Venezuela veteran union leader wins asylum

news.bbc.co.uk Last Updated:  Friday, 14 March, 2003, 22:20 GMT

Costa Rica has granted political asylum to a leader of the recent failed strike to oust Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Carlos Ortega, who faces rebellion and incitement charges, walked into the Costa Rican embassy in Caracas on Friday, saying he feared for his personal safety.

The trade union leader, who had been in hiding, played a key part in the two-month strike which paralysed Venezuela's vital oil industry.

Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister Lucas Rincon said Mr Ortega would be given safe passage out of the country.

Popular support

"For humanitarian reasons... [Costa Rica] decided to grant asylum and it has communicated as much to the Venezuelan Government," a Costa Rican foreign ministry statement said.

Hundreds of flag-waving supporters of Mr Ortega surrounded the embassy to cheer him, chanting "Ortega, friend, the people are with you!"

Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel issued a statement in which he did not criticise Costa Rica's decision to grant Mr Ortega asylum but condemned the two-month strike he had helped organise.

"Dangerous events occurred which endangered the life and physical safety of the population," he said.

Crackdown

Mr Ortega had been in hiding since 20 February when a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

The president of the one-million-strong Venezuelan Workers Confederation was initially accused of treason, rebellion and incitement though the charge of treason was later withdrawn.

Chavez regards strike leaders as traitors

Another leader of the strike, Carlos Fernandez of the Venezuelan business confederation Fedecameras, is currently under house arrest awaiting trial on the same charges.

Arrest warrants have also been issued for seven fugitive executives of the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

President Chavez has allowed two other major political foes to leave the country over the past year:

• Pedro Carmona, who briefly replaced him as president during April's coup, was allowed to leave for Colombia

• Naval officer Carlos Molina, who faced an investigation for his part in the coup, was granted refuge in El Salvador

Venezuela's strike, which petered out in February, was the culmination of unrest against President Chavez, a populist leader with leftist tendencies who narrowly survived a coup in 2002.

His critics accuse him of amassing power and damaging the economy with his policies.

Venezuela, once the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, is still recovering from the strike.