Chavez arresting opposition - allies say more arrests pending

CARACAS, Venezuela - Thousands of government opponents staged a street rally on Thursday to protest the arrest of opposition leader Carlos Fernandez, who faces charges of treason and instigating violence.

Chanting "Free Fernandez!" and "This is a dictatorship!" while waving red, yellow and blue Venezuelan flags, angry demonstrators marched round an air force base in eastern Caracas. Songs calling for peace boomed from loudspeakers while motorists honked horns.

President Hugo Chavez, speaking at the presidential palace, said he gave secret police the green light to detain Fernandez.

"One of the coup plotters was arrested last night. It was about time, and see how the others are running to hide," Chavez triumphed. "I went to bed with a smile."

Chavez said judges shouldn't "be afraid to issue arrest warrants against coup-plotters."

Government opponents at the rally accused the former paratroop commander of trying to establish a Cuban-style dictatorship in this South American nation of 24 million.

"This is an escalation of violence by the government, which has arrived at the extreme of repression," said Carlos Feijoo, 88, a retired oil worker at the demonstration. "He wants to copy Fidel (Castro)."

Government allies warned that more than 100 opposition leaders - ranging from labor bosses to news media executives - who supported a two-month strike to oust Chavez could also be arrested. The work stoppage ended on Feb. 4 in all sectors except the oil industry.

"More than one hundred are on the list to be captured," said Luis Velasquez, a ruling party lawmaker. It could not be immediately confirmed if such a list existed.

Eight armed secret police agents seized Fernandez at about midnight Wednesday as he was leaving a restaurant in Caracas' trendy Las Mercedes district, said his bodyguard, Juan Carlos Fernandez. He said the men fired in the air when patrons tried to stop them from taking Fernandez.

Fernandez and Carlos Ortega, president of the country's largest labor union, called the strike on Dec. 2 to demand Chavez's resignation and early elections.

Fernandez's wife, Sonia, spoke briefly with her husband by telephone and said that he was in good condition at secret police headquarters. Fernandez was meeting with his attorneys, she said.

Ortega was ordered to surrender, also on treason and instigating violence charges, said magistrate Maikel Jose Moreno. The tough-talking labor boss said he wouldn't turn himself in.

"We have nothing to fear," Ortega said in a telephone interview with the local Globovision TV channel. "The only one who has a date with justice is the president."

Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, has accused the two opposition leaders of plotting to overthrow his government with the strike and by orchestrating "an economic coup."

Cesar Gaviria, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, said Venezuelan judges have the autonomy to make such decisions.

But judicial decisions should be based on "independence, impartiality and conform in strict compliance with the laws and respect for rights consecrated in the constitution," Gaviria said in a communique.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said officials in Washington were worried the arrest could hinder efforts to end the stalemate between political rivals.

"We fear the act could undermine the dialogue process," said Boucher, adding "this increases our concerns about human rights in Venezuela."

Albis Munoz, vice president of Fedecamaras business chamber, which Fernandez leads, warned of another nationwide strike in response to the arrest. The Confederation of Venezuelan Workers said a 12- or 24-hour stoppage was possible.

Opposition leaders called for more street protests and appealed to the OAS, the United Nations (news - web sites) and the Carter Center, run by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, which have brokered talks here.

Chavez supporters gathered near the secret police headquarters and a downtown plaza to celebrate the arrest.

"It's what had to be done. These opposition leaders tried to destroy the country, now they must be punished," said Tomas Ordonez, a 49-year-old taxi driver.

Caracas police officers guard the Venezuelan secret police station where strike leader Carlos Fernandez is under arrest in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003. Fernandez was seized at a restaurant by gunmen who identified themselves as secret police agents last night.(AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)

Hugo Chavez -Venezuela

Jimmy Carter "help." Feb 18, 2003 VENEZUELA: GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION SIGN NO-VIOLENCE PEACE PACT - Humberto Márquez,Inter Press Service

[Full Text] CARACAS, Feb 18, 2003 (IPS) - The government and the opposition in Venezuela signed a joint declaration Tuesday against political violence, the first tangible achievement since César Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organization of American States, began as mediator more than three months ago in negotiations for a way out of the country's political crisis.

In the eight-point 'Declaration against violence and in favor of peace and democracy,' the two sides announce their commitment to dismantle the tensions that have pervaded the political sphere in Venezuela over the last few years, and reiterate their commitment to the Constitution and democratic law.

In the statement, representatives of the Hugo Chávez administration and of the opposition reject verbal "intemperance," mutual recriminations, hurtful language and "rhetoric that in any way encourages confrontation."

The two sides propose instead "a language of mutual respect, tolerance, consideration of others' ideas, and the supreme appreciation of human life and dignity."

The tripartite group, comprising the OAS, the U.S.-based Carter Center, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is facilitating the dialogue, had repeatedly urged the two sides to "lower their tone" and "moderate the language" of their political discourse.

Similar efforts were made by the so-called "Group of Friends," countries backing the OAS effort in Venezuela. The group was established in January by the foreign ministries of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States.

The second point of Tuesday's joint declaration states that violence in any form, regardless of who perpetrates it, is "absolutely unjustifiable."

The two sides "summon all authorities and competent administrative and juridical bodies to act to investigate and penalize the loss of human lives."

In the last year, the death toll resulting from political violence in Venezuela has reached more than 80, with hundreds of people injured. During the social chaos associated with the failed coup d'état in April 2002, 61 people died, according to the non-governmental Venezuelan Human Rights Education-Action Program.

