Relaciones poco diplomáticas

Cable sobre la visita de Trinidad Jiménez a Venezuela

Según los diplomáticos, Jiménez considera que Chávez está en otro mundo y que la situación en Venezuela es extremadamente mala y se está cubanizando

10 dic 2010 - 13:00CET

ID:	128950
Date:	2007-11-06 18:38:00
Origin:	07MADRID2077
Source:	Embassy Madrid
Classification:	CONFIDENTIAL
Dunno:	07CARACAS2136
Destination:	VZCZCXRO9449 RR RUEHAG RUEHROV DE RUEHMD #2077 3101838 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 061838Z NOV 07 FM AMEMBASSY MADRID TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3759 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 5299 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1253 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 1298 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 1897 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1386 RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 002077 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR EUR/WE, ALSO FOR WHA - A/S SHANNON E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2017 TAGS: PREL, SP, VE SUBJECT: MFA SECRETARY OF STATE FOR IBEROAMERICA TRINIDAD JIMENEZ VISIT TO VENEZUELA REF: CARACAS 2136 Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION HUGO LLORENS, REASONS 1.4B AND D . 1. (C) According to a November 6 readout provided by Trinidad Jimenez' Chief of Staff Juan Carlos Sanchez to the DCM, Jimenez found the situation in Venezuela "extremely bad" during her October 31 visit. She described Chavez as being in "another world." The polarization of the country was increasing and the potential for civil strife rising. She found the opposition demoralized and pessimistic. Only the students seemed to have any energy. In her meetings with senior Venezuelan officials, including Chavez and FM Maduro, the GOV message was that Spain was worrying about "peanuts" by focusing on issues such as press freedoms and human rights. Spain should instead be focused on strategic issues such as energy cooperation. The Venezuelans said they were delivering the same message to Washington. They welcomed Spanish energy firms to Venezuela. 2. (C) Jimenez was struck by what her Chief of Staff called the "Havana-ization" of Caracas, with the city beginning to look distinctly dingy. The economy appeared to be deteriorating, and there were tales of shortages of basic goods such as milk. In her meetings with the Spanish business community, the message was consistently downbeat. They thought the economy was sinking and the potential for violence rising. They told her the increase in public sector spending and rising budget deficit was not sustainable even with high oil prices. The business consensus was that the Venezuelan economy was headed for bust with the next 24 months. AGUIRRE