Venezuelan strike leader under house arrest

www.alertnet.org 23 Feb 2003 11:52

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb 23 (Reuters) - A Venezuelan opposition leader detained last week for spearheading a two-month strike against President Hugo Chavez was placed under house arrest on Sunday after a judge charged him with civil rebellion.

State security police nabbed business leader Carlos Fernandez on Wednesday in a midnight raid that foes of the leftist leader portrayed as a political witch hunt.

Police hustled a worn-looking Fernandez out of the capital's palace of justice early on Sunday after the judge ordered him detained at his home in the western city of Valencia, his lawyer told reporters.

He faces charges of civil rebellion and instigation, although three other charges were dismissed.

Fernandez's arrest and a detention order issued for another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, stoked fears among opposition leaders of a crackdown against foes of Chavez, who brands his critics "terrorists" and "coup plotters."

Union leader Ortega, one of the president's fiercest critics, has gone into hiding as his supporters urge the international community to condemn charges they see as illegal and politically motivated.

Opponents of the populist president, who they accuse of disregarding democracy and ruining the economy, are waging a campaign to pressure him into accepting elections in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

The opposition strike, which fizzled out during the first week of February, severely disrupted the nation's oil exports that account for half of state revenues. Venezuela's economy, already deep in recession, contracted by nearly 9 percent by the end of last year.

Chavez, who survived a coup in April, has resisted calls for a vote. He accuses his opponents of trying to sabotage the oil industry and has demanded judges jail the opponents he accuses of trying to topple him again.

The Venezuelan leader, who was first elected in 1998 with vows to ease poverty, has recently hardened his position and calls 2003 the "year of the offensive" to deepen his self-styled revolution.