Court releases Venezuelan who led strike

www.boston.com By Alexandra Olson, Associated Press, 3/21/2003

CARACAS - An appeals court yesterday ordered the release of a businessman who has spent nearly a month under house arrest for leading an unsuccessful strike to oust President Hugo Chavez.

The Caracas court ruled that prosecutors have not presented enough evidence to keep Carlos Fernandez in custody on charges of rebellion and instigation, Judge Luis Lecuna told Globovision television.

Fernandez, 52, was arrested by secret police on Feb. 20. He was placed under house arrest three days later in the city of Valencia, about 70 miles from Caracas.

Fernandez helped organize a two-month strike to demand Chavez's resignation or early elections. The strike paralyzed the world's fifth-largest oil exporting industry and cost Venezuela $6 billion. But it fizzled last month with Chavez firmly in power.

The United States and other countries have criticized Chavez for cracking down on opponents after the strike. Chavez told the United States not to meddle in Venezuela's affairs and insisted that independent judges had ordered the arrests.

Chavez has demanded 20-year prison sentences for strike leaders, accusing them of subjecting the population to shortages of gasoline and food. The government had no immediate comment on the court ruling.

Albiz Munoz, vice president of the Fedecamaras business chamber, said Fernandez and other opposition leaders were victims of political persecution and have received death threats from armed civilian groups allied with the government.

Another strike leader, Carlos Ortega, slipped into the Costa Rican Embassy last week after weeks of hiding from charges of rebellion, treason, and instigation. Costa Rica granted him asylum, and Ortega is waiting for Venezuelan authorities to give him safe passage to the Central American nation. Venezuela's government has indicated it would grant the safe passage. Ortega heads Venezuela's biggest labor union.