Leading Figure of Venezuela's 2002/2003 Oil Industry Shutdown Arrested

Leading Figure of Venezuela’s 2002/2003 Oil Industry Shutdown Arrested

Tuesday, Mar 01, 2005

Caracas, Venezuela, March 1, 2005—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 Chávez, 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  His asylum was revoked by the Costa Rican government one year later after Ortega repeatedly violated the conditions of his asylum by publicly calling for the overthrow of the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-Chávez and anti-Castro rallies in Miami, Florida.
<snip>

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 Chávez, 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.
<snip>
Many workers have criticized the CTV for Ortega and other leaders’ close ties to business.  According to Labor Historian Steve Ellner, “the alliance between the CTV and the business organization Fedecamaras, which led to four general strikes between 2001 and 2003 with the aim of ousting Chávez, also drew attention to the fact that Venezuelan labor leaders had engaged in class collaboration politics.”  Partially in response to this “class collaboration politics,” a number of important unions broke with the CTV in May, 2003, to form the rival Union of Venezuelan Workers (UNT).
More:
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1530