Venezuelan strike boss granted Costa Rica asylum

www.cnn.com Friday, March 14, 2003 Posted: 5:10 PM EST (2210 GMT)

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- A Venezuelan union boss sought by authorities for leading a crippling strike against President Hugo Chavez was granted political asylum at the Costa Rican embassy, that nation's government said in a written statement on Friday.

Carlos Ortega, a fierce critic of Chavez who spearheaded the two-month opposition strike that tried to oust the leftist leader, went into hiding last month ago after the government arrested another strike leader.

Chavez, a former paratrooper who survived a brief coup in April last year, brands his political enemies "terrorists and coup mongers." He has threatened to arrest strike leaders who he accuses of trying to sabotage the oil industry.

Ortega is the third major foe of Chavez to seek political sanctuary overseas in the last year.

Pedro Carmona, the opposition business chief who briefly replaced Chavez as president during April's coup last year, was allowed to leave for Colombia last year. Retired naval officer Carlos Molina, who faced an investigation for his part in the coup, was later granted refuge in El Salvador.