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Viewing cable 04CARACAS2224, UPDATE ON THE USAID/OTI VENEZUELA PROGRAM

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
04CARACAS2224 2004-07-13 17:40 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Caracas
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS  CARACAS 002224 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EAID KDEM PHUM VE
SUBJECT:  UPDATE ON THE USAID/OTI VENEZUELA PROGRAM 
 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
1.  (U) USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) began 
its Venezuela program in August 2002 to support a democratic 
solution to Venezuela's political crisis as part of an 
overall USG strategy.  USAID's overall goal in Venezuela is 
to support a political process that is democratic, 
constitutional, electoral and peaceful. Specifically the 
program focuses on: support to electoral processes, support 
of a favorable electoral environment, facilitating 
opportunities for dialogue between government and opposition 
supporters, public civic education, and human rights. To 
support this program, USAID is funding the following partner 
organizations:  The National Democratic Institute for 
International Affairs, the International Republican 
Institute, the Carter Center, Development Alternatives, 
Inc., and a large number of Venezuelan civil society 
organizations. The program is scheduled to run through FY 
2005.  End Summary. 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
2. (U) Since the failure of the national strike more than a 
year ago, the opposition has chosen a path for political 
change based on the constitutional right of citizens to 
recall elected public officials half-way through their terms 
of office.  This strategy resulted in a signature-gathering 
exercise November 28 to December 1, 2003 to recall President 
Chavez.  The opposition announced that it had collected 3.4 
million signatures, significantly more than the 2.4 million 
needed. 
3. (U) The National Electoral Board (CNE), the government 
institution responsible for overseeing electoral events - 
including verifying the validity of the signatures - is 
widely believed to be composed of three government 
supporters and two opposition supporters, a split that has 
affected CNE decisions on the long and contentiously 
convoluted signature collection and validation process.  In 
late April, 2004, the CNE announced that of the 3.4 million 
signatures collected, 1.9 million were valid, 300,000 were 
invalid, and 1.2 million needed to be "repaired" - that is, 
reconfirmed in a separate process which was carried out May 
29 - 31. At the end of this process, the CNE found that the 
opposition had collected more than the 2.4 million valid 
signatures required for a referendum against President 
Chavez.  The referendum was subsequently scheduled for 
August 15.  If President Chavez were recalled, a 
presidential election would be held a month later. This 
would be followed by elections for governors and mayors in 
late September.  These electoral events will almost 
certainly be carried out in an atmosphere of mutual distrust 
and accusations by the government and the opposition. 
4. (U) The working environment for USAID is affected by the 
continued accusations of the GoV that the U.S. Government is 
directly involved in efforts to overthrow the Chavez 
government.  President Chavez frequently alleges that 
President Bush is personally heading this effort, and that 
one of the mechanisms utilized is working through the 
National Endowment for Democracy (NED).  These accusations 
are frequently coupled with threats to cut off oil shipments 
to the United States.  Thus far, the GoV has not made any 
statements regarding USAID's involvement in "Venezuela's 
internal affairs". At minimum, the ongoing attacks on NED 
grantees have made clear to local NGOs that accepting USG 
funding carries with it great risk, including the 
possibility of jail. 
--------------- 
USAID Support 
--------------- 
5.  (U) USAID is supporting two cooperative agreements with 
the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs 
(NDI). The first agreement provides $770,000 to work with 
civil society to help ensure the transparency and integrity 
of electoral processes through domestic observation.  This 
project will be implemented through a consortium of 
individuals and groups affiliated with both the government 
and the opposition. Specifically the consortium will focus 
on observing:  political/civil/human rights, the quality of 
the electoral process, and the implementation of a quick 
count. Progress on this project has been much slower than 
anticipated due to the ongoing attacks of President Chavez 
on organizations that have received USG funding.  This has 
resulted in the reluctance of individuals and organizations 
affiliated with this project to accept USG funding (albeit 
via NDI) out of concern that this could potentially 
compromise the perceived neutrality of the observation 
effort. For months NDI has been working with numerous 
embassies in an attempt to secure non-USG funding for the 
project, with limited success to date beyond promises.  This 
funding issue is coupled with the slowness and caution with 
which the project's board of directors has been operating in 
Venezuela's highly politicized environment.  NDI, however, 
remains confident that the conditions for electoral 
observation efforts - including the quick count - will be in 
 
