Armed Men Capture Venezuela Strike Leader-Witnesses

reuters.com Thu February 20, 2003 06:57 AM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Armed men, apparently from the Venezuela state security police, on Thursday captured a business chief who led a strike against President Hugo Chavez after a judge ordered him and a union boss arrested for rebellion, opposition leaders said.

Eight heavily armed men grabbed Carlos Fernandez at a restaurant in eastern Caracas early and fired shots in the air to keep back protesters before bundling him into a car, witnesses and opposition representatives said.

Foes of Chavez quickly condemned the order to detain Fernandez, the head of the Fedecamaras business chamber, as intimidation by the leftist leader they accuse of wielding power like a dictator.

"This is one more demonstration of intimidation," said opposition negotiator Rafael Alfonzo. "This is completely outside of the law," he said.

A judge told state television that Fernandez and union chief Carlos Ortega, who spearheaded the two-month opposition strike started in December to try and oust Chavez, were ordered detained for civilian rebellion, sabotage and other charges.

An official from the security police could not immediately confirm that officers from the agency were involved in the incident.

Chavez, who was first elected in 1998 and who survived a coup in April, has taken a hard-line stance against his opponents since strike leaders lifted the shutdown in early February to ease the burden on the private sector.

Branding his enemies "terrorists" and "coup plotters," Chavez has vowed to crack down on foes he accuses of trying to topple him by sabotaging the nation's vital oil industry. He has also introduced tight currency curbs and price controls to shore up the weakened economy.

The strike briefly crippled the oil industry of the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter as part of the opposition campaign to push Chavez into resigning and accepting early elections.

But the combative Venezuelan leader has so far rejected calls for a vote. Using troops and replacement crews, Chavez has fought back against the strikers as he battles to restart the oil exports that provide half of state revenues.

Three months of negotiations between the two sides have made little progress toward hammering out an agreement on elections. But earlier this week government and opposition negotiators signed a nonviolence pact to ease tensions.