Venezuela arrests key Chavez foe

[Say_What]

Folks will remember this POS from the coup.

<clips>

Venezuela arrests key Chavez foe

Police in Venezuela say they have arrested a leader of the strike which failed to oust President Hugo Chavez two years ago.

A police official said Carlos Ortega was captured in the capital Caracas and that he was carrying identity papers with an assumed name.

The trade union leader is accused of treason and of fomenting rebellion.

Mr Ortega played a key part in the two-month strike which paralysed Venezuela's vital oil industry.

Family members say he secretly returned to Venezuela last August, after fleeing to Costa Rica two years ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4308677.stm

[Chicago Democrat]

1. Viva Chavez! Patria O Meurte!

[Robbien]

2. This guy was spotted in a gambling casino in Caracas and then arrested

Not too bright to go to a gambling casino when one is a wanted felon.

[VegasWolf]

3. They captured boosh? n/t

[Judi Lynn]

4. How time flies! It seems only yesterday he was in Miami as a guest

during a Cuban right-wing parade protesting Hugo Chavez on a day the rest of the world was protesting in the streets the coming filthy war with Irag _Bush was obviously close to starting.

They apparently remembered he really loves public demonstrations:

On 11 April CTV president, Carlos Ortega, lead a protest demonstration of more than 200,000 people. The size of the demo was at least in part due to an incessant campaign of media promotion presented by Venezuela’s largely anti-Chávez media outlets. With the exception of one state channel, Venezuelan TV is owned entirely by big business and is overtly antipathetic to Chavez’s radical socialism. Carlos Ortega diverted the rally away from its original destination, the PDVSA headquarters, towards the presidential palace of Miraflores. There the demonstrators were faced by a counter-demonstration of Chávez supporters and, as police intervened to separate the two groups, shots rang out from surrounding buildings. More than 20 people died with 100 wounded. Commercial TV stations showed footage of the violence edited to give the strong impression that the gunfire had come from Chávez supporters, and that a peaceful demonstration had been brutally suppressed. The President responded by ordering the temporary suspension of TV broadcasts for their incitement to violence.

The highest ranking officer in the Venezuelan army, Commander in Chief General Efraín Vázquez and several other top officers then demanded Chávez's resignation, and shortly afterwards troops took him by force from Miraflores to the Venezuelan Army HQ at Fort Tiuna. Pedro Carmona Estanga, the head of the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce (FEDECAMARAS), assumed leadership of a junta which included several military officers, senior businessmen, members of the rightwing Catholic organisation, Opus Dei, and a Catholic bishop. Carmona decreed the dissolution of the National Assembly, of all state and municipal governments, of the Supreme Court and the National Electoral Council. He also abrogated 48 laws passed by Chávez. Air Force General Román Aquiles Gómez, one of several officers who had publicly declared hostility to the government in February, declared that Chávez was under arrest and would have to answer for the bloodshed of the previous two days. All over the country arrests began of ‘Chavista’ officials and the situation took on all the characteristics of a witch-hunt.
(snip/...)

http://www.squall.co.uk/squall.cfm/ses/sq=2002051001/ct=2

He's been a busy golpista. He probably can use some time resting up, restoring his spirit. Can you imagine what _Bush would have done to someone like him had this happened here?

[Say_What]

7. and the media--Bush's pal Cisneros...

Photo of Ortega and Dictator-for-a-Day, Pedro Carmona now hiding out in Bogota.

<clips>

...One unique feature of the general strike that began on December 2 is the absence of any demand other than the removal of President Chávez, either by resignation or immediate elections. All rhetoric is reduced to one simple message: Chávez must go. Recently, CTV president Carlos Ortega began calling Chávez "the dictator." Every evening Ortega and Fernández sit next to each other and read a statement summing up the day's strike activity, which is broadcast live on the nation's four major TV channels. This prolonged cozy relationship between labor and management, in which all demands are subordinated to the government's ouster, is also a rarity for Latin America, if not the world.

Chávez has offered to hold a recall election in August, in accordance with the 1999 Constitution. But opposition leaders are unwilling to wait, claiming that by August, Chávez will have further consolidated his control of the armed forces by favoring his military loyalists with promotions. According to government supporters, the real reason is that the opposition wants Chávez out by January 1, the date of Lula's presidential inauguration in Brazil, which, along with the recent election of leftist Lucio Gutiérrez in Ecuador, fortifies Chávez's position. Both Lula and Chávez place antineoliberalism at the top of their agenda rather than promoting such radical visions as socialism, an approach now shared by many leftists throughout the continent. The two favor a government that plays a strong role in the economy in favor of economic development and social justice rather than bowing out to the private sector.

