Venezuela strike organiser arrested: business group

abc.net.au Friday, February  21, 2003. Posted: 00:22:54 (AEDT)

Reports from Venezuela say one of the leading organisers of the protests against President Hugo Chavez has been arrested. A director of the main business association says Carlos Fernandez had been detained by armed police in the capital Caracas. Mr Fernandez was one of the leaders of a 63-day general strike that ended on February 2 by business and union groups against the President. The news came after the New York-based group Human Rights Watch called on the Venezuelan authorities to investigate the killing of three soldiers who had called for civil disobedience against Mr Chavez.