Venezuela's Chavez Demands 'terrorist' Strike Leaders Go to Prison

santafenewmexican.com By JAMES ANDERSON | Associated Press 02/21/2003 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez address a speech during a meeting with ambassadors at the Foreign ministry building in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003. - FRANCISCO BATISTA | AP / Milaflores ARACAS, Venezuela - Police searched for the leader of Venezuela's largest labor group Friday after President Hugo Chavez authorized his arrest for helping to organize a two-month general strike that devastated the economy and the nation's oil industry. Carlos Ortega, president of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, remained in hiding after strike co-leader Carlos Fernandez, the leader of the nation's largest business group, was arrested. Both are charged with treason and other crimes for the strike, which cost more than US$4 billion. Fernandez was arrested by secret police Wednesday and hauled into court Friday. "These oligarchs believed that they were untouchable. There are no untouchables in Venezuela. A criminal is a criminal," Chavez thundered during a ceremony handing land titles to peasants in Trujillo state. He demanded a 20-year term for Fernandez, president of Fedecamaras, and for Ortega, of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, for allegedly sabotaging the oil industry, inciting civil disobedience "and trampling the human rights of the Venezuelan people." The treason charge carries a 20- to 26-year prison term. Oil is Venezuela's strategic industry, and its exports were the fifth-largest in the world before the strike began Dec. 2. The strike ended Feb. 4, but Chavez's government is battling a continuing walkout in the oil industry to increase exports. Citing nationwide hardship caused by gasoline shortages, Chavez condemned Fernandez and Ortega as "terrorists" who failed to topple his government - both during a brief April coup and this winter. The tempestuous president also had a message for foreign critics of Fernandez's arrest. The United States, Organization of American States and other entities voiced concern that Venezuela's crisis is escalating. "I want to remind all the governments of the world that Venezuela is a sovereign country! We are nobody's colony!" Chavez shouted. Fernandez's arrest fueled speculation Chavez has begun a crackdown on his opponents, including the news media and the private sector, both of which championed the two-month drive to oust him. Chavez won't allow strikers access to U.S. dollars under a new foreign exchange system, and he has threatened to shut down broadcast media for inciting rebellion. He also has warned he will seize private businesses and property to deliver gasoline, food and other basics. Ruling party leader Willian Lara told the state Venpres news agency that the hundreds of strike organizers should be prosecuted "for crimes against the republic." An opposition protest set for Caracas on Friday was canceled because organizers didn't have police permits. The labor confederation, meanwhile, said it wasn't planning another strike to protest Fernandez's arrest. The OAS, the United Nations and the Carter Center, run by former President Jimmy Carter, have sponsored three months of talks to seek an electoral solution to Venezuela's crisis. The future of those talks was in doubt after Fernandez's arrest. Venezuela's opposition wants early elections and collected more than 4 million signatures to back up its demand. The government dismisses the petition drive; Venezuela's elections authority is in shambles. Chavez is a former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 to a six-year term. He vows his revolution will distribute Venezuela's oil riches to the poor. Critics accuse him of imposing an authoritarian state and driving the economy into the ground.