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030113&s=ellner

---

This is Not The Nine O'Clock News

"We (the coup organisers) had a deadly weapon: the media."
Vice-Admiral Victor Ramírez Pérez, speaking on Venevision, a private
channel, April 11, 2002

...Four days prior to the coup, the editor of El Nacional, Miguel Enrique Otero, attended a press conference with leading opposition figures Carlos Ortega (head of union federation, CTV) and Pedro Carmona (head of the Chamber of Commerce, Fedecamaras and soon to be installed as the 'coup president').

The newspaper editor made common cause with Ortega and Carmona, claiming that: "We are all involved in this struggle in defence of the right to information." This process reached its denouement on April 12, when coup plotters and journalists openly congratulated each other on their apparent success, live on Venevision. Indeed, according to Le Monde Dioplomatique,key conspirators -including Gustavo Cisneros – had met the previos day, April 11, at the offices of Venevision.

When the government attempted to block the signals of the main offenders on the day of the coup, media owners simply rerouted their broadcasts through cable and satellite. On screen, they repeatedly broadcast selectively edited TV footage that appeared to show 'Chavistas' shooting into a crowd of unarmed opposition marchers.

And when Chavez was restored to power on April 13, the private media continued with their diet of fiction. Rather than broadcast the unpalatable truth, many instead showed cartoons, cookery programmes and action films.

http://www.earlham.edu/~rodrimi/politics/media.htm

[Say_What]

5. Background on Carlos Ortega

<clips>

Opposition Leaders Prepare "Civil Rebellion" With Media Support. Seek 15 Years of Post-Chavez Dictatorship

Caracas, Oct 31 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- On October 29th, Venezuelan National Assembly deputies Nicolás Maduro, Juan Barreto and Roger Rondón, presented new evidence of an opposition plan for "civil rebellion" to sabotage their own signature drive to call for a referendum to revoke President Chavez's mandate. The sabotage will be blamed on the government. The plan also contemplates another lockout and strike to try to oust Chavez.

The tape presented by the deputies, shows a phone conversation between Carlos Ortega, a fugitive of Venezuelan justice who lives in Costa Rica, and Manuel Cova, the current president of the pro-bosses Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV). Ortega is a former president of the CTV, and he was a key figure in the coup d'etat against Chavez last year, by calling for a general strike and ordering demonstrators to march into the Presidential Palace.

...Ortega and Cova talked about a "movement" where some opposition political parties are involved. This "movement" seems to be separated from other sectors of the opposition that still believe in the referendum as a way to oust Chavez from office.

"They are fucked... the government is going to fall!," says Ortega. Cova responds by saying that the opposition would be "mediocre" if they don't understand his plan."

Cova admitted yesterday at the political TV show "30 Minutos" that the conversation was genuine, but he denied that what was discussed was part of plan of sabotage.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1084

---

<clips>
Costa Rica Asks Venezuelan Fugitive Carlos Ortega to Leave

Caracas, March 30, 2004 (Venezuelanalysis.com).- The government of Costa Rica decided to ask Venezuelan fugitive Carlos Ortega to leave that country where he is currently living under political asylum.

Ortega, a political opponent to President Hugo Chavez who escaped authorities and was granted asylum by Costa Rica, participated at a political rally last Saturday in Miami, in which he gave a speech against the Venezuelan President, accusing him of being a dictator and of sinking the country into an economic crisis. During the speech, Ortega vowed to go back to Venezuela and work clandestinely to oust Chavez.

An official statement by Costa Rica’s Ministry of Foreign Relations, cites Ortega’s speech at the rally a a violation his asylum agreement of not making public political declarations against the government of Venezuela, the country where the asylum was requested. “The declarations by the asylum recipient are contrary to the spirit of the institution of territorial asylum and contrary to the obligations of those under asylum,” says the statement.

Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Jesus Perez, announced yesterday that Venezuela would send a note of protest to Costa Rica and to the United States in connection with Ortega's statements. Perez made the announcement before the government of Costa Rica had made public their decision to ask Ortega to leave.

Ortega apparently is still in Miami at this point, where he could stay and ask for asylum in the US or in another country. Last year he finished a speech at a similar anti-Chavez event in Miami by saying "death to the tyrant".

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/print.php?newsno=1240

[leveymg]

8. US asylum policy must be really tight, or else someone paid him to

return to Caracas.

Martyrs Club, paid-up lifetime membership.

