VZCZCXRO3194
PP RUEHAG
DE RUEHCV #1461/01 1421744
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P 221744Z MAY 06
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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 CARACAS 001461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SECRET NOFORN 
 
SIPDIS 
SIPDIS 
 
HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
FOR FRC LAMBERT 
 
E.O. 12958: DNG: CO 05/22/2026 
TAGS: PREL SNAR PTER KSAF VE
SUBJECT: BRV VICE MINISTER DISCUSSES TERRORISM, EXTRADITION 
WITH AMBASSADOR 
 
REF: CARACAS 01300 
 
CARACAS 00001461  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT R. DOWNES FOR 1.4 (D) 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (S//NF)  Venezuelan vice foreign minister Maria Pilar 
Hernandez called in the Ambassador on May 17 to discuss the 
status of BRV extradition requests on alleged terrorist 
bombers Jose Antonio Colina, German Varela, and Luis Posada 
Carriles.  She said her government had taken the position 
that the USG defended terrorists because the USG had not 
responded.  Ambassador stated he had no instructions, noted 
that a decision on Colina and Varela was forthcoming but 
indicated that there were clear signals that the BRV had not 
provided adequate evidence.  He confirmed that the USG had 
stated willingness to suggest ways to improve the request on 
Posada Carriles, but frequent public accusations by the BRV 
was making cooperation on legal issues difficult.  The 
Ambassador told Hernandez that the BRV had ignored over 100 
requests for information on possible terrorists transiting 
Venezuela during the past four years.  He raised the issue of 
the Barinas Government's apparent refusal to contribute to 
his security during his May 18 visit to the state.  He 
reminded her that the MFA had not responded to an Embassy 
request to reestablish a post in Maracaibo.  A request for 
payment for damages to the chancery committed by 
BRV-sponsored protesters remained unanswered, as well.  He 
updated her on the radiological incident at Puerto Cabello 
(REFTEL).  End Summary. 
 
-------------------- 
Extradition Requests 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  The Ambassador met with Venezuelan vice minister of 
foreign affairs for North America Maria Pilar Hernandez on 
May 17 at the Ministry (MFA) at her request.  Hernandez 
called the meeting to discuss the status of BRV extradition 
requests on Luis Posada Carriles (accused of bombing a Cuban 
airplane) and Lieutenants Jose Antonio Colina and German 
Varela (accused of bombing the Spanish Embassy and Colombian 
Consulate in Venezuela).  Regarding the Colina and Varela 
case, she said the BRV had fulfilled all the requirements of 
the extradition request, which it had filed over a year ago. 
Regarding Posada Carriles, she said she assumed that the 
"absurd" claims of prospective torture would affect the 
decision.  Consequently, the BRV had taken the public 
position that the USG was defending terrorists.  She added 
that the BRV interpreted the USG's failure to detain Colina 
and Varela as U.S. collaboration with terrorism. 
 
¶3.  (C)  The Ambassador responded by noting that the BRV had 
denied four U.S. extradition requests (Note: all wanted on 
narco-trafficking charges) in the past two years.  The USG 
had declined to move on three.  Clearly there was a 
fundamental problem on extradition between the two 
governments.  We could try to solve it, or we could 
politicize the differences.  He said the MFA would receive a 
definitive response on Colina and Varela.  The Ambassador 
warned, however, that the evidence it had supplied hinged on 
an alleged witness who had retracted his statement. 
Stressing that Posada Carriles remained in a U.S. detention 
facility in El Paso, the Ambassador said the case was still 
active, but the extradition request was not sufficient in its 
current form.  The USG could provide guidance to the BRV on 
 
CARACAS 00001461  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
preparing an adequate request, but the climate of constant 
BRV public declarations complicated the matter. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Hernandez asked if the USG would prosecute those 
officials it refused to extradite.  The Ambassador replied 
that if the USG judged there was insufficient evidence for an 
extradition, it was likely to find the evidence insufficient 
for a trial, as well.  Hernandez said the BRV was 
constitutionally prohibited from extraditing the four 
officials mentioned by the Ambassador because the USG had not 
provided guarantees that they would not receive more than 
30-year sentences.  The Ambassador added that the U.S. 
decisions on extradition would likewise be made in accordance 
with domestic laws.  The USG remained ready to dialog on a 
legal level but not on a politicized level, he said. 
 
