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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000239 
 
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2035/02/26 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV VE OAS
SUBJECT: Chavez Blasts IACHR Human Rights Report as "Pure Garbage" 
 
REF: 09 CARACAS 1545 AND PREVIOUS 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Rolf Olson, Acting Political Counselor, DOS, POL; 
REASON: 1.4(D) 
 
¶1.      (C)  Summary:  On February 25, Venezuelan President Hugo 
Chavez strongly rejected the special report issued by the 
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights  (IACHR) of the 
Organization of American States (OAS), calling it "pure garbage" 
that reflected the continued "demonization" of Venezuela.  The 
report, released on February 24, was highly critical of Venezuela's 
human rights record, noting the lack of an independent judiciary, 
political discrimination against Chavez's opponents, and claims 
that both human rights defenders and journalists are unable to 
freely carry out their work in the country. We can expect a similar 
response when our own Human Rights Report is released on March 9. 
End Summary. 
 
 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
IACHR Report Highly Critical 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.      (SBU)  The IACHR's special report, entitled "Democracy and 
Human Rights in Venezuela," was highly critical of Chavez's human 
rights record.  The 300-plus page report lamented "political 
intolerance, the lack of independence of the branches of State in 
dealing with the executive; constraints on freedom of expression 
and the right to protest peaceably; the existence of a climate 
hostile to the free exercise of dissenting political participation 
and to monitoring the activities on the part of human rights 
organizations."  It also criticized the "prevailing impunity 
affecting cases of human rights violations" as a contributor to 
weakened rule of law and democracy in Venezuela. 
 
 
 
¶3.      (SBU)  While the Commission praised the GBRV's efforts in 
seeking to eradicate illiteracy, reduce poverty, and increase 
access for the most vulnerable sectors to basic services such as 
health care, it also noted that "observance of other fundamental 
rights cannot be sacrificed for the sake of realizing economic, 
social, and cultural rights in Venezuela." 
 
 
 
------------------------ 
 
GBRV Lashes Out 
 
------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶4.      (SBU)  Upon his return from a trip to the Rio Summit in 
Cancun and to Cuba, Chavez unleashed his ire at the report's 
findings.  Speaking at a press conference, Chavez called the report 
"pure garbage" and complained of the "demonization" of his 
Bolivarian revolution by the United States and the IACHR.  Chavez 
described the  report as part of a "conspiracy to sabotage" the 
Cancun Summit-proposed Community of Latin American and Caribbean 
States (CELAC) from a "mafia" that included the OAS.  Building on 
arguments he made in Cancun about the perceived need for "an 
Americas organization without the United States," Chavez added 
"someday the OAS needs to vanish." Chavez noted to Foreign Minister 
Nicholas Maduro that the report "wasn't worth responding to," but 
instead instructed him to look into withdrawing from that "awful 
commission."  Chavez also heaped scorn on IACHR Secretary General 
Santiago Canton, calling him "pure excrement." 
 
 
 
¶5.      (SBU)  During a February 25 press conference, Venezuela's 
top human rights official, Ombudswoman Gabriela Ramirez, echoed 
Chavez's remarks by accusing the IACHR of "attempting, once again, 
to discredit and weaken the democratic institutions of the 
(Venezuelan) state."  Ramirez accused the IACHR of taking some 
 
CARACAS 00000239  002 OF 002 
 
 
statistics out of context and using others selectively, which she 
said, "takes away credibility and shows that bias of this 
organization." Ramirez also rehashed longtime GBRV arguments that 
the IACHR had recognized the de facto Carmona government after the 
April 2002 coup, and therefore could not be trusted. 
 
 
 
---------------------- 
 
IACHR Responds 
 
---------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6.      (SBU) In an interview published in the February 26 edition 
of El Universal, IACHR Commissioner  for Venezuelan Affairs Paulo 
Sergio Pinheiro noted that the report dedicated 70 pages to 
documenting Venezuela's advances in social justice.  The Brazilian 
jurist stressed that the IACHR "is not the enemy of any 
government," and dismissed the GBRV's accusations of having 
supported the 2002 coup as "absurd."  Pinhiero highlighted that 
Venezuela was the only country in the hemisphere to have refused 
admission to IACHR investigative teams in recent years, and 
lamented that  Venezuela had "missed an opportunity" to establish a 
fluid dialogue with the commission.  (Note: The last IACHR site 
visit to Venezuela took place in May 2002. The GBRV has 
consistently refused the Commission's requests to conduct 
subsequent site visits, as noted in reftels.  End Note.) 
 
 
 
¶7.      (C)  Comment:  President Chavez has threatened to pull out 
of the Inter-American system before.  With the scheduled March 9 
release of our own Human Rights Report, we can expect a similar 
response from the GBRV to the perceived U.S. criticisms.  End 
Comment. 
DUDDY