Drop arrest warrant for Venezuelan labor leader

by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

LThe International Confederation of Free Trade Unions(ICFTU) has strongly protested the issuing of a warrant for the arrest of Carlos Ortega, President of the ICFTU-affiliated Confederacion de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CTV) on charges of crimes of rebellion, treason against the motherland, incitement, association with criminals and destruction of property.

Earlier, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said "the Revolutionary Government [is] on the offensive," and urged the country's judges to not "be afraid to issue arrest warrants against coup-plotters."

"This marks a dramatic escalation of the conflict by the Chávez government. It's clear that Chavez is intent on the suppression of all democratic expression and independent trade unionism," commented ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder. ORIT, the ICFTU's regional organisation for the Americas, based in Caracas, has sent a protest (http://www.cioslorit.org/llamados) to President Chávez, protesting the issue of the arrest warrant for Carlos Ortega, and accusing Chávez of advancing a "strategy of criminalization." The letter goes on to condemn the move as an "act of political persecution."

"The charges leveled against Ortega are clearly politically motivated, and are a violation of fundamental constitutional rights," said Ryder. "Acts like these severely undermine efforts to bring a domestic and peaceful resolution to the crisis in Venezuela."

One month prior to this development, at the World Social Forum in Brazil, national trade union centres in the region, under the auspices of the ICFTU, formed the "Trade Union Friends of Venezuela" group, to shadow the intergovernmental initiative aimed at finding a negotiated, democratic, peaceful and electoral solution to the crisis in Venezuela. (For more information, see http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991217017.)

The move against Ortega was made on the same day that Carlos Fernández, head of the employers' organisation, FEDECAMARAS, was detained by government agents, and only two days after four members of the opposition were abducted, tortured and assassinated in what has been described as a politically motivated killing. Both Ortega and Fernández have been lead figures in the Venezuelan opposition movement, and have played a central role in the recent general strike, which continued for two months.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has issued a statement condemning the events in Caracas and demanding that the arrest warrant against Ortega be withdrawn and that Fernández be released.

The ICFTU is alerting its worldwide network of affiliates to join in protesting the latest developments.

The ICFTU represents 158 million workers in 231 affiliated organisations in 150 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org .

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