Venezuela arrests top industrialist
Chavez hails arrest of strike leader Carlos Fernandez as the opposition warns of a political witch-hunt
CARACAS - Venezuelan police on Thursday arrested a top industrialist for civil rebellion after he led a strike against President Hugo Chavez.
Carlos Fernandez's arrest has been condemned by the opposition as illegal. -- AP
The President's opponents feared the arrest was the start of a political witch-hunt.
Shots rang out as protesters and private bodyguards faced off with the state security officers who grabbed Mr Carlos Fernandez outside a Caracas steakhouse about midnight on Wednesday.
The white-haired executive was bundled into a waiting car, officials and witnesses said.
A judge ordered Mr Fernandez and union boss Carlos Ortega, who led a crippling two-month shutdown to oust Mr Chavez, detained for rebellion against the state, sabotage and other charges.
Mr Ortega told reporters by telephone that he had gone into hiding.
Opposition leaders, who accuse Mr Chavez of wielding power like a dictator, said they would step up their demonstrations to protest against an arrest they condemned as illegal. Their complaints were dismissed by the Attorney-General.
'This is not just aggression against these two people. It's aggression against Venezuela's freedoms,'' union leader Manual Cova said.
Mr Chavez hailed the arrest of Mr Fernandez, a prominent private sector leader, as belated justice for 'terrorists'.
The President, who was briefly ousted in a coup in April, has taken a tough stance against opponents since strike leaders called off their nationwide shutdown early this month.
He has declared 2003 as the 'year of the offensive'.
'These people should have been jailed a long time ago,'' he said, grinning widely as he recounted hearing about the arrest.
A few thousand frustrated demonstrators, some screaming 'Free Fernandez', blocked a major Caracas highway as motorists jammed other parts of the capital with their vehicles, honking horns and flashing headlights in a show of support.
The arrest rattled the opposition, already reeling from the killings of three dissident soldiers and an anti-Chavez protester.
Police say the deaths probably involved a personal grudge, but grieving relatives blamed political persecution.
'We've tried flags, we've tried with whistles,' said Mr Luis Alberto, as he took part in an opposition rally.
'The world has seen our frustration but nothing has changed.'
The government crackdown triggered concern from the international community.
The US State Department called the arrest a 'worrisome development' that could undermine talks between the government and opposition over elections.
Mr Chavez, elected in 1998, has vowed to crack down on foes he says are trying to topple him by sabotaging the oil industry of the world's No 5 petroleum exporter. He has clamoured for judges to jail strikers he calls coup-mongers. --Reuters