Street demonstrations or political rallies in Caracas, whether supporting the Chávez government or the opposition, another 10 people have died. In rural Venezuela, several peasant leaders have been assassinated.

Tuesday's declaration rejects all expressions of violence, intolerance or vengeance.

Six government delegates and six delegates from the opposition Democratic Coordinator, the document's signatories, exhorted the Venezuelan people to cease any "direct or indirect attitude of aggression, threat, harassment or violence," and urged churches, trade unions and all social organizations to help in the effort.

During the past year, opposition protesters and pro-Chávez demonstrators have clashed in the streets of Caracas, and military officials are staying away from certain public places, such as restaurants in middle-class neighborhoods, because they are subjected to insults or surrounded by crowds of residents banging pots and pans.

The point in the declaration that required most effort to achieve consensus is about the communications media. The text calls on journalistic enterprises to "promote peace, tolerance and peaceful coexistence" in their programming and to comply with and exercise their constitutional and legal rights and duties.

The privately owned media championed the cause of the opposition during the two-month anti-Chávez strike that ended earlier this month. Television stations, for example, replaced normal advertising for political propaganda against the government.

And the government followed suit, using state-run television and radio stations to disseminate its messages.

The declaration's signatories are now obligated "to maintain and improve the work" of the negotiations panel, which "with this declaration approaches the possibility of an electoral way out" of the crisis, opposition leader Humberto Calderón told IPS.

The delegates also agree to take up related issues, such as setting up a Truth Commission to clear up the events surrounding the April 2002 coup and deaths, and disarming the civilian population--demanded by the opposition, which claims that many government supporters are carrying weapons illegally.

"The dialogue had started at the end, and with the Tuesday declaration we have returned to the beginning, and the road has been cleared so we can discuss anything," commented Vice-President José Vicente Rangel.

He was referring to the opposition's insistence on an "electoral" way out of the political crisis--such as a referendum on Chávez's mandate--while the word order in the declaration is "peaceful, democratic, constitutional and electoral."

Andrés Cova, representing the anti-Chávez trade unions in the negotiations, says he is confident that "with this accord we can find an electoral solution in the middle term."

The opposition is seeking a constitutional amendment to declare an end to Chávez's presidential term, which lasts until 2006, and to convene new elections this year.

After the six delegates from each side signed the joint declaration, representatives from the OAS, the Carter Center and UNDP added their signatures. [End]

From Venezuela, A Counterplot*** As Washington prepares a high-stakes military venture in the Persian Gulf, a growing physical threat is being posed by Iraq, Libya and Iran to the soft underbelly of the United States. Hundreds and possibly thousands of agents from rogue Arab nations are working hard to help President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela take control of South America's largest oil industry and create al-Qaeda-friendly terrorist bases just two hours' flying time from Miami.

Arab advisers now are reinforcing a sizable contingent of Cubans in efforts to reorganize Venezuela's security services, assimilate its industries based on totalitarian models and repress a popular opposition movement. "What happens in Venezuela may affect how you fight a war in Iraq," Gen. James Hill of U.S. Southern Command is reported recently to have told his colleague at U.S. Central Command, Gen. Tommy Franks.

"Chavez is planning to coordinate an anti-American strategy with terrorist states," says Venezuela's former ambassador to Libya, Julio Cesar Pineda, who reveals correspondence between the Venezuelan president and Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi about the need to "solidify" ties between liberation movements in the Middle East and Latin America and use oil as an economic weapon.

Exhorting his countrymen to return to their "Arab roots," Chavez has paid state visits to Libya, Iraq and Iran and signed a series of mutual-cooperation treaties with the rogue governments whose operatives now are flooding into Venezuela. There they can blend into an ethnic Arab community estimated at half-a-million.***

Soldiers and woman who opposed Chavez found bound and shot in Venezuela town*** CARACAS, Venezuela -- The bodies of three soldiers who had called for "civic disobedience" against President Hugo Chavez's government have been found with their hands tied and faces wrapped with tape, forensic police said Tuesday. No arrests had been made, and authorities were trying to determine a motive behind the killings of the three soldiers: Erwin Arguello, Angel Salas and Felix Pinto. The bodies were found in Guarenas, 18 miles from Caracas, said Cesar Hernandez, chief of the forensic police's homicide division. Two of the bodies were found with multiple bullet wounds, Hernandez said, refusing to explain further. He said autopsies on the three bodies were pending.***

Anti-Chavez student tortured by police, says head of Venezuela's central university [Full Text] CARACAS, Venezuela - Secret police tortured a university student who participated in a youth protest against President Hugo Chavez, the rector of the Central University of Venezuela alleged Thursday. A high-ranking official of the Interior Ministry, which oversees the federal secret police, denied the claim. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity.

University Rector Giuseppe Gianetto told Union Radio that 18-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, an international studies major, was kidnapped by agents as he left an opposition youth protest in Caracas on Wednesday. Sanchez was blindfolded, beaten and burned with an object before agents released him early Thursday in a Caracas slum, Gianetto said. Sanchez was under the protective custody of university attorneys who were filing a complaint with the attorney general's office.

"This kind of vile and cowardly torture hasn't been seen in this country for a long time," said Gianetto. "Not even youths can use their constitutional rights to go out and protest peacefully."

"There wasn't any detention of any student," the Interior Ministry official said in a telephone interview.[End]

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