www.nola.com The Associated Press 1/23/03 9:39 AM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Four people have been arrested on allegations of trying to launder money through the sale of $150 million in government notes from Venezuela.

According to a federal complaint, the four were arrested in suburban New Orleans on Jan. 15 after offering the notes to undercover Secret Service agents posing as front men for drug dealers.

The four suspects were identified as Harry H. Adair, Kenneth Vicknair, David E. Wallace and Chien C. Lam.

The charges were filed in New Orleans but is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Baton Rouge. U.S. Attorney David Dugas of Baton Rouge said prosecutors in New Orleans removed themselves from the case because a family member of someone in that office worked with one of the four arrested men.

The complaint said the alleged transaction involved $150 million in promissory notes issued by the Bank of the Republic of Venezuela. An undercover agent said he wanted to buy the notes for two drug dealers, the complaint said.

www.sfgate.com CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER, Associated Press Writer Thursday, January 23, 2003

(01-23) 06:44 PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --

Thousands of supporters of President Hugo Chavez marched Thursday to protest a 53-day-old strike intended to topple their leader and to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the fall of Venezuela's last dictator.

"Chavez! Chavez!" chanted demonstrators at a bus terminal in southwestern Caracas, one of two gathering points for marches that were to converge in a central avenue. They also gathered at a park in the east side, setting off earthshaking fireworks.

The crippling strike, called Dec. 2 to demand Chavez resign or call early elections, has dramatically reduced oil production in the world's fifth largest exporter and caused the currency, the bolivar, to lose 25 percent of its value this year as Venezuelans and investors have bought dollars.

In a speech broadcast late Wednesday, Chavez announced he would impose foreign exchange controls to protect the bolivar. The policy will set limits starting next week on the amount of dollars or other foreign currencies Venezuelans can accumulate. Earlier Wednesday, the central bank suspended foreign currency trading for a week as political and economic uncertainty fed a surge in demand for dollars.

"The people went out to defend democracy 45 years ago," said lawmaker Nicolas Maduro, a leader of Chavez's Fifth Rebublic party. "Today, they are in the streets telling the world that the majority of the people support President Chavez."

Maduro was surrounded by people wearing red bandanas reading "Chavez" and waving small blue copies of Venezuela's constitution, which the president pushed through in 1999 as a cornerstone of his self-described "revolution" to help the poor.

Strike leader Carlos Ortega, president of the nation's largest labor union, accused Chavez's supporters of planning a violent rampage in the capital. He urged government adversaries "to stay at home" to avoid "a massacre."

Maduro denied violence was planned.

Six people have died during protests since the strike began, including a man killed Monday during clashes between Chavez foes and followers. About 2,000 National Guard troops and police patrolled Caracas on Thursday.

The marches marked the downfall of Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez, who was deposed on Jan. 23, 1958, after a decade of iron-fisted rule. Four decades of democratic governments followed -- but "chavistas" believe Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, is the first president to stand up for the interests of Venezuela's poor majority.

Opponents accuse Chavez, who led a failed coup in 1992, of running roughshod over democratic institutions and wrecking the economy with leftist policies.

Thursday's march came after a day of disappointment for the opposition.

On Wednesday, Venezuela's Supreme Court indefinitely postponed a Feb. 2 referendum that would have asked citizens whether Chavez should resign.

The decision came just 11 days before the scheduled vote and stunned the opposition, which had hoped the plebiscite would prompt the embattled leader to quit. Government opponents presented the elections council with over 2 million signatures in November to convoke the referendum.

"It's a slap in the face for millions of Venezuelans who are waiting for a solution to the crisis," said opposition leader Rafael Alfonzo.

Chavez called the ruling "fair," adding that "it eliminates the terrible uncertainty that was affecting the country."

indymedia.ie by Andre Ferrari - Socialismo Revolucionario (CWI Brazil) Thu, Jan 23 2003, 10:54am

The World Social Forum is a meeting place for all kinds of organisations that fight against neo-liberalism, including environmentalists, trade unionists, and others who wants to go further and seek an alternative.

This is the third and last time the WSF will be held in Porto Alegre. Next time, the gigantic event will move to India.

In the beginning, at the first forum, there was a debate as to whether the event should involve protests and demonstrations as well as discussions, André explains. But we have always argued that it is impossible to separate the discussions from the need for concrete struggle and mobilisation.

