Venezuela Strike Leader Gets House Arrest

www.kansascity.com Posted on Sun, Feb. 23, 2003 STEPHEN IXER Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - A leading opponent of President Hugo Chavez who helped lead a two-month national strike was ordered held under house arrest Sunday.

Carlos Fernandez, president of the Fedecamaras business chamber, was seized Wednesday by secret police on charges including treason, rebellion and inciting criminal acts.

A judge struck down three of the charges, including treason, in a 13-hour hearing that ended early Sunday. The rebellion and incitement charges were upheld, said Pedro Berrizbeitia, one of Fernandez's lawyers.

Meanwhile, pro-Chavez gunmen ambushed a group of policemen overnight, killing one officer and wounding five others, said Miguel Pinto, chief of the police department's motorcycle brigade.

The officers were attacked Saturday night as they returned from the funeral of a slain colleague and passed near the the headquarters of the state oil monopoly, which has been staked out by Chavez supporters, some armed, since the strike began in December.

After a series of attacks on police by pro-Chavez gunmen, Police Chief Henry Vivas had ordered officers to stay away from the oil company headquarters to avoid any clashes with Chavez supporters. But the funeral home is located only several blocks away.

"We never thought it would come to this," Pinto said.

Chavez's government had seized thousands of weapons from city police on the pretext that Vivas had lost control of the 9,000-member department. Critics allege Chavez is disarming police while secretly arming pro-government radicals, a charge denied by Chavez's supporters.

After Fernandez's overnight court hearing, secret police rushed Fernandez out of the courthouse to be taken to his home in Valencia, 66 miles west of Caracas.

Strike co-leader Carlos Ortega remained in hiding after a warrant for his arrest was issued. As president of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, he and Fernandez spearheaded the work stoppage that paralyzed the vital oil industry and devastated the economy.

Chavez has demanded 20-year jail sentences for Fernandez and Ortega, alleging they sabotaged oil installations, incited civil disobedience and trampled Venezuelans' human rights.

Fernandez's hearing was held behind closed doors and under tight security. Soldiers wearing riot gear guarded the Caracas courthouse while a crowd of Chavez supporters waited outside.

The two-month strike, which ended Feb. 4 in all sectors but the oil industry, caused food and gasoline shortages nationwide and cost Venezuela over $4 billion.

Lawyers said Fernandez's detention was riddled with irregularities - including his right to a preliminary hearing within 48 hours of his arrest.

The arrest was ordered by a judge who had acted as defense attorney for Chavez supporters accused of shooting at opposition marchers before an April coup that briefly toppled Chavez.

The Organization of American States, 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 staged the national strike to back its demand. It collected more than 4 million signatures demanding an early vote. The government dismisses the petition drive and accuses the opposition of "coup-plotting."

Chavez is a former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 to a six-year term. He vows to distribute Venezuela's oil riches to the poor. Critics accuse him of imposing an authoritarian state and driving the economy into the ground.