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

131408Z Jun 05

UNCLAS  CARACAS 001786 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
WHA/PDA FOR SLEBENS, RBANKS 
IIP FOR JMANES, BBUTLER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO PTER VE
SUBJECT: SPEAKER EXPLAINS U.S. VIEWS ON GLOBAL AND 
ANDEAN-REGION TERRORISM 
 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Rand Corporation Senior Policy Analyst, Dr. 
Angel Rabasa, traveled to Venezuela February 28-March 5 
to address the media, national police, private security 
organizations, and academic audiences on the topic of 
terrorism. Rabasa's visit was designed by PAS Caracas to 
lay the groundwork for future counterterrorism 
programming, and was therefore planned as a 
contextualization of the global terrorist threat and the 
U.S. response since September 2001. In the country's two 
largest cities, Caracas and Maracaibo, Rabasa made the 
case for the Global War on Terror, while at the same time 
relaying U.S. and international concerns over rumored GoV 
support for Colombian insurgencies.  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------- 
THE MESSAGE 
----------- 
 
¶2. (U) PAS Caracas plans a series of terrorism-related 
programming in the year ahead, focusing primarily on the 
issues of terrorist financing and document fraud. 
However, before beginning to address that specific subset 
of issues relevant here in Venezuela, it was important to 
lay the groundwork with an introductory explanation of 
how the U.S. views the global threat posed by Islamic 
extremist terrorist organizations, the regional context 
of this threat, the actions the U.S. has taken around the 
world in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, and 
actions that can be taken by regional governments and 
business to help curb that threat. Rabasa's visit served 
as the opening salvo in this campaign, and helped lay the 
groundwork for future related programming. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Dr. Angel Rabasa, whose expertise includes 
Colombia, was able to subtly raise the issue of suspected 
ideological and other support given by elements of the 
Venezuelan government to Colombian rebel groups, in a way 
that official representatives of the USG are not free to 
do. This particular message resonated with many of the 
speaker's audiences, particularly as his visit followed 
shortly after the highly-publicized case of the capture 
of a high ranking FARC figure in Caracas. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
SECURITY PROFESSIONALS HEAR THE U.S. CASE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Though Embassy Caracas finds its government-to- 
government contacts in Venezuela limited, the head of the 
CICPC (FBI-analogous national police) academy, a former 
International Visitor Program participant, agreed to 
allow a group of his cadets and instructors to be 
addressed by Rabasa. Though appearing skeptical, and 
asking some tough questions at the end of the speaker's 
presentation, the cadets were an important group for this 
message to reach.  They will be the next generation of 
crime investigators in Venezuela, and some will no doubt 
work on investigated and preventing terrorist cases. 
 
¶5. (U) Dr. Rabasa also addressed two locally significant 
groups of security professionals, whose representatives 
form the front line against terrorist threats to both 
American and Venezuelan businesses in this country. 
Rabasa first spoke to members of the Overseas Security 
Advisory Council (OSAC), which represents security 
executives of U.S. corporations and interests in 
Venezuela. He later addressed the Venezuelan Association 
of Security Executives (AVES, by its Spanish initials), 
whose members are the heads of security for some of 
Venezuela's largest corporations, both private and 
public.  This audience of 80 was particularly 
appreciative of Rabasa's visit, and expressed great 
interest in cooperating with the embassy on future 
projects. 
 
--------------------------- 
ENGAGING ACADEMIC AUDIENCES 
--------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) In Caracas, Dr. Rabasa addressed mixed audiences 
of undergraduate and graduate students and professors at 
three prestigious universities: Universidad Simon Bolivar 
(public), Universidad Catolica Andres Bello and 
Universidad Monte Avila (both private). The USB and UMA 
audiences were smaller groups and provided an opportunity 
 
for a high level of academic discourse and some truly 
insightful questions from students and faculty alike, 
while the UCAB audience was large (100+ undergraduates 
pursuing law degrees) and included questions from some 
students who were clearly skeptical of U.S. policy, 
particularly regarding the war in Iraq as it relates to 
our definition of terrorism (i.e. the victimizing of 
civilian populations). 
 
¶7. (U) In the country's second largest city, Maracaibo, 
Rabasa met with students and faculty of the Universidad 
del Zulia (LUZ) and members of the local bar association, 
in a dynamic session. Due to their proximity to the 
Colombian border, the residents of Zulia have an 
immediate perspective on terrorism, particularly that 
which spills over the border.  The participants' 
questions reflected these concerns. Given Dr. Rabasa's 
writings on the subject, the event concluded with the 
well-known public university extending an invitation for 
the speaker to return in the future. 
 
------------------------------------ 
MEDIA: TAKING HIS CASE TO THE PEOPLE 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (U) PAS Caracas scheduled a great deal of media 
exposure for Dr. Rabasa, which he handled ably. 
Electronic media exposure came from live interviews on 
Union Radio Noticias (the largest all-news radio station 
in the country), Globovision (the nationwide 24-hour 
television news station), and "A Punto con Juan Carlos 
Fernandez," a morning news talk program in Maracaibo, 
broadcast simultaneously on two radio stations in Zulia 
and several TV stations in the western region of 
Venezuela. This latest was aired again in April on a 
newly-launched local cable TV channel. It was refreshing 
to have an expert of Dr. Rabasa's caliber also be able to 
converse with interviewers at a nearly-native level of 
fluency, which adds to the credibility of the interview. 
 
¶9. (U) Rabasa's visit also garnered extensive print news 
coverage, primarily in the form of two exclusive 
interviews with large newspapers.  In Caracas, Rabasa 
spoke with El Nacional, a leading broadsheet newspaper 
with national distribution. The daily dedicated a half- 
page to the interview, linking it to a story about the 
Colombian FARC insurgency. Maracaibo's leading daily, 
Panorama, which has of late taken a pro-government 
stance, delayed publication of Rabasa's interview, but 
eventually ran the story. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶10. (U) Embassy Caracas appreciates Dr. Rabasa's 
willingness to endure a very full schedule, as well as 
both his expertise and language abilities, which combined 
led to an effective and worthwhile program, and provided 
a good foundation for future counterterrorism programming 
in Venezuela.  Embassy Caracas also extends its 
appreciation to IIP for their assistance in preparing 
this speaker program. 
 
 
BROWNFIELD 
 
 
NNNN 
      2005CARACA01786 - UNCLASSIFIED