www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, January 27, 2003 - 3:49:25 PM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuela’s print & broadcast media have come under attack from delegates attending the World Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Le Monde Diplomatique editor Ignacio Ramonet has announced the formation of what he calls the “Fifth Power,” that will "defend citizens' right to receive truthful information."

• The one-sided Venezuelan mainstream media are cited as an example of joining the powerful to oppress the people.

Ramonet accuses Venezuelan media tycoon, Gustavo Cisneros of leading the opposition attack on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias.  He accuses the media, traditionally known as the "fourth power" for failing to defend citizens against the might of executive, legislative and judicial powers. Throwing a challenge to neo-liberalism, Ramonet says the anti-globalization is here to stay.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, January 27, 2003 - 2:47:50 PM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Confederation of Trade Unions (CTV) president Carlos Ortega’s wife and family have been spirited out of strife-torn Venezuela to Aruba under top-secret arrangements in preparation for the opposition leader's exile as the 8-week opposition sabotage of Venezuela's national economy begins to deflate.

Mrs. Rosa Lamper de Ortega was accompanied on the flight by her daughter Carol (32) and husband Miguel Angel Latuff Gotilla (38) with two grandchildren, Carla Alexandra (14) and Albani (12).  Ortega’s two sons, Klaive (28) and Carlos Alfonso (27) with the latter's wife and 1-year old son went into exile with the mother.

Carlos Alfonso was kicked out of his job at the Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) Paraguana refinery, after he boasting that he was the only hired worker who had been booted out during the national stoppage ... and that he would never leave Venezuela.

Venezuelan Migration & Frontiers Office chief Luis Martinez has confirmed that a plane belonging to the Foundation of Valencia flew the passengers to Aruba under especially top-secret circumstances last Wednesday.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.27.03, 2:07 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Chief U.N. arms inspector Hans Blix sharply criticized Iraq for not giving enough evidence on its past weapons of mass destruction programs but did not corroborate U.S. claims that Baghdad had rebuilt its arsenal. Blix was addressing the U.N. Security Council after two months of inspections, outlining in detail gaps in information Iraq should have delivered in a 12,000-page arms declaration on Dec. 7. But he said the omissions could not lead him to conclude that Baghdad possesed prohibited arms.

UNITED NATIONS - The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said that two months of weapons inspections in Iraq had not proved Baghdad had tried to revive its nuclear arms programme. In an indirect jab at the United States' impatience with the inspection process and threats of war against Baghdad, top nuclear inspector Mohamed ElBaradei also called the inspection process a valuable investment in the interest of peace.

WASHINGTON - Iraq is not cooperating with U.N. weapons inspectors or complying with a U.N. resolution demanding it disarm and it is time for the Security Council to weigh how to respond, a senior U.S. State Department official said.

BAGHDAD - Ordinary Iraqis saw the report by top U.N. weapons inspectors to the Security Council as negative and predicted Washington would use it as a cover for invading the oil-rich country.

DAMASCUS - Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in some Arab capitals to protest against a possible U.S. war on Iraq, labelling U.S. President George W. Bush a "butcher" and his administration "arrogant".

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's right-wing Likud party kept its commanding lead in final opinion polls published on the eve of Israel's general election, but looked set to struggle to form a stable coalition.

SEOUL - A South Korean presidential envoy held talks with North Korean officials in Pyongyang in an attempt to ease the crisis over the Stalinist state's nuclear ambitions.

CARACAS - Venezuela's opposition debated scaling back its strike against leftist President Hugo Chavez to ease the burden on a struggling private sector now also threatened by government currency curbs and price controls.

LONDON/SEOUL - "SQL Slammer", a two-day-old computer worm that wreaked havoc on the Internet over the weekend, appeared to slow to a crawl late on Monday, fizzling out as quickly as it emerged.

ABIDJAN - Gangs of youths, some swinging machetes, blocked streets in Ivory Coast's main city and pulled foreigners from cars in a third day of protests at a peace deal they say was imposed by former colonial power France.

THE HAGUE - Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity during the 1999 Kosovo conflict as he made his first court appearance since surrendering to the Hague tribunal.

PARIS - Jean-Claude Trichet, the would-be president of the European Central Bank, testified for the first time in a financial scandal trial that could rule the 60-year-old Frenchman out of the top job at the ECB.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, January 27, 2003 - 1:48:16 PM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The dismissed opposition "shadow" Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) board has published a draft  letter alleged to have been sent by the legitimate PDVSA board to employees who are willing to return to work.

Dubbing the current PDVSA management illegal, the 'Gente del Petroleo' group says workers who joined the national stoppage will be forced to sign what amounts to a confession, indicating that they abandoned their jobs illegally and without prior notice, in obediance to "illegal orders of those who had been supervisors and managers … causing serious damage to the company and country creating cause for dismissal according to Labor law Artcle 102 "… and giving assurances not to take part in similar irregularities in the future."

• In its usual daily oil industry update the group claims that only 411 of Venezuela's 1,811 gas pump stations have gasoline supplies,
• No supplies have been dispatched to Vargas or Caracas.
• Maracaibo has been without gasoline since Saturday
• El Palito refinery is at a complete standstill.
• Production currently stands at 986,000 bpd

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, January 27, 2003 - 2:05:08 PM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuela's opposition has placed the spotlight on hated Maracay barracks strongman, General Raul Baduel for his involvement in a new TV station called Orbivision. Among the board members are university professor, Basilio Sanchez Aranguren (president), Edgar Paulino Sanchez Aranguren (managing director) and Baduel as vice president when he retires from the army.

• Most shareholders seem to belong to the Sanchez side of the family and the total capital is down as 20 million bolivares ($10,400).

What has got the back of the opposition up is the fact that authorization for the channel was granted so quickly.  Board members of Vale TV complain that the Infrastructure Ministry had been stalling its permit for more than a year for alleged political reasons.

The Orbivision TV studios are situated in Maracay (Aragua) and it has been on the air in Aragua for two months, linking to CMT TV station in Caracas, run by Santa Maria University's Umberto Petricca.

CMT has agreed to send the Aragua channel, such as programs as Walter Martinez’ Dossier.

Guarico State Governor Manuel Manuitt is said to be interested in the channel and has placed political PR ads, even though Orbivision’s signal is still weak in Guarico.