VZCZCXRO8383
RR RUEHAG RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD
RUEHROV RUEHRS RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHTM
DE RUEHCV #1529/01 3382211
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 042211Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0102
INFO EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 001529 
 
SIPDIS 
AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PASS TO AMEMBASSY GRENADA 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC 
AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PASS TO AMCONSUL RECIFE 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG 
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/04 
TAGS: PREL PREF PGOV PTER CO VE IOM
SUBJECT: COLOMBIANS IN VENEZUELA 
 
REF: CARACAS 1517 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Steuart, ADCM, DOS, FO; REASON: 1.4(D) 
 
¶1.       (SBU) Summary:  Forty years of civil war in Colombia have 
created a unique situation where four generations of refugees, 
totaling an estimated 6 million people,  call Venezuela home. 
Colombian expatriates are integrated at every level of Venezuelan 
society, from casual day laborers to prosperous business owners. 
In a total population of 26 million, the Colombians represent a 
significant bloc that, according to some, punished Chavez for his 
attitude toward Colombian President Uribe in the November 2008 
state elections.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.        (C)  Estimates range from 2 -6 million Colombians living 
in Venezuela.  The Colombian government maintains 15 consulates in 
Venezuela, with multiple offices in the border states of Zulia, 
Apure and Tachira to provide citizen services.  Colombian Consul 
General Gladys Paez told PolOff that she estimates 3 million legal 
Colombians in Venezuela and another two to three million who are in 
the country illegally.  Colombian First Secretary Esperanza Torres, 
in charge of citizen services, told PolOff that only 400,000 
Colombians are actually registered with the Embassy.  She noted 
that the multi-million figure includes second generation children 
who would be eligible for citizenship.   Torres also mentioned to 
PolOff that, while many Colombians who resided on the Venezuelan 
border with Colombia have returned to Colombia due to the 
heightened tensions, the number of Colombians traveling to central 
and eastern Venezuela via human smuggling networks remain steady. 
Reftel discusses the recent expulsion of 500 Colombian miners from 
the border region. 
 
 
 
¶3.        (C)  Ligimat Perez, Public Information Officer for the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,  told PolOff that 
she estimated some 70% of Colombians come to Venezuela for economic 
reasons.    According to Perez, her office, established in 1991, 
has 220,000 cases of Colombians who fled to Venezuela for their 
physical safety in the last ten years.  Perez told PolOff that the 
220,000 figure was "very conservative" compared to the actual 
number who left  Colombia because of a physical threat. 
 
 
 
¶4.       (C)  In 2003 the Venezuelan government launched Mission 
Identity, a program to provide national identity cards to low 
income Venezuelans.  The Office for National Identity and 
Foreigners (ONIDEX) boasted that, in addition to serving these 
citizens, more than 200,000 foreigners were naturalized in the 
first year.  Critics complained that Chavez used ONIDEX to pad the 
voter rolls with freshly nationalized Colombians.  (Note: The 
capture of FARC directorate member Rodrigo Granda in 2004 and 
Colombian drug kingpin Hermagoras Gonzalez in 2008 with authentic 
national identity cards lends credence to complaints that cards are 
issued without due diligence.  End Note.) 
 
 
 
¶5.       (C)  According to Colombian Embassy Press Officer Juan 
Colorado, the impromptu March 2008 order to send tanks to the 
Colombian border upset many expatriates in Venezuela.  According to 
Colorado, the 1.5 million Colombians registered to vote in 
Venezuela expressed their disapproval of Chavez's rhetorical 
attacks during the November 2008 elections, resulting in the loss 
of two border states and well as Miranda state and Venezuela's two 
largest cities to the opposition. 
 
 
 
¶6.       (C)  Comment:  While Chavez's rhetoric against Colombian 
President Uribe and the Colombian "oligarchy" is strident, both he 
and the official Venezuelan media have taken the opposite tack with 
regard to Colombians in Venezuela.  Chavez refers to Colombians as 
"children of Bolivar" and "brothers."  The official media has 
launched a campaign featuring spots with Colombians who say they 
were forced to flee the violence in their country and expressed 
their gratitude for the welcome they received in Venezuela. 
Another media spot had a Venezuelan and a Colombian singing a 
ballad about the "twinness" of the countries.  However, Chavez 
 
CARACAS 00001529  002 OF 002 
 
 
frequently attacks the Colombian upper class and President Uribe 
with terms like "rancid oligarchs, pitiyanqui and lapdog of the 
empire."  End Comment. 
DUDDY