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Venezuelan opposition leader held ***The judge who issued the arrest warrant for Fernández, Maikel José Moreno, listed a series of accusations against him, including treason, rebellion and criminal conspiracy. Moreno was only recently appointed a judge, after acting as the defense lawyer for one of the pro-government gunmen involved in the firefight that preceded the April coup.

ARMED MEN

According to spokesmen for Fedecámaras, the armed men who detained the business leader presented neither identification nor a warrant.

They fired into the air to disperse a small crowd before arresting Fernández.

Ombudsman German Mundarain -- regarded by the opposition as a government sympathizer -- said police ''wore vests identifying them as DISIP'' and told the business leader he was under arrest.

Sonia Fernández, the business leader's wife, said she was able to speak to him, that he was physically unharmed and was talking with lawyers.

Lawyer Jesus Ramon Quintero said under the country's new penal code, Fernández could be held for 45 days before being formally charged.

''This is the first time a major opposition figure has been treated this way,'' Quintero said, adding that there were ``plenty of indications that this is political.''

'The oil workers' leaders should prepare themselves,'' he warned. ``Next week they could all be arrested.''

The latest moves come just days after the torture and murder, in circumstances that have yet to be clarified, of three soldiers and a young woman involved in a four-month-old anti-government protest by military officers.***