CARACAS, (Reuters) – Gunmen yesterday shot dead a  union leader who represented workers at Toyota Motor Corp’s  Venezuelan division, a few weeks after the company said it  might leave the country because of chronic labor problems.

Argenis Vasquez, 33, was gunned down outside his home as he  left for work at Toyota’s plant in eastern Venezuela, local  police chief Carlos Gonzalez told state television.

“A man got out of a gray Chevy with no plates and without a  word fired a series of shots,” Gonzalez said.

Toyota was not immediately available for comment.

The Japanese carmaker has assembled vehicles in Venezuela  for 51 years but says it is considering leaving the South  American nation because of strikes and restrictions by the  government of President Hugo Chavez on hard currency the  company uses to import parts.

Human rights groups say union members are frequently  murdered in Venezuela in disputes between different unions over  lucrative contracts especially in the construction sector.

Prosecutors on Tuesday said they were investigating the  death of another union leader, Kelles Maneiro, in Venezuela’s  main industrial belt. Maneiro was shot to death on Monday.

Vasquez was a prominent member of the talks over a strike  in March.

Venezuela’s auto industry enjoyed several years of rapid  growth during an oil boom that abruptly ended last year.

In recent months, the industry has been hard-hit by labor  strife and limits on dollars for imports imposed by the  government to protect foreign reserves as oil revenues fall.

Two workers were shot to death in January as police broke  up a protest at MMC, a plant that assembles autos for Japan’s  Mitsubishi Motors Co and South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co.