Chavez Opponent Escapes Venezuela PrisonMaria Faria, daughter of Col. Jesus Faria holds a protest poster showing three fugitive military officers, brothers Capt. Rafael Faria, left, Col. Jesus Faria, center, and Col. Dario Faria, right, seen in the home of Col. Jesus Faria in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Aug. 14, 2006, the day after the three escaped from a military prison along with Carlos Ortega, a labor leader who was serving a 16-year sentence for civil rebellion. Jesus and Rafael Faria were charged with military rebellion in October 2005 after being linked to a group of alleged Colombian paramilitaries which the government claims was plotting to assassinate President Hugo Chavez, and Dario Faria was arrested in April 2005 after a military assault rifle was found hidden in his car's fender and charged with theft of military equipment. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)
Carlos Ortega escaped from a military prison over the weekend, and troops and police were ordered to guard ports, airports and embassies to prevent him from fleeing or seeking asylum. But those who know the 60-year-old Ortega think he might stay in hopes of reviving anti-Chavez protests before presidential elections in December.
"Carlos has always been a fighting man," Edgar Zambrano, an opposition politician who recently visited him in prison, said Monday. "I imagine if he decided to escape from prison, he's doing it to stay in the country and, while in hiding, begin a frontal fight against the regime."
A union leader who led a crippling national strike against Chavez and later became what many consider Venezuela's most prominent political prisoner, Ortega slipped out of the Ramo Verde prison west of Caracas, where he was serving a 16-year sentence for civil rebellion. Three convicted military officers also escaped.
Prison director Gustavo Busnego said 14 guards were being interrogated, and investigators believe some may have helped the men leave the prison. He said guards reported the escape Sunday after checking one bunk and finding only pillows under the sheet, arranged to look like a dozing inmate.
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Ortega was convicted last December of civil rebellion and instigation to commit illegal acts for his role in a 2002-2003 general strike that aimed to topple Chavez's government.
The two-month strike virtually shut down oil production in the world's No. 5 oil exporting country and cost Venezuela an estimated $7.5 billion, plunging the economy into recession. Chavez refused to step down and regained control of the oil industry by firing nearly half the work force at the state oil company.
The government also has linked Ortega, the leader of the million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation, to an April 2002 coup that briefly ousted Chavez before street protests helped restore him to power.
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The three military officers who disappeared with Ortega include two brothers, Col. Jesus Faria and Col. Dario Faria, and their nephew, Capt. Rafael Faria.
Jesus and Rafael Faria were serving nine-year terms for military rebellion after being linked to reputed Colombian paramilitaries detained in 2004 for allegedly plotting to assassinate Chavez. Dario Faria was arrested for theft in 2005 after a military assault rifle was found hidden in his car's fender. All three maintained they were innocent.
A daughter of Jesus Faria, 23-year-old Maria Alejandrina, said her father revealed nothing of his plan when she visited him at the prison Saturday. She said she had no idea where her relatives went, but said they'll likely "continue with their mission" — opposing Chavez's government.