Cablegate: A Trio of Cabinet Resignations Sparks Speculation

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TAGS: PGOV PREL CO VE
SUBJECT: A Trio of Cabinet Resignations Sparks Speculation
REF: 10 CARACAS 33; 10 CARACAS 77; 10 CARACAS 3

CLASSIFIED BY: DUDDY, AMBASSADOR, DOS, AMB; REASON: 1.4(A), (D)

1. (C) Summary. On January 25, the Venezuelan government
(GBRV) confirmed the resignation of Vice President and Defense
Minister Ramon CarrizC!lez, his wife and Environment Minister Yubiri
Ortega, and Minister of Public Banking and President of the Bank of
Venezuela Eugenio Vasquez Orrellana. The unexpected resignation of
CarrizC!lez, who had been the point person for recent attacks
against the United States, has generated considerable speculation.
General Carlos Jose Mata Figueroa, head of the Strategic
Operational Command, has assumed the duties of Defense Minister.
The position of Vice President currently remains open. End
Summary.

Rumors about Carrizalez' Reasons

2. (SBU) President Chavez accepted the resignation on January
25 of Vice President and Defense Minister Ramon Carrizález. Local
press reported that Carrizález and his wife, Environment Minister
Yubiri Ortega, had tendered their resignations on January 23.
Carrizález cited "strictly personal" reasons for his resignation
and said that any other reason attributed to his resignation would
be "false and biased."

3. (C) Nevertheless, speculation among pundits abounds.
Carrizalez had recently appeared as the force behind President
Chavez' denunciation of the alleged U.S. military overflight of
Venezuelan airspace (ref a) and U.S. and Dutch intentions to use
Curacao as a base for military operations against Venezuela (ref
c); Chavez later walked back this obviously false allegation by
saying the alleged pilot had shown no hostile intent (ref b). Some
pundits, XXXXXXXXXXXX, speculate that Carrizález, a former
armor officer, resigned in protest over the decision to install
four Cuban generals into the Bolivarian National Armed Forces,
something permitted under the 2008 military reform but apparently
not previously done.

4. (C) Other pundits claimed that Carrizalez and Diosdado
Cabello, Minister of Public Works and Housing, clashed over control
of the military promotion lists. Cabello, a former military
officer and co-conspirator in Chavez's 1992 coup attempt,
reportedly used to review promotion and assignment lists of senior
officers during the tenure of the previous defense minister.
However, when Carrizález assumed the position, he began placing his
own candidates in key positions. The blogosphere carried another
version of the Carrizalez-Cabello conflict: that Carrizález
resigned over Cabello's crackdown on RCTV, concerned that a
heavy-handed approach would galvanize the student movement and
bring unneeded international opprobrium on Venezuela.

5. (C) Political pundit XXXXXXXXXXXX speculated that the
Carrizález resignation had a more personal angle. According to
XXXXXXXXXXXX, Chavez was accompanied to the Copenhagen Climate Change
Conference by the Environment Ministry's Director of International
Cooperation, Claudia Salerno, who captured Chavez' attention with
her fiery anti-capitalist and anti-American rhetoric. Chavez
wanted to promote her to Minister of the Environment, thereby
displacing Carrizalez's lackluster wife Yubiri Ortega.

The Banker's Resignation

6. (SBU) The media has cited "sources close to Vazquez"
attributing his resignation to disagreements with Finance Minister
Jorge Giordani and poor health. Vasquez also has been long tied to
Carrizález, dating back almost ten years to when Carrizález headed
the Urban Transportation Fund (FONTUR) and Vazquez was his
financial manager. Some have claimed that Carrizalez was
responsible for his appointment.

7. (C) Comment. Post has not yet heard an explanation that
makes sense of Carrizalez' resignation. Post would find it odd
that Carrizalez would resign over the role of the Cubans or RCTV.
Rumors that Chavez planned to announce a change in the Cabinet and
the Vice Presidency have circulated for the past month. End
Comment.
CAULFIELD

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