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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000724 

SIPDIS 

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
DEPARTMENTPASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER) 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2029 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION ANNOUNCES NEWEST UNITY EFFORT 

CARACAS00000724  001.2 OF 002 


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ, 
FOR REASON 1.4(D) 

¶1.  (C)  Summary:  Opposition political parties held a June 8 
press conference to announce that they are creating a "unity 
table" with a structure of 11 committees aimed at drafting a 
single democratic alternative to Chavismo.  The presence of 
virtually all political party leaders across the ideological 
spectrum was offset, however, by the absence of many younger 
generation political figures.  Political observers indicate 
that opposition parties are beset from within by ongoing 
power struggles particularly between older leaders and the 
younger generation -- many of whom hold office and can claim 
an electoral base of support.  With at least a year until 
major elections are expected, the opposition has the time to 
organize itself, but probably not the will to sacrifice 
personal ambition for the sake of unity.  End Summary. 

-------------------------- 
OPPOSITION CALLS FOR UNITY 
-------------------------- 

¶2.  (SBU)  Opposition political party leaders held a June 8 
press conference at the Christian Democrat (COPEI) 
headquarters in Caracas to announce the creation of an 
opposition "unity table."  COPEI Secretary General Luis 
Ignacio Planas served as the group's spokesman and called for 
the creation of 11 committees to discuss issues ranging from 
elections to international affairs.  He said this work would 
eventually lead to a unified "democratic alternative" 
platform.  Planas also announced that the group stood in 
solidarity with Globovision, the opposition-oriented cable 
news network that Chavez recently threatened to close. 

¶3.  (SBU)  In answer to press queries, Planas did not 
elaborate on any specifics, notably refusing to comment on 
elections either for the National Assembly or within the 
parties.  In a typical display of poor coordination, the 
small opposition Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party's 
national coordinator, Jose Antonio Espana, preempted the 
press conference by announcing a day prior that MAS supported 
a unity opposition ticket for elections and had its own party 
agenda that prioritized fighting poverty.  Early on June 8, 
AccionDemocratica (AD) Secretary General Henry Ramos Allup
told a radio interviewer that he did not favor the creation 
of a single opposition electoral ticket. 

¶4.  (C)  The press conference was well-attended by leaders 
from the traditional opposition, including formerly 
pro-governmentPodemos party and Mayor of Greater Caracas 
Antonio Ledezma.  Among the 50 or so leaders on camera, 
however, there were just two female faces visible and very 
little enthusiasm.  Also conspicuously absent were the 
younger generation of heir-apparents within the parties, 
including Miranda State Governor Henrique CaprilesRadonski
and the mayors of the Sucre and Baruta boroughs of Caracas, 
Carlos Ocariz and Gerardo Blyde.  Former Chacao municipality 
Mayor Leopoldo Lopez created some disruption when he arrived 
near the end of Planas' speech with his successor, Emilio 
Grateron, in tow and began greeting the other party 
representatives seated near him.  Planas also struggled to 
stay on a positive, clear message focused on unity, answering 
baited questions from reporters representing state-owned 
media outlets who asked how this effort differed from the 
CoordinadoraDemocratica that actively opposed Chavez in the 
run-up to the unsuccessful 2004 recall referendum. 

----------------------- 
COLLAPSING FROM WITHIN? 
----------------------- 

¶5.  (C)  Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) activist Yenny De Freitas told 
Poloffs June 8 that the party continues to suffer from a 
major schism between its self-exiled leader, Manuel Rosales, 
andLeopoldo Lopez.  She said that Lopez, who is currently in 
charge of UNT's outreach, is scheming to create his own 
opposition "movement" outside of the current party system -- 
likely taking advantage of the networks he has developed in 
his current role and his personal popularity within Caracas. 
She noted that Lopez no longer attends UNT meetings and said 
that Lopez and Grateron's noticeably late entrance to the 
press conference was intentional.  De Freitas contended that 
bothGrateron and Gerardo Blyde, who was UNT's most recent 
secretary general, would follow Lopez if he left the party. 
She also suggested that the other parties are privately happy 
about UNT's distress and are angling to take advantage of it 
to increase their own relative stature within the opposition. 

¶6.  (C)  Political observers have also told Poloffs that 
within COPEI, Planas has poor relations with Governor of 
TachiraState Cesar Perez Vivas and COPEI DeputySecretary
General Alejandro Vivas.  Perez Vivas is rumored to be 
angling to use his electoral base to wrest control of the 
party away from Caracas-based Planas.  Within Accion
Democratica (AD), party president Victor Bolivar confided to 
Polcouns a few months ago that he was struggling to convince 
AD Secretary General Henry Ramos Allup that the party needed 
a "renovation" and the retirement of its older leadership -- 
which is widely perceived as discredited.  Bolivar would like 
to allow new, younger faces to emerge among its leadership 
ranks.  According to Bolivar, Allup was reluctant to 
sacrifice his own prominence within the party. 

¶7.  (C)  Governor of Carabobo State Henrique Salas Feo, who 
is president of the small opposition Proyecto Venezuela
party, told the Charge d'Affaires June 9 (septel) that the 
unity effort is a waste of time.  He said opposition leaders 
are too busy jockeying to be the next President of Venezuela, 
rather than focusing on the needs of the people.  Salas Feo
opined that with so much time before the next major 
elections, the issues at hand should be resolving 
Venezuelans' social ills rather than choosing the next 
leadership of the opposition movement. 

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

¶8.  (C)  While the opposition's much-heralded "unity" 
announcement was a worthy first step aimed at creating a 
democratic alternative to Chavez, it was underwhelming in its 
execution.  Planas offered only vague promises of unity 
committees that would, in theory, come to a consensus on more 
detailed strategies.  The stated goal may also be somewhat 
unrealistic given the widely divergent ideological views 
among the parties, which range from socialist to right-wing 
Christian democrat.Planas also failed to pronounce what the 
opposition stood for, preferring to make cheap-shot remarks 
against Chavez. 

¶9.  (C)  The lethargic and at times indifferent attitude of 
the opposition leaders in attendance (some of whom paid more 
attention to their Blackberries than to Planas' speech) 
stands in marked contrast to Chavez's enthusiastic, 
color-coordinated PSUV rallies and underscores the 
opposition's inability to present even a temporarily united 
image.  The absence of the more popular younger generation of 
opposition leaders almost certainly will feed speculation 
that all is not well within the parties, and that disgruntled 
figures like Leopoldo Lopez may be preparing to launch their 
own self-serving "movement" at the expense of whatever 
cohesion the current opposition parties are able to achieve. 

CAULFIELD