----------------------- 
Terrorism Determination 
----------------------- 
 
¶5.  (S//NF)  Hernandez said her government rejected the 
Secretary's March 15 determination that the BRV was "not 
 
SIPDIS 
fully cooperating" against terrorism.  The action was 
politically motivated, she asserted.  The Ambassador noted 
that besides the reasons for the decision outlined in the 
country report, the BRV had failed to respond to over 100 
Embassy requests for information on the movement through 
Venezuela of people with suspected ties to terrorism over the 
past four years.  Hernandez asked for an informal list of 
concrete examples of such requests for information.  She said 
she wanted to find out whether the requests were rejected 
because of human error or because they came from the Embassy. 
 Noting that such correspondence was supposed to go through 
intelligence, law enforcement, and military channels, the 
Ambassador agreed to look into sending a sanitized non-paper 
of a few requests she could check. 
 
---------------------- 
Ambassadorial Security 
---------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C)  The Ambassador said that the Barinas Government had 
told us it would not be responsible for the Ambassador's 
security during his trip to the state May 18.  Rather, it 
referred the Embassy to Venezuelan intelligence (DISIP).  The 
Ambassador noted that his experience from previous travel 
suggested that when state governments eschewed 
responsibility, violent protests were organized.  Hernandez 
said that she could not give orders to the state government, 
but would work through other channels to ensure there were no 
incidents.  (Note:  DCM reiterated concern for the 
Ambassador's security in a call to the Vice President's chief 
of staff, Rene Arreaza, who said he would approach the state 
government on the issue.  The Barinas Government did provide 
security during the May 18 visit (SEPTEL).) 
 
----------------- 
Embassy Vandalism 
----------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  The Ambassador raised the MFA's lack of response to 
the Embassy's March 20 diplomatic note, which requested 
reimbursement for vandalism to the Chancery committed during 
protests on March 8.  The Ambassador emphasized that the USG 
was asking for repayment for the first time because the BRV, 
through the Ministry of Communications and several other 
senior government officials, clearly and publicly sponsored 
this march.  The Embassy had not protested the damage left by 
 
CARACAS 00001461  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
several other marches.  Hernandez said the MFA had been 
silent on the issue because no standard operating procedure 
existed for repaying an Embassy for vandalism.  She added 
that the Foreign Ministry was not involved with the marches. 
The Ambassador indicated that the USG would be forced to take 
some reciprocal action to recoup costs incurred by the BRV if 
the BRV failed to respond. 
 
------------------- 
Maracaibo Consulate 
------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C)  The Ambassador also raised the issue of our April 12 
diplomatic note, which solicited permission to reestablish a 
consulate in Maracaibo.  He noted that we were facing some 
concrete issues that were becoming more urgent as time 
passed.  First, contracts for the building space needed to be 
settled.  Second, apartments needed to be found.  Third, 
other issues surrounding the arrival in a few months of two 
new employees had to be resolved.  Ambassador said there 
would be "certain pressure" from the USG on the BRV if a 
response were not received within another month.  Hernandez 
took note of the request without response. 
 
--------------- 
Cobalt-60 Issue 
--------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  The Ambassador brought Hernandez up-to-date on the 
issue of the unprotected Cobalt-60 device that had exposed 
several NAS and BRV employees to radiation (REFTEL) in Puerto 
Cabello.  He said that Oak Ridge medical personnel--in 
consultation with the IAEA--visiting Post had determined that 
affected U.S. and Venezuelan personnel had undergone a 
negligible risk of radiation poisoning.  Hernandez noted that 
some Venezuelan personnel had been exposed for days.  The 
Ambassador assured her, however, that given the low level of 
radioactivity, the evidence suggested a person would have to 
be almost touching the source for such an extended time to 
have been in danger, according to the Oak Ridge experts. 
 
------------------ 
Counterdrug Accord 
------------------ 
 
¶10.  (C)  Hernandez said her government still had a problem 
with the latest version of the counternarcotics addendum, 
transmitted to MFA by dip note in March.  The Spanish 
document was an inaccurate translation, she said.  She 
proposed that her ministry translate the English version of 
the text and provide its version to the USG as early as next 
week for approval. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
¶11.  (C)  Vice minister Hernandez was on her best behavior. 
Charged only with raising the extradition issue, she was in 
much better spirits this time.  She may have wagered that the 
Ambassador would have difficulty explaining why Venezuela had 
not received replies to its extradition requests.  She joked 
that the "not fully cooperating" designation was intended to 
place Venezuela in "purgatory."  The forthcoming response to 
the extradition requests on Colina and Varela will clear an 
issue off our bilateral agenda, and fit nicely with our line 
that the BRV has also been nonresponsive on extradition. 
 
 
CARACAS 00001461  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
BROWNFIELD