General strike leader Carlos Fernandez was seized at a restaurant by gunmen who identified themselves as secret police agents, Venezuelaâs largest business chamber said. Fernandez had been under government investigation for his role in the strike, which crippled Venezuelaâs economy.
| Hugo's getting better at his Fidel imatation... |
FERNANDEZ, PRESIDENT of the Fedecamaras business chamber, was the co-leader of a two-month strike that sought President Hugo Chavezâs ouster. The strike ended earlier this month in all but Venezuelaâs oil sector. Fernandez was arrested about midnight Tuesday in a restaurant by gunmen who said they were with Venezuelaâs secret police force, said Fedecamaras vice president Albis Munoz. âWe know absolutely nothing about his whereabouts,â Munoz said, adding that Fernandez was arrested without any court order. âWe demand that the government guarantee his safety.â
| I'd guess he's already dead... |
Fernandez had been under government investigation for his role in the strike, which crippled Venezuelaâs economy. Chavez has repeatedly accused strike leaders of trying to topple his government and threatened they would be prosecuted. Strike co-leader Carlos Ortega of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation condemned the arrest as âa terrorist actâ that presaged a wave of repression against Venezuelaâs opposition.
| I'm not sure about the "presaging" part of that statement. Sounds like it's already underway. |
The arrest followed the slayings and possible torture of three dissident Venezuelan soldiers and an opposition activist this week. All four bodies were found in the suburbs of Caracas with their hands tied and their faces wrapped with tape. Darwin Arguello, Angel Salas and Felix Pinto and opposition activist Zaida Peraza, 25, had multiple bullet wounds and showed signs of torture, Raul Yepez, the deputy director of Venezuelaâs forensics police, said at a press conference on Wednesday. Human rights groups warned a continuing impasse between Chavez and opponents demanding early elections could lead to more violence.
| Hugo's feeling his Marxist oats. Fernandez is likely dead the same way... |
According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, a witness to the abductions saw the victims being forced into two vehicles by men wearing ski masks, not far from the plaza that has become the central rallying point of the opposition. Yepez said the abduction took place on Saturday night. âI donât think anybody should expect the violence to decrease,â said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. âAs long as there is an impasse on both sides, if anything, the violence will increase.â No arrests have been made in connection with the killings.
Maybe because those doing the arrests would be the same guys doing the killing...
Funny how no one from the left is shouting "no blood for oil " over Mr. Chavez's methods in Venezuela. |