www.ktul.com Sunday February 23, 2003 6:40pm  More Information

Caracas (AP) - A leading opponent of President Hugo Chavez who helped lead a two-month national strike was put under house arrest Sunday after a judge struck down a treason charge but left standing two other serious counts. Carlos Fernandez, president of the Fedecamaras business chamber, was seized Wednesday by federal agents. An arrest order was issued for another strike leader who remains in hiding. A judge struck down three of the charges against Fernandez, including treason, in a 13-hour closed-door hearing that ended early Sunday. The court upheld charges of rebellion and incitement, said Pedro Berrizbeitia, one of the business leader's defense lawyers. Separately, gunmen loyal to Chavez ambushed a group of policemen overnight, killing one officer and wounding five others, said Miguel Pinto, chief of the police motorcycle brigade. The officers were attacked Saturday night as they returned from the funeral for a slain colleague and passed near the headquarters of the state oil monopoly, which has been staked out by Chavez supporters since December. Chavez's government has seized thousands of weapons from city police on the pretext that Police Chief Henry Vivas has lost control of the 9,000-member department. Critics allege Chavez is disarming police while secretly arming pro-government radicals. After Fernandez's overnight court hearing, uniformed federal agents rushed the business leader to his home in Valencia, 66 miles west of Caracas. "I declared that all the accusations against me were false," the 52-year-old Fernandez told Globovision television, adding that he was being "politically persecuted." Fernandez said he was well-treated in police custody and "they respected all my rights," but he insisted his midnight arrest on Wednesday was irregular. Fernandez will remain under house arrest while prosecutors formalize the accusations against him. Strike co-leader Carlos Ortega remained in hiding after a warrant for his arrest was issued. As president of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, he and Fernandez spearheaded the work stoppage that paralyzed the vital oil industry and devastated the national economy. Chavez has demanded 20-year jail sentences for Fernandez and Ortega, alleging they sabotaged oil installations, incited civil disobedience and trampled human rights. "He is a terrorist and a coup-plotter," Chavez said of Fernandez during the president's weekly television address. "Let the decision be obeyed, it is the court's order. If it were up to me he wouldn't be at home, he would be behind bars." The two-month strike, which ended Feb. 4 in all sectors but the oil industry, caused food and gasoline shortages nationwide and cost Venezuela an estimated $4 billion. Before the strike, Venezuela was the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter and a major U.S. supplier. The arrest was ordered by a judge who previously served as a defense attorney for presidential supporters accused of shooting at opposition marchers before an April coup that briefly toppled Chavez. The Organization of American States, the United Nations and the Carter Center, run by former President Jimmy Carter, have sponsored three months of talks to seek an electoral solution to Venezuela's crisis. The future of those talks was in doubt after Fernandez's arrest. Chavez on Sunday reprimanded OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria for speaking out about the detention, saying his comments were "totally out of place." He also had sharp words for foreign governments critical of Venezuela. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Thursday that Washington was concerned Fernandez's arrest could hinder peace talks. Chavez singled out the United States, Spain and Colombia and warned, "Don't mess with our affairs! "Gentlemen of Washington ... we don't meddle in your internal affairs. Why does a spokesman have to come out and say they are worried? No, that is Venezuela's business." Venezuela's opposition wants early elections and staged the national strike to back its demand. It collected more than 4 million signatures demanding an early vote, but the government dismisses the petition drive and accuses the opposition of "coup-plotting." Chavez was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 to a six-year term. He has vowed to distribute Venezuela's oil riches to the poor, but critics accuse him of imposing an authoritarian state and driving the economy into the ground.

news.bbc.co.uk

The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has welcomed a judge's decision to put one of his leading opponents under house arrest.

The head of the employers' association, Carlos Fernandez, is to remain under house arrest while awaiting trial on rebellion and inciting criminal acts. The judge dismissed a third charge of treason.

Mr Fernandez's case has sparked international concern.

But, speaking in his weekly broadcast, Mr Chavez told the world community to stop meddling in Venezuelan affairs.

Charges denied

Mr Fernandez denies the charges against him and says he is being politically persecuted.

But Mr Chavez has described him as a "terrorist and a coup-plotter".

"Let the decision be obeyed; it is the court's order. If it were up to me he wouldn't be at home, he would be behind bars," Mr Chavez said.

I ask all of the countries of this continent and of the world... are you going to stop this meddling?

