www.voanews.com VOA News 20 Feb 2003, 17:37 UTC

Venezuela's secret police have seized a business leader who helped organize a lengthy anti-government strike, prompting the opposition to call for renewed protests.

Eight men stormed a restaurant in eastern Caracas Wednesday night and took the head of the Fedecamaras business group, Carlos Fernandez, into custody. The gunmen fired shots into the air to keep protesters back as they took Mr. Fernandez away from a restaurant in the Las Mercedes commercial district.

Mr. Fernandez's wife says her husband is being detained at the secret police headquarters and is meeting with his lawyers.

Judge Maikel Jose Moreno ordered the arrest of Mr. Fernandez and union leader Carlos Ortega on various charges including organizing the strike, treason, and civil rebellion. Officials have not yet taken Mr. Ortega into custody.

The Associated Press reports hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Caracas and other cities to protest the arrest.

The incident happened one day after government and opposition negotiators signed a deal to end the country's political violence. Opposition groups in all but the country's oil sector ended their two-month long strike on February third.

bbsnews.net

BBSNews - 2003-02-20 -- From Washington D.C., February 19, 2003 -- The government of Hugo Chávez should carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the abduction and murder of four opposition supporters whose bodies were found on February 16 and 17, Human Rights Watch said today.

"The circumstances strongly suggest that these were political killings," said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. "The government must launch a prompt and impartial investigation into this vicious crime, and must guarantee the safety of the reported witness to the killings."

Darwin Arguello, an army soldier, Angel Salas, a navy corporal, and Félix Pinto, an airman, were reportedly abducted together in Caracas during the night of February 15. The following day, police discovered Pinto's body and that of a twenty-eight-year-old woman, Zaida Perozo López, close to a highway in the state of Miranda, some forty kilometers east of Caracas.

The bodies of Arguello and Salas were discovered nearby a day later. All four had been bound, gagged with tape and shot repeatedly.

A fourteen-year-old girl, whose name has not been revealed, is believed to have witnessed at least one of the killings and to have been shot and left for dead. She is recovering in a hospital.

Arguello, Salas and Pinto had joined a protest by dissident military officers against the Chávez government and had participated in opposition gatherings in the Plaza Altamira, a square where anti-Chávez activists have been camped for more than three months. Zaida Perozo is also reported to have frequented the square.

A witness to the abductions said that he had seen the victims being forced by men wearing ski-masks into two vehicles a short distance away from the Plaza Altamira.

The political situation in Venezuela remains tense in the wake of a two-month general strike called by the opposition Coordinadora Democrática, the business group Fedecámeras, and the country's largest union federation. President Chavez has rejected opposition demands for a constitutional reform to permit early elections, and has threatened tough measures against the strikers and against private television networks that supported the strike.

At least seven people have been killed and scores injured in street protests since December 2002, but there have been no confirmed reports of extrajudicial executions of opposition or government supporters.

For more information on Human Rights Watch's work on Venezuela, please see: www.hrw.org

www.sfgate.com JAMES ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer Thursday, February 20, 2003

(02-20) 09:11 PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --

A leader of Venezuela's general strike was snatched out of a restaurant by secret police and faces charges of treason and instigating violence for his role in mass, anti-government protests that crippled the nation's economy.

On Thursday, the morning after the midnight arrest of Carlos Fernandez, opposition leaders threatened to call a new strike in response.

Strike co-leader Carlos Ortega, of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, was ordered to surrender, also on treason and instigating violence charges, said magistrate Maikel Jose Moreno.

Ortega and Fernandez, president of Venezuela's largest business federation, Fedecamaras, led the two-month strike that started Dec. 2, seeking to oust leftist President Hugo Chavez. The strike ended this month except in Venezuela's oil sector.

Chavez accuses the two strike leaders of trying to topple his government.

Eight armed men seized Fernandez at about midnight Wednesday as he was leaving a restaurant in Caracas' trendy Las Mercedes district, his bodyguard, Juan Carlos Fernandez, told Globovision TV.

