Carlos Ortega (trade unionist)

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Carlos Ortega Carvajal is a Venezuelan union and political leader. Because of his role in the general strike in 2002, he was sentenced to almost 16 years in prison. On August 13, 2006, he escaped from prison.

In 2001 he was the elected leader of the CTV (Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela) , the largest union in Venezuela at the time. The legality of the election result was questioned and the Supreme Court refused to recognize it, but Ortega remained chairman of CTV. In April 2002, under the leadership of Carlos Ortega, the CTV declared a general strike. This followed in response to what he perceived to be the "intensified dictatorial" approach of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez . This led to the protest march at the Miraflores presidential palace. 19 people died as a result of the riots and President Chavez was temporarily removed from office .

Between December 2002 and February 2003, CTV and Fedecámaras held a community strike . Hugo Chavez introduced complete state control over the PDVSA towards the end of 2002 . As a result, Hugo Chavez faced a 2 month strike (started December 2, 2002) aimed at removing Hugo Chavez from office. The strike, led by the CVT, business associations and oil workers, aimed to force the president to resign.

After charges were brought against Ortega, he was granted asylum by the Costa Rican embassy on March 14, 2003. Ortega left the country on March 27, 2003. Costa Rica's residence permit was revoked on March 30, 2004 because Ortega did not comply with the regulations that were imposed on him when he was granted asylum. Then he left Costa Rica. On March 1, 2005, barely a year after his exile in Costa Rica, Ortega was arrested in a nightclub in Caracas. According to the police director, Carlos Ortega was wearing a forged ID at the time of his arrest, but his identity was proven by a subsequent fingerprint comparison.

On December 14, 2005, Carlos Ortega was due to his task in the general strike, in which it was u. a. numerous thefts and acts of sabotage occurred in oil refineries, including a. sentenced to a prison term of almost 16 years for inciting criminal acts and forging identity documents . He escaped from the Ramo Verde Peniteniary with 3 accomplices (Jesús Faría Rodríguez, Darío Faría Rodríguez and Rafael Faría Villasmil) on August 13, 2006. Carlos Roa, Ortegas' lawyer, expressed his surprise at this incident and doubts its truth.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/975 March 1, 2005
  2. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4526642.stm December 14, 2005
  3. ↑ http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/1529 December 15
  4. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4789431.stm BBC News August 13, 2006
personal data
SURNAME Ortega, Carlos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ortega Carvajal, Carlos (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Venezuelan union and political leader
DATE OF BIRTH 20th century