www.heraldtribune.com The Associated Press

The husband of a World Trade Center victim is suing Venezuela for $100 million in damages, claiming its president, Hugo Chavez, sent money to Osama bin Laden after the terrorist attacks.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday by the watchdog group Judicial Watch based its allegations on international news reports by a former Chavez pilot who defected to the United States this month.

Chavez routed $1 million to bin Laden, al Qaida and the Taliban through Venezuela's ambassador to India days after the attacks Sept. 11, 2001, said the wrongful-death suit filed at federal court in Miami.

The money was disguised as humanitarian aid to the Taliban, and the ambassador, Walter Marquez, arranged to take the money to Afghanistan, the suit said.

Chavez "cavorts, supports and he hangs around terrorists, and that started before 9-11," said Judicial Watch director Larry Klayman.

A State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that the agency has not seen any credible reports linking Venezuela with al Qaida and is not aware of any such financial support.

Fermin Lares, a spokesman for the Venezuelan ambassador in Washington, said he had no comment and the ambassador was not immediately available to talk.

The lawsuit does not name the victim but said she was a 47-year-old U.S. national who was at a meeting in the center's South Tower when a hijacked United Airlines jet hit the building below her. The suit was filed on behalf of her husband, two teenage daughters and parents.

The Venezuelan government will have 60 days to respond in writing to the lawsuit.

Last modified: January 29. 2003 5:10PM

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news.ft.com By James Wilson in Bogotá Published: January 29 2003 22:01 | Last Updated: January 29 2003 22:01

This month's arrival in Colombia of US special forces on a training mission has taken Washington's involvement in Latin America's most enduring guerrilla conflict to a new level.

Around 70 of the elite troops are cloistered in military bases in Arauca, one of Colombia's most violent areas, to train the soldiers of a local army brigade. The aim is to create a rapid reaction force that can prevent rebel attacks on a pipeline for crude oil.

The trainers' arrival is also part of a raising of the stakes by all sides in Colombia's long conflict. Arauca is at the centre of a struggle to test whether gains can be made through stepped-up military action. Two rebel groups, the US and President Alvaro Uribe's government are all playing a role.

Significantly, for the first time the US is preparing Colombian troops to fight rebels it classes as terrorists, rather than for missions in support of drug eradication, which for many years was the declared aim of US financial support to Colombia.

By committing more troops and introducing special legal curbs, Mr Uribe is trying to tame Arauca and prove that his government is developing the capacity to battle the rebels successfully. The rebels are just as keen to show that he will fail, unleashing an unprecedented barrage of bombings in Arauca, such as one last weekend that killed six Colombian soldiers.

Last week's kidnapping of two foreign journalists by rebels also highlighted rising tension there. "It must be taken into account that Arauca is a declared war zone," said the National Liberation Army (ELN) as it admitted holding Ruth Morris, an FT contributor, and Scott Dalton.

The Cuban-inspired guerrilla group has made oil-rich Arauca one of its bastions, feeding parasitically off royalties accruing to the province from an oilfield operated by California-based Occidental Petroleum. But the ELN and the stronger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), which Washington labels as terrorist groups, have also led bombing campaigns against Occidental's pipeline.

Some 170 attacks shut down the oilfield for weeks at a time in 2001, although government forces claimed to have cut the number of attacks to 40 last year.

US military training aims to help Colombia curb those attacks, protecting revenues for Mr Uribe's government and for Occidental. Colombia is one of the US's 10 biggest sources of imported crude and maintaining supplies has taken on fresh importance because of Venezuela's oil strike and uncertainty over Gulf supplies in the event of war. A US official said this month the US trainers would coach Colombian troops not only to react to attacks but also to "sniff out" rebels.

Until last year Washington had shied away from giving aid that would be directly targeted at the rebels. Under Plan Colombia, a $1.3bn aid programme begun in 2000, equipment and training was provided only to help wipe out thousands of hectares of illicit drug crops. The US later argued that drug eradication would remain difficult unless rebels and rival paramilitaries were also curbed.

