VENEZUELA : Hundreds rally near embassy that is harboring leader of strike

CARACAS -- 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 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.