He said the men, who identified themselves as police agents, fired into the air when patrons tried to stop them from taking Fernandez away.

Ortega condemned the arrest as "a terrorist act" against Venezuela's opposition, already shaken by the slayings and possible torture of three dissident Venezuelan soldiers and an opposition activist.

International human rights groups have demanded an investigation into the slayings of the four, whose bodies were found in the suburbs of Caracas with hands tied and faces wrapped with tape.

Darwin Arguello, Angel Salas and Felix Pinto and opposition activist Zaida Peraza, 25, had multiple bullet wounds and showed signs of torture, Raul Yepez, deputy director of Venezuela's forensics police, said Wednesday.

He said the four were abducted Saturday night.

According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, a witness saw the victims being forced into two vehicles by men wearing ski masks, not far from a plaza that has become the opposition's central rallying point.

"The circumstances strongly suggest that these were political killings," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch.

Yepez said police had "practically ruled out" political motives. There have been no arrests.

Dissident soldiers supported the nationwide strike, which demanded Chavez's resignation or call for early elections. The strike was lifted Feb. 4 in all areas except the oil industry to protect businesses from bankruptcy.

The vice president of the Fedecamaras business association, Albis Munoz, warned of another nationwide strike. She said Fernandez was seized without a court order and was being held at secret police headquarters.

"Definitely there will be actions, and very strong actions," Munoz said, adding that Fernandez was "practically kidnapped."

"There has been no way of communicating with him," she said.

Opposition leaders called for street protests and appealed to the Organization of American States, the United Nations and the Carter Center, run by former President Jimmy Carter, which have brokered talks here.

One opposition delegate to those talks, Rafael Alfonzo, said Fernandez's abduction made a mockery of a "peace pact" renouncing violence that government and opposition negotiators signed on Wednesday.

"This government doesn't want to negotiate. It only wants conflict. We won't back down," Alfonzo said.

OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria issued a statement urging Venezuela's judiciary to treat Fernandez's case in "strict compliance with the laws and rights guaranteed by the (Venezuelan) constitution."

Chavez was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, vowing to wipe out the corruption of previous governments and redistribute Venezuela's vast oil wealth to the poor majority.

His critics charge he has mismanaged the economy, tried to grab authoritarian powers and split the country along class lines.

Having abandoned their strike, opponents are now petitioning for a constitutional amendment to cut Chavez's term in power from six to four years.

They said Wednesday that more than 4.4 million Venezuelans had signed, well over the 15 percent of registered voters, or about 1.8 million, needed to force a referendum on early elections.

www.plastic.com found on the Guardian written by chatsubo, edited by George (Plastic) [ read unedited ] posted Thu 20 Feb 8:05am

"The mostly bloodless political conflict that has gripped Venezuela for many months took a decidedly uglier turn with the news that three anti-Chavez dissident military officers and an accompanying woman were found murdered after being apparently kidnapped and tortured," chatsubo writes. "A fifth person, a 14-year-old girl, was found alive, though in serious condition. "The populist, and some say authoritarian, Chavez has polarised the country, especially since the recent abortive coup attempt, which apparently had U.S. support.

"One of the victim's brothers claims that the officers had been under constant intimidation from Venezuelan security forces and police, and had received death threats from the Bolivarian Circles, self-styled pro-Chavez militias, as well as the far-left Tupamaro group.

"Rafael Narvaez, the head of Venezuela's human rights association, said, 'There are no credible institutions left any more, and there is currently no rule of law or due process in Venezuela, We will push as hard as we can for the authorities to investigate the murders, but if we hit a brick wall, we will ask the international community to apply pressure.'

"The discovery of the bodies was followed by the news that Carlos Fernandez, head of the country's largest business council, and one of the leaders of the general strike, was snatched from a restaurant by armed men claiming to be secret police agents. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton said he had no knowledge of Mr. Fernandez's whereabouts.