A shift of approach was made easier after September 11. With President George W. Bush's declaration of global war on terrorism, Colombia's guerrilla and paramilitary groups became legitimate targets, and Plan Colombia resources may now be used against the insurgents.

The special forces in Arauca are being kept out of combat; the US remains adamant that it will not commit fighting forces to Colombia. Congress has also capped the number of trainers that can be deployed.

Continuance of the US-led training also depends on belated approval of this year's US budget. As well as about $640m in continued regional anti-drugs aid, it would also include some $88m for pipeline protection in Arauca, including extra helicopters. Critics of Washington's policy in Colombia argue that not enough attention is being paid to this new phase of US involvement.

"The Bush administration is doing two contradictory things at the same time," says the Center for International Policy, a Washington research centre. "Decision-makers are expanding the US security commitment to Colombia, even while they lower the country's rank on their list of foreign policy priorities."

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, January 28, 2003 - 6:29:56 PM By: K.D. Willke

Gustavo Coronel - Quacks like a Duck, Walks like a Duck

Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 16:14:26 EST From: K.D. Willke WILLKE42@cs.com To: editor@Vheadline.com Subject: Gustavo Coronel - Quacks like a Duck, Walks like a Duck

Dear Editor: I think it is unfortunate the Gustavo Coronel continues to ignore the basis for the current problems in Venezuela. I congratulate him on being so erudite on many worldly matters and for showing some creativity in how he presents his case.  However, for some reason he continues to demonstrate a naivety (not stupidity as some people would accuse) about the realities of the situation in Venezuela and the solution to this situation.  We have several sayings in the US which are also pertinent to the situation in Venezuela.   Two that are particularly relevant are:

• what goes around, comes around; and
• you reap what you sow.

Forgive me for repeating the obvious, but the current problems in Venezuela are the result of decades of corruption, greed, and abuse of the working class and poor, not only by various governments, as Gustavo Coronel likes to point out, but by a large segment of the business community (including Gustavo Coronel's pride and joy - PDVSA).

• It is this corruption and abuse that generated the need for President Hugo Chavez Frias.

By electing  Chavez Frias as President, by large percentages on two separate occasions, the people spoken ... enough is enough.  President Chavez has drawn the line and has put the perpetuators of this corruption, greed and abuse on notice.  They must either rein in their greed and give greater consideration to the needs of Venezuela and its workers and poor, or risk the possibility of loosing everything.

Those in the opposition that control many of the businesses, the media or that are wealthy, can posture all they want ... but the honest reality is that most have brought this upon themselves.

Rather than fighting to preserve business as usual, by disrupting the country's economy and imposing further hardships on the workers and poor, they should help solve the problems they have created over the past 40 to 50 years.

Gustavo Coronel makes it clear in some of his past editorials that he thinks that the problems of the poor are mainly due to improper education and training.  As a result they do not have the skills, proper work ethic, and drive to succeed.

Undoubtedly, this is part of the problem.

Another part of the problem, structural poverty, I have addressed in a previous letter.  A more fundamental problem that Gustavo Coronel does not address is the human need for recognition, achievement, security, respect, identity, and fair play.

Providing education is certainly important ... however, unless the poor are giving the opportunity to appropriately apply this education and are compensated accordingly, it can have quite the opposite affect on work ethic and drive.

In the US, and other countries, where quality education is more affordable and readily available, there are still major inequities in income distribution.  One has only to look at the huge disparity between salaries and benefits at the upper management level and the middle management and non-management levels in most corporations for a vivid example of this inequity. The magnitude of this disparity has been documented in the press and various studies.

Consequently, the educated workforce is aware of this inequity, but feels helpless and frustrated due to its inability to change the system.   As a result, these workforce levels become disenchanted with upper management and have been forced change their ideals and attitudes toward work and life in general.

Instead of the loyal and dedicated workforce that existed in the past, it is now a very fragmented workforce with attitudes such as:

• • do unto others what is being done to you 
• • just put in eight hours and nothing more
• • fight the system, the hell with the work
• • getting even by sabotage or retaliation.

