Carlos Ortega

Carlos Ortega Carvajal is a union and political leader in Venezuela.

In 2001, Ortega was elected leader of the Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CTV), the largest union federation in Venezuela. The results were disputed and the Venezuelan Supreme Court refused to ratify them. However, Ortega assumed the presidency, and from that platform, carried out a campaign of opposition against Hugo Chávez, the President of Venezuela. During the failed April, 2002 coup attempt, Ortega warmly greeted the man briefly appointed President, Pedro Carmona, of the Venezuelan business federation Fedecámaras.

Following the failure of the coup attempt, CTV and Fedecámaras carried out a joint strike/lockout work stoppage starting in December 2002 and carrying through February 2003. Though the work stoppage failed to gain much traction outside the Venezuelan elite, it effectively closed the country's oil industry, crippling the economy. In February 2003, a warrant for Ortega's arrest was issued on charges of treason and civil rebellion, in connection with the work stoppage. Ortega fled to Costa Rica, where he was granted political asylum. However, the asylum was revoked one year later, when he continued his anti-Chávez activism.

In March, 2005, Ortega was arrested in Venezuela.

External links

• Leading Figure of Venezuela’s 2002/2003 Oil Industry Shutdown Arrested – from Venezuelanalysis