Ex-PDVSA leader claims government persecution for ideas

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) stoppage leader Juan Fernandez says he has nothing to fear if he is arrested but he has serious doubts about Venezuela’s judicial system … “I am amazed at the speed with which the government is pushing its legal actions when it hasn’t even done anything about April 11.”

Fernandez, who acted as opposition shadow PDVSA president during the December-January stoppage, says all he and other PDVSA executives did was to fight for a better Venezuela … “if that’s a crime then there are millions of Venezuelans who must be arrested.”

• According to the oil sector leader, the government is panicking and persecuting people for their ideas.

Former PDVSA executives & managers have known that they were on the list of possible arrests for alleged civil rebellion and inciting PDVSA oil workers to acts of sabotage.

The threat of arrest against Fernandez has opened the door for opposition politicians to seek other avenues of undermining President Chavez Frias’ governance than those proposed by Fernandez, who represented a hard-line sector of the opposition with international connections.

Some political colleagues suggest that Fernandez' insistence on continuing the strike has set a dangerous precedent in the future, allowing future rebels to point to the relative liberty with which Fernandez & colleagues organized and accomplished the stoppage of Venezuela’s breadwinner with impunity.