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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.
Ortega played a key part in the
two-month strike which paralyzed
Venezuela's vital oil industry.
Family members say he secretly
returned to Venezuela last
August, after fleeing to Costa
Rica two years ago.
"This person is being held by
prosecutors," national police
director Marcos Chavez told
state television.
"The citizen Carlos Ortega faces
charges of civil rebellion and
treason against the nation."
As leader of the Venezuelan
Labour Federation, Ortega
was a principal organizer of the
strike in Venezuela which began
in late 2002 when protesters
demanded Chavez's resignation.
The action severely dented the
output of Venezuela's primary
export, oil, and in some areas
caused food and fuel shortages.
Mr Chavez was briefly ousted
from power during a short-lived
coup in 2002.
The president won a referendum
on his rule in August 2004, and
followed it with regional
election victories that
strengthened his grip on power.
Correspondents say the country
remains deeply polarized.
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