President Hugo Chavez

He has called for Mr Fernandez to be given a 20-year prison term for his part in a two-month strike, which paralysed the country's oil industry.

A fellow strike leader, Venezuelan Workers Confederation (CTV) leader Carlos Ortega, is in hiding, saying he will not allow himself to "become easy prey for the current administration".

"It is not possible to come out in public... not only because we might be arrested at any time, but because our physical safety would be compromised," Mr Ortega said in an interview quoted by Venezuelan radio.

International concern

The secretary-general of the Organisation of American States, Cesar Gaviria, has called on the Venezuelan authorities to respect Mr Fernandez's rights and recognise the important role he has played in Venezuelan society.

And the United States has described Mr Fernandez's arrest as a "very worrisome" development that would only increase the political and economic crisis which has beset Venezuela.

Mr Chavez responded on Sunday, saying: "I ask all of the countries of this continent and of the world... are you going to stop this meddling?"

caracaschronicles.blogspot.com By Francisco Toro

There’s one positive side to this whole Carlos Fernández incarceration hubbub: the foreign press is finally taking the gloves off. After months of not quite knowing how to deal with the crisis, of not being entirely sure whether to treat Chávez like a normal democratic president or an autocrat, the Fernández episode seems to have tipped the scales. It’s the Mugabization of Hugo Chávez in the court of world public opinion. It’s still far from complete, but now it’s definitely on the way.

Consider this remarkable story by Scott Wilson in the Washington Post. I’ve been friends with Scott for a long time and consider him one of the best journalists around. I understand the pressure he’s under – both from his editors and his personal sense of journalistic ethics – not to write any further than the facts will allow. Whatever, intimately, he might have thought or felt about Chávez, for a long time the facts were just too nebulous and contradictory for him to give Chávez the full Mugabe treatment. I had the feeling he understood, at a gut level, how dangerous Chávez was. But Scott doesn’t draw a paycheck to tell the world how his gut is feeling – his job is to tell the world what happened. And it hadn’t happened, yet.

Now it’s happened, and his treatment in the Post is absolutely brutal. I’ve never seen the government take it this hard in a reputable foreign news story before. I think a lot of foreign journalists were, in a sense, waiting for a big stink-up to pounce – and now the stink-up is here, the government's heavy autocratic character is in plain for all to see, and the pouncing has started.

Good.

Reuter's is just as harsh as the Post - they played that papaya quote for all its worth - and AP is just acerbic – I can’t think of a lead anywhere near as biting as this one in any AP story I've ever read out of Venezuela. The NYT is flying in David González tonight, and while I only know him superficially, he’s a fantastically talented reporter and can be expected to write some good stuff.

Is it the Full Mugabe yet? Not quite. But the treatment Chávez is getting now is far, far closer to it. My fear is that he’ll use the international media blackout that will come with the start of the war on Iraq for cover – people will be very nervous here the day the war starts. Specifically, it’s easy to foresee that he’ll move against the independent TV stations within minutes of the start of the war. Under normal circumstances – and the stories of the last few days bear this out – he’d be pilloried abroad for a stunt like that. But with the green lights streaking over the skies of Baghdad on CNN, who can tell?

www.msnbc.com Glenn Reynolds does get it:        Hugo Chavez of Venezuela — after failing in a coup attempt some years ago — was legitimately elected president of Venezuela. But many now consider him a dictator. Is that fair?                Well, yes. Many dictators were originally elected (look at Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe — whom few besides Jacques Chirac would deny is a dictator today — or Peru’s Alberto Fujimori) and, in fact, the original source of the term is with the Roman Dictator, an “elected magistrate” who gave dictators a bad name by abusing the powers of that office. Amusingly, though some on the left call President Bush a “dictator” they seem inclined to dispute the term’s application to Chavez, whose friendliness to Fidel Castro apparently establishes his democratic bona fides.                As far as I’m concerned, though, a dictator is as a dictator does, and by that standard Chavez is looking pretty dictatorial lately. According to reports in the New York Times, Chavez opponents are being assassinated:                Venezuela was still reeling today after the weekend killings of three dissident soldiers and a protester opposed to President Hugo Chávez, and the police and grieving relatives split over whether the killings were politically motivated.        According to police investigations, about 12 armed men kidnapped the four victims on Saturday night as they were leaving a protest. They were bound and gagged, and some were tortured before the gunmen executed them, the police said.                Meanwhile, according to an Associated Press report, other opposition leaders are being arrested by secret police. And even some of Chavez’s former allies have been subjected to abduction, rape and torture.                Partly because the war is distracting people, and partly because human-rights abuses by Friends of Fidel seem to inspire less indignation among many in the human-rights community, Chavez’s behavior isn’t getting the attention it probably deserves. But it’s being covered by bloggers. Two Venezuelan weblogs worth keeping tabs on are The Devil’s Excrement, by Miguel Octavio, and Caracas Chronicles, by a former New York Times stringer who quit his position so that he could report more extensively on his weblog.                If you follow the news from Venezuela, I think you’ll probably conclude that Chavez is, indeed, a dictator, one whose people have been demonstrating against him in numbers that dwarf the recent antiwar protests in the United States, but with far less media attention.