place by August 15, although not of the scale initially 
envisioned.  This project is scheduled to end September 
29,2004. 
6.  (U) The second cooperative agreement with NDI provides 
$550,000 to strengthen political parties.  This project got 
off to a late start given that the project manager did not 
assume his position until January, 2004.  In his absence, 
however, there were - and continue to be - periodic visits 
by Latin American electoral specialists who have advised 
political leadership, primarily from the opposition, 
regarding strategy.  In the remaining months of the project, 
the two NDI in-country electoral specialists - in 
conjunction with visits by international electoral 
specialists - will continue to meet with party leadership, 
in Caracas and in the provinces, to provide technical 
assistance where possible and appropriate.  Involvement of 
government supporters in this project has been negligible 
despite ongoing efforts by NDI to reach out to the 
government.  This project is scheduled to end September 29, 
2004. 
7.  (U) USAID is also supporting two cooperative agreements 
with the International Republican Institute (IRI).  The 
first, for $450,000, is to provide training to political 
parties on the design, planning, and execution of electoral 
campaigns.  This is being done through "campaign training 
schools" targeting campaign managers, emphasizing the 
development of viable campaign strategies and effectively 
communicating party platforms to voters.  Divided into five 
two-day modules, the training is being offered in five 
regional centers which also accommodate surrounding states. 
By the end of June, the first four modules will have been 
completed in Caracas (including representatives from the 
states of Vargas, Aragua, Guarico and Amazonas), Zulia 
(Tachira, Falcon, Barinas, Merida, Trujillo and Apure), 
Anzoategui (Amacuro, Monagas, Sucre, and Nueva Esparta)and 
Carabobo (Lara, Cojedes, Guarico, and Yaracuy).  Given that 
a presidential referendum is now scheduled, the planned 5th 
module - which was to focus on fund-raising - has been 
revised to include efforts to encourage voter participation, 
and public education regarding the difference between a 
referendum and a normal electoral event. Participant 
response continues to be uniformly enthusiastic - while 
participation by government-leaning parties has been 
insignificant despite IRI's efforts to encourage government 
participation, including offering separate sessions for 
government supporters.  IRI is working with NDI to study the 
possibility of offering training tailored to specific parts 
of the country in the lead-up to the regional elections in 
September.  This project is scheduled to end September 17, 
2004. 
8.  (U) The second cooperative agreement with IRI, for 
$285,000, is to support the training of political parties in 
the observation of electoral processes.  Working through a 
local NGO, Hagamos Democracia (HD), and in collaboration 
with the CNE, IRI/HD have developed educational materials 
for the training of poll watchers with the focus on 
observation - per CNE norms - assessment, and reporting. 
The strategy involves training-of-trainers affiliated with 
participating political parties - who will then carry out 
the actual training of the political party observers. An 
important expected outcome of this project is the 
establishment of a formal network of contacts and volunteer 
trainers throughout the country.  To date, Hagamos 
Democracia has completed training the trainers of COPEI and 
Bandera Roja. There is no participation of the government in 
this project despite IRI/HD offering to hold separate 
courses for government-affiliated parties - the last 
invitation being in mid-January.  USAID has requested that 
IRI reinvigorate its efforts to reach out to government- 
affiliated parties due to the importance of their 
participation to the success of the overall project and the 
referendum. This project is scheduled to end September 17, 
2004. 
9.  (U) USAID has awarded five grants to the Carter Center 
for both institutional support and observation efforts.  The 
grants total $1.4 million.  USAID will also support Carter 
Center observation of the presidential referendum, as well 
as the regional elections (mayoral and gubernatorial) which 
are to take place in late September.  The institutional 
support grant is scheduled to end December 31, 2004. 
10.  (U) With Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), USAID 
Venezuela is implementing a program of small grants, 
primarily in partnership with Venezuelan civil society.  The 
main focus has been to facilitate dialogue between segments 
of society that would be unlikely to sit down together to 
discuss issues of mutual interest.  The 100 plus grants to 
date have mostly supported workshops dedicated to specific 
issues (e.g. family violence, municipal planning, conflict 
resolution, and the role of the media in a democratic 
society) which serve as fora for dialogue and bridge 
building. 
11.  (U) While providing venues for dialogue will continue 
to be one of the objectives of the small grants program, DAI 
is also working with a local partner to develop a national 
agenda/vision for the future. Currently there are more than 
 