In other words, education plus inequitable income distribution equals trouble.

In all his attacks on the Chavez administration and proposed solutions to the problems in Venezuela, Gustavo Coronel fails to comprehend these fundamental human needs.

These considerations are of prime importance.  Education should be built on these considerations and not just on training people to perform certain tasks or to behave in a prescribed manner.  People must have the opportunity to utilize their education, talents, and skills and be properly recognized and compensated regardless of their social standing, race, or sex.  It is through helping its people achieve their basic needs, and thus opening the door for attention to other needs such as creativity and self-motivation, that countries are able to achieve greatness through its people.

• Therefore, Venezuela not only has to provide quality education to all its citizens, it must provide an opportunity for its people to contribute meaningfully to society and to be appropriately compensated for their efforts.

As history has demonstrated over and over and over again, countries do not achieve greatness as a result of a chosen few amassing wealth and power through greed and abuse of others ... this is the major problem in Venezuela, and it lies predominately with the opposition ... they control most of the wealth and resources in the country and it is their social responsibility, as human beings and citizens of Venezuela, to use these to the benefit of the country and all Venezuelans.

The Chavez administration recognizes the problem and is trying to deal with it.  President Hugo Chavez Frias has stepped up to the plate, at grave risk to himself, and confronted the problem ... he has focused attention on this problem and the international community is starting to get the message.

If Gustavo Coronel and the opposition don't like his methods, then they must make a better case for themselves by coming up with a meaningful and realistic alternative to the problem.

So far, I only see a lot of belly-aching and finger-pointing coming from the opposition.

They created the problem and they should  take the lead in helping to solve the problem ... getting rid of President Chavez through organized strikes, work lockouts, capital flight, etc. are not meaningful solutions.

Now that President Chavez has "set the bar," and lit the flame of hope for the majority of Venezuelans, the cat is out of the bag.

This situation will not go away if President Chavez leaves ... someone else will take up the torch and that person may truly be a dictator.

I enjoy Kay Onefeather's poetic pieces and would like to end this letter with a modest poetic attempt to put a more positive spin on Gustavo Coronel's demeaning comment.

Quacks like a Duck Walks like a Duck Proud as he can be Head held high for all to see

Quacks like a Duck Walks like a Duck Leading his ducklings in a row So they know where to go

Quacks like a Duck Walks like a Duck Nurturing his ducklings all Till they grow tall

Quacks like a Duck Walks like a Duck Head held high for all to see Proud his ducklings will be

Sincerely, K.D. Willke WILLKE42@cs.com

Posted: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 1:37:17 PM By: Oliver L Campbell www.vheadline.com

The poor: a problem that will not go quietly away!

Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 12:35:17 -0800 From: Oliver L Campbell oliver@lbcampbell.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Mr Willke's Letter

Dear Editor: I refer to Mr. Willke’s interesting e-mail of 28 January where he expounds the problems of education and inequitable income distribution in Venezuela ... I would, however, have liked him to suggest some solutions as well.

I passionately believe that a lack of sellable skills is main problem of the poor in Venezuela. In a recent article I wrote “It is essential these people (the poor) are brought into the economy by learning useful skills. This means reforming the education system so more technical institutes are created which provide practical instruction and training to those who are not cut out for an academic education. A technical qualification will be given the recognition it deserves and carry its own prestige. At the same time, a host of young people will acquire the dignity and intense satisfaction that come from being employed and doing a worth while job.”

I do not disagree with Mr. Willke that inequitable income distribution is a problem in Venezuela as, indeed, it is in many countries. The trouble is how do you reduce it?

Venezuela already has a progressive system of income tax and an inheritance tax of 40% ... we all know that value-added taxes hit the poor more than the rich. The only thing I can think of is a wealth tax of some kind, and that certainly would be difficult to introduce.

The centrally-managed economies had some success because they could dictate salaries. The result was, for instance, that a medical doctor with years of training did not earn substantially more than, say, an electrician. However, this type of economy proved to be very inefficient and most countries that had it (including Russia), have now moved to a market economy.