[Say_What]

9. Probably didn't want to spend any time in Krome Detention Center

like the other asylum seeking Venezuelan terrorists are doing and the Venezuelan government would have demanded Ortega's extradition as soon as he applied--not that the USSA would have extradited him.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1186

[leveymg]

10. It's the slammer for asylum seekers who show up with no/phony papers

Wonder what happened to his real passport?

Lost it one night during a drunken binge in South Beach, perhaps?

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

6. more anti Chavez shit--Boosh still wants to get his hands on that oil

Just like the anti Iran campaign--akin to the "we must invade now!
" shit

Whatever--

Chavez has been giving Boosh and Booshee's Buddies a hard time
since he won't give it to their U.S. Corporate Crime Family-


Chavez is good for his people --

[David__77]

11. I would like to see the court documents. Ortega is scum.

...Ortega should be tried and condemned for illegal sabotage of the oil industry. He is a horrible pro-oligarchy labor bureaucrat. I'm sure he colluded in fomenting the fascist coup d'etat. If so, then treason is the appropriate charge. Now is the time to crack down hard on those reactionary ringleaders who refuse to respect the state power and the people's choice of revolution.

[IndianaGreen]

12. This terrorist should have been behind bars a long time ago!

The sob probably returned to Venezuela with a suitcase full of money, courtesy of the criminals at CIA, to fund terrorist attacks against the Venezuelan people.

He is lucky he didn't get busted in Cuba. Cubans have no qualms about shooting traitors, and neither should we.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Found a photo of him in the demonstration in Miami

Former opposition leaders Carlos Fernandez, at center with raised
thumb, and Carlos Ortega, in a white Venezuela T-shirt, move to
the front of the protest march as it heads east on Calle Ocho, Miami.
The two men helped lead a national strike in their homeland.

Miami -- Calling for greater international attention to the political crisis in their homeland, former Venezuelan opposition leaders Carlos Fernandez and Carlos Ortega marched together Saturday for the first time since both men fled their country.

"We are marching here because this is the only option we have since we can't be in Venezuela, but we want people to know we are with them," said Fernandez, former head of Venezuela's largest business chamber, surrounded by flags and placards as he led the protest down Little Havana's Calle Ocho. "Being together again today is huge for us, but beyond being able to march again with Carlos, I think this will send a message that our fight is not over."

Fernandez and Ortega left Venezuela in 2003 after helping lead a two-month national strike that paralyzed the country's economy, including the oil sector, but brought few concessions from President Hugo Chávez's government. Ortega, former head of the country's largest labor group, sought political asylum in Costa Rica a year ago; Fernandez now lives in Weston.

Organized by Cuban and Venezuelan leaders, the march called for an end to human rights abuses and advocated greater democracy in both countries, according to organizers like Luis Prieto of Todos Por Venezuela, or All for Venezuela, an opposition group with members in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

"We are here to denounce two governments that pose a serious threat to Latin America," Prieto said.

About 1,500 people walked down Calle Ocho, according to Miami Police Officer Jane Walker.
(snip)

"I'm here to show my solidarity with the people of Cuba and Venezuela," Miami Mayor Manny Diaz said.
(snip/...)

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/venezuela/march.htm

[PROGRESSIVE1]

14. kick

Now Chavez should take him out to the wood shed. hint, hint....

[Say_What]

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

<clips>

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

...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.

When arrested, Ortega was carrying a false Venezuelan ID with the name Manuel Mendoza Herrera. Though the photo on the ID is recognizably Ortega, “we are doing fingerprint tests,” said CICPC director Marcos Chávez—just to be sure—“and if necessary we will bring in a forensics expert to confirm identity.”

Many workers have criticized the CTV for Ortega and other leaders’ close ties to business. His opposition to salary increases and a non-layoffs law enacted by the government, made him look more like a puppet of big-business than a labor leader. 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 their "pro-bosses politics,” a number of important unions broke with the CTV in May, 2003, to form the rival Union of Venezuelan Workers (UNT), which now has become the biggest federation in the country.

According to Minister of the Interior and Justice Jesse Chacón, Ortega entered the country clandestinely in early August, 2004, just a week prior to the recall referendum on August 15th, in which Chávez’s Presidential mandate was reconfirmed with 59% of the vote.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1530

[Gyre]

16. What's good for the goose....etc.

If I were Chavez, I'd be rooting these repube scum-dogs out too. No different than Goss cleaning house at the CIA, except THESE people interferred with Venzuela's democratic process.

Gyre

[yellowcanine]

17. Will he be declared an "enemy combatant" and sent to Gitmo? Oh, wait,

err - I guess not.