The advantage with the Forum is that it gathers activists from around the world that are seeking an alternative. But the event also has some big limitations. Several of the organisations involved in the running of the WSF do not have a perspective for a clear alternative to capitalism. There are illusions that you can create a "human" capitalism, free from neo-liberalism, through reforms. One of the tasks for the Left is to intervene in the Forum discussions and to show that the whole system must be abolished, not just the worst features - it is all connected.

WSF grows enormously The first WSF was in 2001. There were 15,000 participants and 3,000 in the youth camp, which ran in the city at the same time. Last year, there were 60,000 at the Forum and 15,000 at the camp. WSF has grown together with the struggle and this year it is estimated that 100,000 will participate and up to 30,000 will attend the youth camp. Many were worried that the movement against capitalist globalisation would diminish after September 11 2001 but the resistance has instead grown as a response to the offensive from US imperialism, such as the war against Afghanistan and the threat of war against Iraq.

The world situation makes the discussions in the Forum extremely interesting. Across the whole of Latin America there is political, social and economic ferment: Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela are just some of the most striking examples. The election victory of Gutierrez, a Left populist, in Bolivia, and not least, the victory of Lula of the PT (Workers' Party) in Brazil will pose new issues that will be reflected at the Forum. For the Left it is important to see that the struggle must continue after these elections.

There is a debate about the fact that Lula is participating in both the WSF and World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The holding of the WSF event in 2001 was actually in protest against the WEF. Despite this, a part of the Left within PT does not think Lula's actions are a problem, as Lula will deliver the same speech in both places, they argue. Lula says he is going to "take the message from Porto Alegre to Davos". But we think that the task is not to convince the elite, but to defeat it and bring it down. This entails the Left adopting an independent class position.

At the first WSF there was a debate by satellite link between participants at the WSF and WEF. It was then clear that Porto Alegre was an alternative to Davos. "You are responsible for the oppression", said Hebe de Bonafine from the 'Mothers of Plaza del Mayo'.

Today the idea of 'building a bridge' between the two Forums has been raised in some quarters. At the WSF last year there was representatives from Jospin's government in France, which was 'socialist' in name but pro-capitalist in practice, and even the right wing French president, Chirac, attended. The task of socialists is to show that such a "bridge" is impossible. There cannot be any compromise between the exploiters and the exploited.

The way forward for the anti-capitalist movement Another important task for socialists during the forthcoming WSF is to join in the discussions on the political situation and the way forward for the anti-capitalist movement. We call for a socialist programme that can build unity in struggle between workers and youth throughout the world. Amongst the 100,000 that will participate at the Forum there will be a chance to strengthen a class conscious Left, and to build a pole of attraction for the Left.

We have also concrete proposals for the struggle. Together with MSE (Movement for those without Education, International Socialist Resistance's (ISR) section in Brazil) we want to discuss how to build the anti-war movement, using examples like the strikes in schools and universities that have been organised in a number of countries for 'Day X' (the first day of a war on Iraq).

A specific problem facing young people in Brazil is that of access to higher education. We will therefore propose a special Forum for those who want to fight against privatisations and for democratic access to the universities. Last year, we succeeded in spreading the call through the WSF for the ISR's international day of action on 15 March.

There is an educational apartheid in this country. The universities are only accessible for an small elite. The majority of higher education is now private, with high fees and doubtful educational quality. We are campaigning for occupations to protest against this situation once the universities open in March. In São Paulo we are fighting for a new campus of USP (São Paulos university) to be built in Zona Leste, a working class area.

In Campinas we have already succeeded in getting organized activities started, along with several student organisations and the local MST (the national landless movement in Brazil). They are preparing an occupation. The MST have used occupations very successfully to get widespread publicity and to further the land struggle. In November 2002, the MST held its first meeting for "youth in town and countryside" and was able to attract 1,500. The meeting endorsed the idea of occupations of the universities.

We expect a huge attendance at the WSF over the next few days. By adopting a socialist programme and concrete steps to resist war and capitalism, the WSF can become a vital launch pad for international struggles.

related link: www.worldsocialism-cwi.org

www.news.com.au By Patrick Moser in Caracas January 24, 2003

VENEZUELA braced for more turmoil as foreign currency trading was halted, a February referendum was suspended and supporters of embattled President Hugo Chavez planned a major demonstration.

Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered the suspension yesterday of a planned February non-binding referendum on the rule of Mr Chavez, dealing a blow to opposition hopes to inflict a symbolic political defeat on the leftist leader.

Electoral authorities had set the referendum for February 2, after the opposition had collected more than two million signatures to request the poll, which would have asked voters whether or not the populist president should resign.

But Mr Chavez's government, which is battling a seven-week opposition strike, objected to the vote as unconstitutional and appealed to the Supreme Court to stop it from going ahead.

Mr Chavez, who was voted into office in 1998 and is refusing opposition calls to step down and hold early elections, had said he would ignore the result of the non-binding referendum, even if he lost by 90 per cent.

He has said the opposition should wait until August 19, half-way through his term, when the constitution allowed for a binding referendum on his current mandate, which is scheduled to last until early 2007.

The government suspended foreign currency trading for five days, but said repayment of public debt would continue.

Traders said the move was motivated by a high demand for cash amid nervousness over the crisis and fears currency controls would be imposed.

The National Electoral Commission said the court ruling merely "froze" the referendum but did not cancel it. "We are shocked and indignant. This demonstrates we are under an authoritarian government," said Antonio Ledezma, a spokesman for the opposition, made up of labour and employer federations as well as largely conservative political parties.

The announcement heightened insecurity on the eve of a major Caracas demonstration by supporters of the beleaguered President, who planned to march through east Caracas, a stronghold of the opposition.

Opposition leaders said they were determined to continue the strike, which has mainly affected the vital oil sector, slashing production and exports.

Top diplomats of the hastily formed Friends of Venezuela group – Brazil, Chile, the US, Mexico, Spain and Portugal – were to meet tomorrow in Washington to seek a peaceful end to the crisis. Secretary of State Colin Powell will represent the US.

Venezuelans were anxiously awaiting the opposition's reaction to former US president Jimmy Carter's proposals for an August 19 referendum or a constitutional amendment followed by early elections.

In exchange, the opposition would have to end its strike immediately. Agence France-Presse

www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.23.03, 8:16 AM ET

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The general strike paralysing Venezuela is costing the top 10 international oil firms operating there a combined $6.7 million a day in lost revenue, according to energy analysts Wood MacKenzie.

Seven weeks into the strike, the accumulated impact on earnings is small for most of the companies operating in the world's fifth largest oil exporting nation.

However, in its study released on Thursday, WoodMac warned that it may take two months to get some marginal fields running normally again, and said there was potential for some long-term damage to the industry that delivers 50 percent of the nation's income.

"Only upon resumption of operations will the full implications for both near-term rehabilitation and longer-term reservoir management be known," WoodMac said.

According to WoodMac's figures, the biggest financial loser among the top 10 is French giant Totalfina Elf <TOTF.PA>, which is losing $1.4 million a day in net revenues after the payment of royalty but before tax and costs.

The world's fourth largest oil company, Totalfina is expected to report a 2002 net profit of about $6.5 billion -- equivalent to about $18 million a day.

WoodMac's study also itemised the effect on North American players ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, PetroCanada, and ChevronTexaco.

It also assessed the impact on other European majors Royal Dutch/Shell, BP, ENI, Statoil and Repsol-YPF. See table below. In terms of national production, WoodMac said Venezuela output had slowed to between 400,000 and 600,000 barrels a day from a 2003 forecast of three million barrels a day. The world's biggest producer Saudi Arabia produces about 8.5 million barrels a day. The strike is aimed at forcing leftist President Huga Chavez to resign and accept elections.

COMPANY RIC LOST REVENUE ($ MLN/DAY Totalfina Elf <TOTF.PA> 1.4 ConocoPhillips (nyse: COP - news - people) 1.0 ENI <ENI.MI> 0.87 Exxon Mobil (nyse: XOM - news - people) 0.77 ChevronTexaco (nyse: CVX - news - people) 0.64 RD/Shell <RD.AS> <SHEL.L> 0.53 Statoil <STL.OL> 0.47 Repsol-YPF <REP.MC> 0.38 BP <BP.L> 0.31 PetroCanada 0.29