Venezuela's investigative police arrested fugitive labor leader Carlos Ortega in the early hours of Tuesday morning. A prominent leader of Venezuela's opposition to President Hugo Chävez, Ortega has been wanted by the Venezuelan police since 2003 on charges of treason and civil rebellion. After a warrant was issued for his arrest in February, 2003, Ortega entered the Costa Rican embassy, seeking political asylum. His asylum was revoked by the Costa Rican government one year later after Ortega repeatedly violated the conditions of his asylum by publicly calling for the overthrow of the Venezuelan government. Ortega frequently addressed anti-Chävez and anti-Castro rallies in Miami, Florida.From December 2002 to February, 2003 the CTV and the country's principal employer association Fedecamaras called a general strike in an effort to force Chavez to resign from office. The strike lasted two months and its main feature was a general shutdown and sabotage of Venezuela's lifeblood oil industry. While workers loyal to Ortega's CTV refused to go to work, many who did not support the politically motivated general strike were locked out by employers who closed their doors for the duration of the strike. Many cases of sabotage were reported in the oil industry. Refinery computers were destroyed, passcodes were stolen and valves were sabotaged. Venezuela's economy shrunk by 9% in 2003 as a result of the shutdown and unemployment jumped from 15% to 22%, as hundreds of thousands lost their jobs. The country lost an estimated 14 billion dollars. According to some oil industry analysts, Venezuela's levels of oil production have still not returned to pre-shutdown levels. Current government figures put output at 3.1 million barrels per day, which is the pre-shutdown level, but analysts critical of the Chavez government suggest the real number is as low as 2.6 million bpd.
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 Chävez, 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.