Chávez Says Leaders of Strike Should Be Tried as Saboteurs

www.nytimes.com By DAVID GONZALEZ

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb. 23 — Defying international criticism, President Hugo Chávez said today that the leaders of a crippling two-month nationwide strike deserved to be arrested and tried as terrorists and saboteurs who wreaked economic and human damage in their failed attempt to provoke his resignation. Advertisement

Although Mr. Chávez's government and the opposition had agreed last week to tone down their accusations and avoid violence, he soon alarmed diplomats and analysts when a judge issued arrest warrants for two opposition leaders on charges that included treason, incitement and rebellion. Carlos Fernández, the head of a business association, was arrested outside a restaurant on Thursday amid warning shots fired by police officers. Carlos Ortega, the leader of a labor federation, subsequently went into hiding.

Early today, a judge dropped the treason charge against Mr. Fernández and placed him under house arrest.

"Assume your responsibilities," Mr. Chávez said in his weekly broadcast, which mixes political discourse, history lessons and populist phone banter. "Don't be cowards. Somebody has to be held responsible for this, for the economic damage. But above all for the human damage, lives that were lost, family tragedies."

He also lashed out at critics in the international community, singling out César Gaviria, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, who has led a delegation that has spent months trying to broker a peaceful resolution to the nation's crisis. Mr. Gaviria had earlier expressed concern over the arrests and urged the government to ensure the judiciary's independence.

"César Gaviria said some things that were out of place," Mr. Chávez said. "Dr. Gaviria, this is a sovereign country. You were president of a country, put yourself in my place. Here there are no privileges of any type."

He added that those countries that criticized the arrest orders issued by a judge said little last April 11 when Mr. Chávez was briefly ousted in a failed coup. He said the jails "would be filled with civilians and soldiers from the coup" if, as his critics insist, he controlled the courts.

Analysts saw the arrests as a troubling indicator of a harder line that Mr. Chávez has taken since he outlasted the strike and left the opposition divided.

"The opposition went too far in the strike, and Chávez got the upper hand and became emboldened," said Michael Shifter, vice president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue, a research group in Washington. "The problem is that he felt overconfident and went too far. Up to now, he was able to say he did not have political prisoners. This is going to drive a deeper wedge between both sides."

There have been troubling instances of violence. Last week, three soldiers who had declared themselves in opposition to the government were found dead, with signs of torture. Although the police are saying the killings could have been personally motivated, few accept that possibility in the absence of any arrests. On Saturday night, one police officer was killed and several were wounded when gunmen fired on them near offices of the state oil company, which has been at the center of the most contentious power plays.

"We are going to see more confrontations because at this point things look unequal," said Alberto Garrido, a political analyst who has written several books about Mr. Chávez. "He is one step away from crossing over the line away from democracy and installing a government of revolutionary force."

Mr. Chávez has already decreed currency controls and has fixed lower prices on basic consumer goods, alarming those who see him as an acolyte of Fidel Castro. The prospect or further conflict has only increased worries among people who were hoping to see the economy recover a bit after the strike.

Business continues to lag at the sprawling Sambil mall, where many stores are wooing customers with half-off sales. The currency controls have left many of them unable to gain access to the dollars they need to import merchandise. The cashier at a currency exchange kiosk was idle, waiting for the government to pass new regulations. At other stores, workers have been laid off.

"Everything is fine," joked María Victoria Cardenas, pointing to her empty store, where her sales staff sat chatting. "Viva Chávez in Cuba."

Despite the hardship, she said opposition leaders like Mr. Fernández were heroes.

"Chávez is without dignity," she said. "I agree with what Fernández did, so put us all in jail."