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Caribbean-Latin America

Jailed anti-Chavez leader escapes

2006-08-14

HT to Captain Ed A senior Venezuelan opposition leader has escaped from a military prison, the country's attorney general has said. Carlos Ortega was sentenced to almost 16 years in jail last year after being convicted of inciting unrest during a strike that began in late 2002. Opposition leader doing hard time in prison for leading a strike? Sure sounds 'democratic', doesn't it? He escaped along with three military officers and may have been aided by some authorities, Venezuela's attorney general said. hmmmm...had military help? Ortega is known as a fierce opponent of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. In his role as a key union leader, Ortega, 59, played a central role in the 63-day strike that aimed to oust Mr Chavez from the presidency. He was arrested last March after returning to Venezuela from Costa Rica, where he sought asylum after the strike ended. Attorney General Isias Rodriguez told Venezuelan TV that Ortega had escaped from prison. "Effectively at this moment the people who appear to have escaped are not in the Ramo Verde prison," he said. That's usually what they mean when they talk about an 'escape'. He had been jailed at the military prison, some 40km (25 miles) outside Caracas, for his own security, officials said. Why, Hugo was going to beat him up? Civilians in a military prison, sounds like something a banana socialist state would do. Ortega's lawyer, Carlos Roa, expressed "surprise" at the news and said he had doubts about the truth of the story, the EFE news agency reported.

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Caribbean-Latin America

Prominent opposition leader arrested by Chavez

2005-03-02

Venezuela's investigative police arrested fugitive labor leader Carlos Ortega in the early hours of Tuesday morning. A prominent leader of Venezuela's opposition to President Hugo Chävez, Ortega has been wanted by the Venezuelan police since 2003 on charges of treason and civil rebellion. After a warrant was issued for his arrest in February, 2003, Ortega entered the Costa Rican embassy, seeking political asylum. His asylum was revoked by the Costa Rican government one year later after Ortega repeatedly violated the conditions of his asylum by publicly calling for the overthrow of the Venezuelan government. Ortega frequently addressed anti-Chävez and anti-Castro rallies in Miami, Florida. From December 2002 to February, 2003 the CTV and the country's principal employer association Fedecamaras called a general strike in an effort to force Chavez to resign from office. The strike lasted two months and its main feature was a general shutdown and sabotage of Venezuela's lifeblood oil industry. While workers loyal to Ortega's CTV refused to go to work, many who did not support the politically motivated general strike were locked out by employers who closed their doors for the duration of the strike. Many cases of sabotage were reported in the oil industry. Refinery computers were destroyed, passcodes were stolen and valves were sabotaged. Venezuela's economy shrunk by 9% in 2003 as a result of the shutdown and unemployment jumped from 15% to 22%, as hundreds of thousands lost their jobs. The country lost an estimated 14 billion dollars. According to some oil industry analysts, Venezuela's levels of oil production have still not returned to pre-shutdown levels. Current government figures put output at 3.1 million barrels per day, which is the pre-shutdown level, but analysts critical of the Chavez government suggest the real number is as low as 2.6 million bpd. Ortega was sought by police on charges of treason, civil rebellion, and instigation to commit crimes, among other charges, in connection with the general strike/lock-out. Carmona and Ortega had previously joined forces in April 2002, participating in a military coup that briefly ousted Chävez, though he was later restored to power by popular support and loyal elements of the military. Carmona is widely rumoured to be living in neighboring Colombia, though he is wanted by Venezuelan police in connection with the coup.

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Latin America

Ortega ratified as CTV president despite fugitive status

2003-03-16

Fugitive CTV leader Carlos Ortega has been ratified as president of the Venezuelan Confederation of Trade Unions despite his current status as an asylum-seeker at the Costa Rican embassy in Caracas. CTV director Pablo Castro had hoped to land the plum job for himself but following a weekend meeting of the CTV's executive committee, Castro decided to put his personal ambitions on ice until at least the smoke clears on Ortega's final destination. Ortega was one of the leaders of the anti-Hugo strike. Rather than spend a few years in jug, or be assassinated, he decided to beat it.

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Latin America

Venezuelan strike boss granted Costa Rica asylum

2003-03-15

A Venezuelan union boss sought by authorities for leading a crippling strike against President Hugo Chavez was granted political asylum at the Costa Rican embassy. Carlos Ortega, a fierce critic of Chavez who spearheaded the two-month opposition strike that tried to oust the leftist leader, went into hiding last month ago after the government arrested another strike leader. Chavez brands his political enemies "terrorists and coup mongers." He has threatened to arrest strike leaders who he accuses of trying to sabotage the oil industry. Ortega is the third major foe of Chavez to seek political sanctuary overseas in the last year. Pedro Carmona, the opposition business chief who briefly replaced Chavez as president during April's coup last year, was allowed to leave for Colombia last year. Retired naval officer Carlos Molina, who faced an investigation for his part in the coup, was later granted refuge in El Salvador. Hugo's working hard at becoming Fidel...