My point is, that in a market economy, it is very difficult to reduce inequitable income distribution. For instance, how do you lessen the large differentials in salaries where the general manager earns, say, twenty times what one of his manual workers does?

The only practical way to eliminate this is through education or ... as I prefer to put it ... through the acquisition of skills required in the market place. Those countries that have tried to introduce an incomes’ policy, like the United Kingdom, have soon abandoned it as unworkable.

You can, of course, throw money at the problem of the poor by giving them hand-outs, allowing them to use public services free of charge, and improving the infrastructure of the sectors where they live e.g. the 'ranchos' of the large cities ... this has all been done, but it is only a temporary palliative (panitos calientes), and the aim surely must be to enable them to earn a reasonable living.

The Chinese have a saying "Give a hungry man a fish and he will be hungry again ... teach him how to fish and he need never be hungry again." If money has to be thrown somewhere, it should be at the construction of technical schools all over the country. This will mean increasing taxation ... but it is the cost of rectifying the indifference of governments over the last 50 years.

I agree with Mr. Willke that whichever government is in power, it will have to address the problem of the poor: it is not a problem that will quietly go away.

Oliver L Campbell oliver@lbcampbell.com

www.granma.cu Havana. January 29,  2003

• The Organization of American States (OAS) backs opposition proposal for a new public referendum outside of the timeframe stipulated in the Constitution

BY RAISA PAGES –Granma International staff writer –

THE national and international conspiracy against Hugo Chávez’ government is weakening as its arguments to topple the leader – a head of state whose only crime since taking power has been to submit all the decisions he has made to public referendums, fall apart.

The leader is acting in accordance with the rules of the Constitution, supported by more than 80% of the population in a popular referendum.

Perhaps one should ask who is behind these desperate efforts to bring down Chávez’ government? According to a report by Patrick J. O. Donahue, Joe García, president of the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF) has hinted that his organization intends to use its powerful lobby in Washington to make life difficult for the Venezuelan president.

The public announcement regarding the close relationship between the CANF and the Democratic Coordination of Venezuela, the newly baptized opposition alliance, confirms accusations of this terrorist organization’s part in the conspiracy to topple President Chávez. It also confirms suspicions about secret meetings between opposition ringleaders and CANF executives, who last weekend organized a march against the Venezuelan leader on 8th Street, Miami.

Carlos Ortega, president of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers and one of the main leaders of the opposition movement, took part in the Miami march. Last week Ortega traveled to the United States for talks with representatives of George W. Bush’s government and the United Nations, in search of support for his conspiratorial schemes. But Ortega wasn’t alone in Miami; other important figures, such as former mayor Antonio Ledezma, journalist Patricia Poleo and high-ranking Captain José Manuel Bellabeen accompanied him on the trip.

COUP ATTEMPTS FRUSTRATED

Monsignor Baltazar Porras, president of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference and a fierce critic of Hugo Chávez, said that since the reactionary sectors called for a general strike last December 2, the domestic crisis was a disaster.

By regaining control of the oil industry, the state has foiled attempts by strikers at the Petróleos de Venezuela Corporation (PDVSA). Venezuelan oil exports are regaining their former sales figures and almost one million barrels a day are being processed, according to government reports (before the strike, more than 3 million barrels were extracted daily). ANSA reports that before the strike Venezuela, the fifth largest crude oil exporter and a member of the Organization of Petrol Exporting Countries (OPEC), provided 13% of the oil consumed in the United States.

The National Association of Private Education Institutes announced that classes are to resume next week, although there is disagreement with the Chamber for Private Education, which remains in favor of maintaining the suspension of classes, reported Prensa Latina from Caracas.

The vast majority of state-run public schools are still operating and at a number of centers, where principals and teaching staff have refused to give classes, parents and pupils have taken control.

Meanwhile, shopping centers and industries that had joined the conspiracy are re-opening for business, proving that their pockets are getting emptier and Chávez’ government is growing stronger.

