Costa Rica Grants Asylum to Venezuelan Opposition Leader

www.voanews.com VOA News 14 Mar 2003, 21:18 UTC

Costa Rica has granted political asylum to Venezuelan opposition leader Carlos Ortega, who faces treason charges for organizing Venezuela's recent two-month general strike.

Costa Rica's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that Mr. Ortega received asylum for humanitarian reasons. The statement also said Mr. Ortega entered the Costa Rican Embassy in Caracas earlier in the day because he feared for his safety.

Mr. Ortega had been in hiding since last month, when Venezuelan authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.

The Venezuelan government says he responsible for the lengthy strike, which had its greatest effect on the country's key oil industry. The labor action was aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez to resign and call early elections.

Another strike leader, Carlos Fernandez, is under house arrest on charges of treason and other crimes related to the protests.

Mr. Ortega is the head of the country's largest labor union. He now becomes the third major opponent of President Chavez to seek asylum outside the country.

Last year, Colombia granted asylum to business leader Pedro Carmona. He briefly replaced Mr. Chavez as president during last April's coup that briefly ousted the populist leader.

El Salvador granted asylum to retired naval officer Carlos Molina, who faced an investigation for his role in the coup.