"As professional coup watchers will tell you, the use of agent provocateurs was common practice during the Chile and Iran coups.

"As a democratic socialist myself, I would find it profoundly depressing if Chavez has resorted to such brutal, Stalin-era tactics of control and oppression. Surely you don't have to choose between democratic rights and social justice for the poor? Can't you have both?"

www.sun-sentinel.com By JAMES ANDERSON Associated Press Posted February 20 2003, 11:28 AM EST

CARACAS, Venezuela - A leader of Venezuela's general strike was snatched out of a restaurant by secret police and faces charges of treason and instigating violence for his role in mass, anti-government protests that crippled the nation's economy.

On Thursday, the morning after the midnight arrest of Carlos Fernandez, opposition leaders threatened to call a new strike in response.

Strike co-leader Carlos Ortega, of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, was ordered to surrender, also on treason and instigating violence charges, said magistrate Maikel Jose Moreno.

Ortega and Fernandez, president of Venezuela's largest business federation, Fedecamaras, led the two-month strike that started Dec. 2, seeking to oust leftist President Hugo Chavez. The strike ended this month except in Venezuela's oil sector. Chavez accuses the two strike leaders of trying to topple his government.

Eight armed men seized Fernandez at about midnight Wednesday as he was leaving a restaurant in Caracas' trendy Las Mercedes district, his bodyguard, Juan Carlos Fernandez, told Globovision TV.

He said the men, who identified themselves as police agents, fired into the air when patrons tried to stop them from taking Fernandez away.

Ortega condemned the arrest as ``a terrorist act'' against Venezuela's opposition, already shaken by the slayings and possible torture of three dissident Venezuelan soldiers and an opposition activist.

International human rights groups have demanded an investigation into the slayings of the four, whose bodies were found in the suburbs of Caracas with hands tied and faces wrapped with tape.

Darwin Arguello, Angel Salas and Felix Pinto and opposition activist Zaida Peraza, 25, had multiple bullet wounds and showed signs of torture, Raul Yepez, deputy director of Venezuela's forensics police, said Wednesday.

He said the four were abducted Saturday night.

According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, a witness saw the victims being forced into two vehicles by men wearing ski masks, not far from a plaza that has become the opposition's central rallying point.

``The circumstances strongly suggest that these were political killings,'' said Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch.

Yepez said police had ``practically ruled out'' political motives. There have been no arrests.

Dissident soldiers supported the nationwide strike, which demanded Chavez's resignation or call for early elections. The strike was lifted Feb. 4 in all areas except the oil industry to protect businesses from bankruptcy.

The vice president of the Fedecamaras business association, Albis Munoz, warned of another nationwide strike. She said Fernandez was seized without a court order and was being held at secret police headquarters.

Definitely there will be actions, and very strong actions,'' Munoz said, adding that Fernandez was practically kidnapped.'' ``There has been no way of communicating with him,'' she said.

Opposition leaders called for street protests and appealed to the Organization of American States, the United Nations and the Carter Center, run by former President Jimmy Carter, which have brokered talks here.

One opposition delegate to those talks, Rafael Alfonzo, said Fernandez's abduction made a mockery of a ``peace pact'' renouncing violence that government and opposition negotiators signed on Wednesday.

``This government doesn't want to negotiate. It only wants conflict. We won't back down,'' Alfonzo said.

OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria issued a statement urging Venezuela's judiciary to treat Fernandez's case in ``strict compliance with the laws and rights guaranteed by the (Venezuelan) constitution.''

Chavez was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, vowing to wipe out the corruption of previous governments and redistribute Venezuela's vast oil wealth to the poor majority.

His critics charge he has mismanaged the economy, tried to grab authoritarian powers and split the country along class lines.

Having abandoned their strike, opponents are now petitioning for a constitutional amendment to cut Chavez's term in power from six to four years.

They said Wednesday that more than 4.4 million Venezuelans had signed, well over the 15 percent of registered voters, or about 1.8 million, needed to force a referendum on early elections.