because we, most human beings, are neither 
sick nor inhumane." 
 
Chavez also said that the abuses of the Iraqi prisoners 
represent a "reason" why the "U.S. government did not 
want to sign the Rome Statute...through which war crimes 
and crimes against humanity are punished." 
 
The President also accused the Venezuelan media of not 
releasing the abuses of the Iraqi prisoners.  "They don't 
want to mess with their masters because those media 
outlets are paid by them and they totally serve the 
empire." 
 
------------------- 
U.S., No; Cuba, Yes 
------------------- 
 
¶3.  Cuba:  On behalf of the Venezuelan government and 
people, Chavez rejected with "firmness, courage and Latin 
American fraternity" the hardening of the U.S. 
administration's strategy, led by George W. Bush, on 
Cuba. 
 
"How does the U.S. government morally condemn Cuba for 
violating human rights?" asks Chavez, reaffirming his 
"support" to the Havana government.  "We regret that 
there are governments of this hemisphere that subject 
themselves to the strategy of the empire, as Fidel Castro 
said on May 1," said Chavez. 
 
"What Fidel says is true.  There are governments that 
submit themselves to the strategies of the United States 
. . . sometimes because they are pressured, because they 
depend on an IMF loan or because they want to be 
praised," said Chavez.  "They want to condemn Cuba for 
 
alleged violations of human rights, but nobody condemns 
the United States for its violations of human rights in 
Iraq," commented Chavez, again referring to the recent 
photos of Iraqi prisoners being tortured by American 
soldiers, which he termed "a horrendous act." 
 
Chavez said that Cuba asked the very same United Nations 
Human Rights Commission that condemned the island as a 
result of pressure from the United States to investigate 
the violations the U.S. commits on its base located in 
Guantanamo, Cuban territory, for example, the 
disappearance of prisoners.  However, due to this UN 
organ's failure to act, the Caribbean country decided to 
withdraw the request. 
 
"Washington's imperial government once again threatens 
the sovereignty of Cuba, through, for instance, the 
intervention of its communications, of the broadcast of 
Radio Marti, instigating the overthrow and murder of its 
president, Fidel Castro.  This is State terrorism." 
 
Chavez also said that the U.S. restriction on the number 
of resident Cubans in the country traveling to Cuba and 
on the resources they may send to their family members 
illustrates the new momentum in Bush's anti-Cuban 
strategy. 
 
¶4.  United States.  Conditions in the United States 
should not permit the United States government to 
criticize others:  8 million children without social 
security 
 
Chavez scoffed at the U.S. offer, that were a transition 
government be established in Cuba - something he thinks 
would be impossible - it would help vaccinate Cuban poor 
children.  He suggested Bush should start that 
vaccination drive with his country's poor children, since 
the public health on the Caribbean island has progressed 
significantly.  "According to recent figures, at least 
eight million American children are out of the country's 
health system and social security," Chavez claimed. 
 
Chavez deplored the fact that some countries of the 
region submit to imperialistic plans like this one and 
that they don't raise their voices to condemn the 
atrocities the U.S. commits in Iraq. 
 
Shapiro 
 
 
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      2004CARACA01727 - UNCLASSIFIED