VENEZUELA: Unresolved Death Comes Back to Smear Anti-drugs Chief

By Estrella Gutiérrez Reprint | | Print |

Estrella Gutierrez

CARACAS, Jul 24 1997 (IPS) - The unresolved death of a young woman, Lorena Marquez, six years ago, came bobbing back up in Venezuela smearing the anti-drugs minister Carlos Tablante with alleged narcotraffic links.

By Thursday, no official reaction had been made to the accusations, except for a denial of any irregular behaviour from the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) minister, Carlos Tablante, himself.

But, by all means and purposes, the case implies a great problem for the Rafael Caldera administration.

For the Caldera government is heavily dependent on the fragmented MAS for its precarious parliamentary backing, and the accusations against Tablante – whether founded or not – threaten serious image problems with an issue Washington does not look on kindly.

Tablante is seen as the best presidential candidate for the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) by various sectors, along with the planning minister, Teodoro Petkoff, and in political circles it is said he exerted a lot of pressure to get his present appointment from Caldera, in order to consolidate his public image.

Ever since he took up his present post, Tablante has had strong relations with the US authorities, and has promoted operational and legal reforms to increase the efficiency of actions against increasing drug related crime in Venezuela.

Venezuelan daily “El Universal” said Wednesday the reopening of the Lorena case can be compared to “putting a handgrenade” under the minister, because apart from the incident in itself, there will be an investigation into alleged corruption and, even worse, drug links.

It could also create problems with the five MAS ministers in the cabinet, should he call for Tablante’s resignation.

Hence the silence up to now.

Meanwhile, relatives of the victim said the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is carrying out its own investigation of Tablante.

An appeals court ruled Lorena Marquez did not commit suicide, but was murdered, and a warrant for arrest on murder charges was issued against her husband, Manases Capriles, who fled the country following her death.

High Court judge, Norma Cabrera also said there was evidence of possible drug trafficking offences linked to the murder.

Cabrera also ordered an investigation into the administrative practices of Tablante, after finding supposed cancelled orders of payment to Manuel Capriles, which could possibly present the foundations of corruption charges.

Indeed, Venezuela’s General Attorney’s office said the reopening of the case will automatically lead to evaluation of any possible allegations against Tablante.

Tablante is, meanwhile, defending the reputation of his friend and former collaborator, assuring it would be impossible for Capriles to have made any irregular payment from the interior budget, as he was never signatory of these.

He also expressly stated that he respected Cabrera’s decision to reopen the case and issue a warrant on Manases Capriles.

The minister said all attempts to connect him wil the alleged connection between Capriles and drug trafficking are all part of “a politicking witch hunt” aimed at his destruction.

Many media sources said Tablante should stand down as minister of the Antidrugs commission, a post he has held since December, but he refused to do so, saying this course of action would be as good as an admission of guilt for something he didn’t do.

The Capriles family are very powerful, especially in the central state of Aragua, which was successfully ruled by Tablante between 1990 and 1996. Manases’s brother, Manuel, was also interior minister when Marquez died on July 18, 1991.

At the outset, the police described the event as a homicide, but later moved over to the suicide hypothesis, which they have stuck to up until now, in a case that was also investigated by a parliamentary commission and continues to present a great number of loose ends.

The victim’s family have always insisted that Marquez was killed by her husband to prevent her from fulfilling her threat of leaving him, and they have provided proof of his involvement in the so-called Aragua cartel.

They have also kept up their claims that Manuel Capriles used his influence to change the scene of the crime, moving Marquez’s body to the entrance of the building she lived in, 120 km from Caracas.

Lorena Marquez was 23 years old when she was found dead and one of the police arguments for rejecting the murder theory was that her husband, 15 years her elder, “was madly in love with her,” making it impossible for him to murder her.

The victim’s stepfather, controversial columnist and publicist Andres Galdo, said DEA officials had interviewed him in recent months to ask for information on Tablante.

In a television interview, he also stated he personally had no proof against Tablante, who became his sworn enemy following the death of his stepdaughter, but that the police did have evidence.