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Latin America

Ortega goes underground...

2003-02-24

Every night for two months, Venezuelans knew where to find Carlos Ortega. The labor leader was sure be standing before cameras in Caracas, predicting the imminent downfall of President Hugo Chavez. "The dictator's days are numbered," Ortega would thunder at his news conferences, flanked by business leader Carlos Fernandez. Now Ortega, the leader of the strike that failed to oust Chavez, is in hiding, charged with treason and rebellion. Fernandez, accused of similar crimes, was seized by federal agents last week and is under house arrest. Chavez wants both men sentenced to at least 20 years in prison for inflicting pain and suffering on Venezuelans with a strike that crushed the economy. That's what Fidel would do, isn't it? "See how the others are running to hide," he mocked in a speech after Fernandez's arrest. Though I don't think Fidel gloats quite so openly... Hiding is uncharacteristic of Ortega, the most visible and pugnacious of Chavez's opponents. He is the only government opponent to claim a measure of victory against Chavez since the leftist president was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000. As president of Venezuela's biggest oil workers union, Fedepetrol, Ortega led a four-day strike in 2000 for back pay and a collective contract for 20,000 workers. Chavez ceded on both counts. I hope he can come out of hiding soon — to deal with Hugo's successor.

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Latin America

Venezuelan strike leaders charged with treason

2003-02-22

President Hugo Chavez demanded 20-year prison terms Friday for two prominent opponents who directed a nationwide strike that devastated Venezuela's oil-based economy. Carlos Fernandez, head of Venezuela's largest business chamber, and Carlos Ortega, leader of its biggest labor confederation, are charged with treason and other crimes for the two-month strike, which cost more than $4 billion. Fernandez was arrested by secret police Wednesday and hauled into court Friday. Ortega went into hiding when a judge issued an arrest warrant. I'm surprised. I'd have thought Fernandez was dead. Guess Hugo intends to make an example of him... Thousands protested Fernandez's arrest in the western oil city of Maracaibo. Hundreds more rallied in Caracas and blocked a highway. Commies like Hugo always bow to the Will of the People™, unless the people want something the commies don't want... "These oligarchs believed that they were untouchable. There are no untouchables in Venezuela. A criminal is a criminal," Chavez thundered during a ceremony handing land titles to peasants in Trujillo state. Unless he's a commie, of course.

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Latin America

Venezuelan Secret Police Seize Opposition Strike Leader

2003-02-20

General strike leader Carlos Fernandez was seized at a restaurant by gunmen who identified themselves as secret police agents, Venezuela’s largest business chamber said. Fernandez had been under government investigation for his role in the strike, which crippled Venezuela’s economy. Hugo's getting better at his Fidel imatation... FERNANDEZ, PRESIDENT of the Fedecamaras business chamber, was the co-leader of a two-month strike that sought President Hugo Chavez’s ouster. The strike ended earlier this month in all but Venezuela’s oil sector. Fernandez was arrested about midnight Tuesday in a restaurant by gunmen who said they were with Venezuela’s secret police force, said Fedecamaras vice president Albis Munoz. “We know absolutely nothing about his whereabouts,” Munoz said, adding that Fernandez was arrested without any court order. “We demand that the government guarantee his safety.” I'd guess he's already dead... Fernandez had been under government investigation for his role in the strike, which crippled Venezuela’s economy. Chavez has repeatedly accused strike leaders of trying to topple his government and threatened they would be prosecuted. Strike co-leader Carlos Ortega of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation condemned the arrest as “a terrorist act” that presaged a wave of repression against Venezuela’s opposition. I'm not sure about the "presaging" part of that statement. Sounds like it's already underway. The arrest followed the slayings and possible torture of three dissident Venezuelan soldiers and an opposition activist this week. All four bodies were found in the suburbs of Caracas with their hands tied and their 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, the deputy director of Venezuela’s forensics police, said at a press conference on Wednesday. Human rights groups warned a continuing impasse between Chavez and opponents demanding early elections could lead to more violence. Hugo's feeling his Marxist oats. Fernandez is likely dead the same way... According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, a witness to the abductions saw the victims being forced into two vehicles by men wearing ski masks, not far from the plaza that has become the central rallying point of the opposition. Yepez said the abduction took place on Saturday night. “I don’t think anybody should expect the violence to decrease,” said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. “As long as there is an impasse on both sides, if anything, the violence will increase.” No arrests have been made in connection with the killings. Maybe because those doing the arrests would be the same guys doing the killing... Funny how no one from the left is shouting "no blood for oil " over Mr. Chavez's methods in Venezuela.

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