Chavez Opponents Rally for Strike Leader

www.kansascity.com Posted on Wed, Mar. 19, 2003
FABIOLA SANCHEZ Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - Hundreds of opponents of President Hugo Chavez rallied Wednesday to show support for a strike leader who dodged charges of treason and rebellion by winning asylum in Costa Rica.

Supporters of Carlos Ortega cheered and waved Venezuelan and Costa Rican flags in front of the Costa Rican embassy in Caracas.

The labor leader slipped into the embassy Friday after hiding from authorities for two weeks. He is waiting for the government to give him safe conduct to Costa Rica, which granted him asylum for "humanitarian reasons."

"I'm here to show him my solidarity," 78-year-old Maria Diaz said at the rally. "He fought against a dictatorship, and I am thanking him for that."

Ortega led a two-month strike designed to force Chavez's resignation or early elections. The strike fizzled last month without achieving its goal but crippled the world's No. 5 oil exporter and cost Venezuela $6 billion. Venezuela was one of the largest U.S. suppliers before the strike.

Opponents accuse Chavez of trampling on democratic institutions and alienating investment with leftist policies. The president says his foes want to oust a democratically elected leader and restore power to two corrupt political parties that ruled Venezuela for four decades.

Foes are pushing to hold a referendum that would end Chavez's rule next year. But the fractious opposition is struggling to recover from the failure of the strike.

The showing of hundreds of people at Wednesday's protest was disappointing for a movement that drew up to 1 million people to marches last year.

Strike leaders urged Chavez's opponents not to give up, saying the president was moving to crack down on adversaries.

"The word is street, street, street and more street. Not one step back!" said Horacio Medina, an executive fired from the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., for leading the walkout.

Medina and six other former executives emerged from hiding Tuesday after a judge threw out warrants for their arrest on charges of interrupting and damaging the country's fuel supply. Prosecutors have said they will appeal that ruling.

Co-strike leader Carlos Fernandez, president of Venezuela's largest business association, is under house arrest pending trial for rebellion and instigation.

With Ortega gone, the opposition would lose one of Chavez's boldest foes and one of the few survivors of the political order the president has striven to dismantle.

Ortega, 56, dealt one of the first blows to Chavez by winning the presidency of Venezuela's largest labor union two years ago, frustrating Chavez's attempt to seize control of one of the opposition's only strongholds.

Oil production is recovering. The government says output is 3 million barrels a day - almost what it was before the strike - while fired executives put the figure at 2.4 million barrels.

But problems persist. The government said it would try Thursday to restart the main gasoline producing unit at the El Palito refinery, which has been down for a week because of a mechanical failure. Delays in restarting it could force Venezuela to continue importing gasoline to prevent shortages.