30 existing national agendas, an indication that there are a 
significant number of individuals and organizations - 
including the Coordenadora Democratica - who recognize the 
pressing need to have a viable and attractive vision for the 
future.  This project is working with the authors of the 
existing national agendas to develop a consensual vision 
that will then be validated in a series of workshops held 
throughout the country.  The objectives are to increase 
citizen participation in the development of a national 
agenda - to encourage ownership, to involve key sectoral 
stake-holders (e.g. media, business) in moving national 
priorities beyond discussion - and to make a clear statement 
to political leaders regarding expectations of the citizens 
of Venezuela. 
12.  (U) Another DAI project is a nation-wide campaign to be 
launched in late June - "Venezuela Convive" - which will 
encourage the concept of peaceful coexistence between 
individuals and organizations with strongly contrasting 
opinions - a value that is strongly held by most 
Venezuelans, and which is perceived as being under attack by 
the current climate of political intolerance.  This campaign 
will include a media component (TV, radio and newspapers) 
and strong support by civil society who will implement 
numerous projects throughout the country in support of 
"convivencia" - living together in peace.  Reaction to the 
project has been overwhelmingly positive - including strong 
support by chavismo - a clear demonstration that Venezuelans 
are tired of political and economic turmoil and want to move 
forward. 
13.  (U) A complement to this project is a national effort 
to work with 7,000 of the political party observers who 
participated in last year's signature-gathering exercise and 
this year's "repairing" process.  The project is a series of 
workshops focused on political tolerance as an essential 
element of a healthy democracy.  Observers from government 
parties have been given authorization from Caracas to 
participate in these workshops, which is a first for USAID 
whose events are normally weighted towards participation by 
opposition supporters despite strong outreach efforts to 
government supporters.  An interesting outcome of most of 
these workshops has been requests by government-leaning 
participants that the training be extended to government 
supporters who are not electoral observers - a request 
mirrored by the opposition participants, but intriguing 
coming from government supporters given the GoV's ongoing 
attacks on organizations that accept USG funding.  This 
demonstrates the hunger that Venezuelans have for concrete 
actions that can help bridge the current political divide. 
14. (U) Planned for the coming months will be a campaign of 
civic education on the roles and responsibilities of 
citizens in a democratic society.  As a result of the events 
of the past 18 months, Venezuela has been forced to mature 
as a democratic society - the major lesson being that 
democracy is the responsibility of each idividual; that 
democracy is not something externl imposed on the 
individual.  Education regardin democratic values is 
constantly cited by Venezulans as an area that needs 
reinforcement.  This poject will be carried out by a 
consortium of NGO which specialize in civic education.  As 
a compement, continued emphasis will be placed on the roe 
of the media in a democracy. 
15.  (U) Anothe sector receiving increased emphasis by 
USAID is uman rights, in response to the human rights 
abues of late February / early March, 2004.  Two projects 
have been recently unded through DAI with local human 
rights organizations to support human rights education: 
education on human rights working with the Catholic Church 
and local NGO Ventana por la Libertad. (Note: The director 
of Ventana por la Libertad recently received a visit from 
three members of Venezuela's political police who questioned 
him, among other things, about his organization's receiving 
funding from the USG.  End note.)  Several more projects 
with local human rights organizations are in the process of 
being funded. In addition, USAID is studying the possibility 
of funding projects with Freedom House and the Inter- 
American Institute for Human Rights. 
16.  (U) Given the nature of the USAID Venezuela portfolio - 
and the complicated and fluid nature of the Venezuelan 
political landscape - USAID's measurable impact to date is 
hard to assess.  Certainly the USG is better engaged as a 
result of project activities carefully coordinated in the 
embassy in support of USG objectives.  Funding for the 
Carter Center continues to support critical activities, 
which was especially evident during the reparos process.  At 
minimum, as a result of the DAI activities there has been 
increased dialogue between groups that would not normally 
interact - with very encouraging results.  For example, the 
head of the state tourism board in Anzoategui State recently 
told the USAID Country Rep that at a meeting of the 
municipal tourism boards in late June he wished he'd had a 
camera to record the presence of representatives of all the 
municipalities - something that he would have deemed 
impossible before the USAID-funded dialogue project which 
brought together municipal representation from both the 
government and the opposition.  In addition, there have been 
 
a number of interesting initiatives that have come out of 
the DAI activities. 
------------ 
Future Role 
------------ 
17.  (U) USAID/OTI normally works in a country for two or 
three years before handing off the program portfolio - 
normally to the USAID Mission (which does not exist in 
Venezuela), or to another donor organization.  USAID/OTI is 
currently anticipating handing over its activities in FY 
2005.  It is clear, however, that there will be a need for a 
USAID/OTI-type program in Venezuela through FY 2006 as 
Venezuela proceeds through the scheduled elections for 
national legislators and the presidency. 
 
McFarland 
 
 
NNNN 
      2004CARACA02224 - UNCLASSIFIED