blogs.salon.com (The Devil's Excrement) By Miguel Octavio [moctavio@bbo.com.ve]   I have received e-mails telling me I exaggerate when I say this has become a Dictatorship. Here are the facts that make it so:   ·          All independent powers, including the Attorney General, the People’ s Ombudsman, The Supreme Court and the Comptroller were hand-picked by a transition body with no Constitutional basis. All members of this so-called  “Little Congress” were chosen by Hugo Chavez directly. ·          Due to Chavez’ control of these powers, no suit against the Government, no investigation of the April and December assassinations or the more than 700 injured in marches and demonstrations has gotten anywhere. ·          Our right to have a referendum on any important national issue was denied when the Supreme Court suspended the consultative referendum for which 2 million signatures were gathered., in accordance with the Constitution. ·          In that same decision the Court suspended any elections until a new Electoral Commission is chosen. The opposition has the signatures for over 40 recall referenda of pro-Chavez Deputies and Governors, which can already take place. None of them can take place. This includes the recall referendum for Chavez himself which may take place in August. ·          The Chavez controlled National Assembly decides the election of a new Electoral Board. If they don’t do it, there can’t be any elections. Note: No recall referendum for 30 MVR Deputies implies Chavez retains control of the Assembly, how convenient, no? ·          The Government has fired over 12,500 workers of the oil company for a simple reason: They oppose the Government. ·          The strike has been called off by the opposition, but since close to 12,500 oil workers have been fired (36,000 out of 40,000 are not working) the country is producing less than half of its usual capacity of oil production. This is the real destruction of the economy taking place, the "revolution" is above the well-being of the people. ·          In a country where most things are imported, foreign currency trading was suspended on January 23d. Not a single dollar has been approved by the discretionary currency exchange Board that will from now on decide who gets foreign currency. Chavez himself has said those that stroke in December will receive no foreign currency. ·          The Government has had the military take over private property, confiscate products and sell them. ·          The Government has fixed the exchange rate at Bs. 1600 per US$ and fixed prices of two hundred items at levels when the currency was below Bs. 1400 per US$. ·          Government opens investigation of three largest opposition TV station, charging them using 1940 law for violations. If guilty they may be shutdown temporarily. ·          Given its slim majority in the Supreme Court (despite naming it!) Chavez controlled Assembly has introduced bill to increase the number of members of the Supreme Court from twenty to thirty. ·          The Chavez controlled Assembly has introduced a bill that would make it easy to shut down TV and radio stations and remove concessions. Reasons include “disrespect” for any Government official. ·          The Interamerican Human Rights Court has issued over one hundred precautionary measures to protect reporters.  None have been fulfilled by the Chavez administration. ·          Three dissenting military officers and two female friends were forcefully taken by twelve men and “disappeared”. Two days later four of them show up dead, one lady escapes, pro-Chavez activists attempt to kidnap her from the Hospital where she is recovering. They are detained, two hours later they are freed. Head of local police that had them in detention resigns. Without investigation the police say it is a crime of passion, not political. ·          The two most important opposition leaders have been charged with treason for leading the December strike. One is in jail, one is in hiding. The strike was held in order to pressure the Government to accept the consultative referendum that was suspended on a technicality. ·          The President of Venezuela says on nationwide TV that he was asked whether to proceed or not with the detentions (no separation of power!), that this gave him such a pleasure that he smiled and that he celebrated eating a home made dessert. All of this was said with sadistic pleasure. ·          A Deputy of the National Assembly, member of Chavez party says the list of detentions has 100 names in it.   What else do you need as proof, an election where Chavez gets 100% of the votes? Concentration camps? We already have assasinations, jailing of the opposition, no elections and dissapearances.   (Update: Today an additional 1780 workers were fired by PDVSA)