The private media channels in Venezuela are still united in their efforts to bring down the government, and have been broadcasting new conspiratorial campaigns such as the recent "firmazo" (petition), a new maneuver to demand early elections. That has already been ruled out by the Supreme Court of Justice, which announced preventative measures ordering the suspension of a consultative referendum due to take place on February 2.

The attitude of the Organization of American States (OAS), headed by former Colombian president César Gaviria has remained true to form in the way that it deals with problems in Latin America. In an interview with the daily Folha de Sao Paulo, Gaviria maintained that all possible extra-electoral accords had been tried and supported the opposition’s demand for a public referendum, totally disregarding all the popular consultations organized by Chávez from the start of his mandate right up to the last demonstration of public support for his anti-neoliberal position.

He also stated that even with the creation of the Group of Friends of Venezuela, a Brazilian initiative, "we are still no nearer to a solution."

OUTSIDE FORCES CONSPIRING

The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela condemned the "integral sabotage" planned and carried out on PDVSA orders, causing losses in the region of $3 billion USD in December and January. Chávez’ government has introduced another measure to implement a control of food prices.

According to VENPRESS, the government will put in place a system to control prices and instigate a national, integral and full distribution system to avoid shortages of medicines and foodstuffs, measures to be accompanied by others of a social, political and economic nature.

Chávez also confirmed that external forces are intent on toppling the Venezuelan government, comparing the situation to that of Chile 30 years ago. He went on to say that those forces have forgotten that whereas in Chile, if Pinochet gave an order the armed forces carried it out, in Venezuela, those generals and admirals who are aligned with the oligarchy were given orders to stage a military insurrection and ended up as prisoners of their subordinates.

He recalled that during last April’s coup-d’état, some eight million people took control of military installations and the Parliament building and, with the support of the armed forces, managed to defeat the attempted coup.

He attested to the fact that there is a crisis in Venezuela because in the four years of his government, the economic elites have generated the undue exit from the nation of $35 billion USD – by means of a financial war unleashed by minority interests – and for 30 years have enjoyed undeserved benefits.

He went on to say that the anti-neoliberal nature of the Bolivarian Constitution is frightening those elite groups by removing their privileges. They have been relying on the support of the private media stations to carry out their campaign against the will of the people.

GENERAL STRIKE BY PRIVATE BUSINESSES

April’s coup attempt, he pointed out, allowed the Venezuelan government to reinforce its relationship with the National Armed Forces in accordance with the Constitution and now the attempted oil coup will give it the opportunity to nationalize this vital resource and lay off 3,000 PDVSA executives.

He underlined that in four years of government, they had been unable to touch this sector’s elite, but now Venezuelan nationalists were in a position to achieve this. He continued by saying that "those who attack Venezuela’s economic heart and sabotage milk-processing plants and those of the PDVSA, should be labeled terrorists. In Venezuela, the workers are not on strike, the bosses decided to shut down their workplaces, denying everyone the right to work¼ "

He emphasized that a group of PDVSA bosses had used remote control and satellite devices to sabotage the plants by changing the opening hours of pumping valves and blocking employees’ bank accounts to freeze their wages. Chávez thanked the workers, affirming that because of them "the country has not come to a standstill and nor will it." 

focus.scmp.com Thursday, January 30, 2003 SUNANDA DATTA-RAY

After the warning from Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, the former Saudi Arabian oil minister and co- founder of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), that the oil price could shoot up to US$100 (HK$780) a barrel, it is no wonder French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are worried about America's planned war on Iraq.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair can afford to be sanguine, since Britain is self-sufficient in oil. Europe is not. Obliged to hold enough oil in reserve for 90 days, Other European Union members are haunted by the spectre of civil strife and rampaging mobs when food and fuel fall short, if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein destroys not only his own oil wells but also those in neighbouring countries that help the US. (Iraq has the world's second-largest deposits, though the United Nations allows it to produce only two million barrels a day.)

If that happened, Sheik Yamani told a conference in Doha, the capital of Qatar, the US "would be the cause of a global disaster". It would be a nightmare for Asia and Africa, where rising prices would curb investment, slow production, reduce trade and arrest the development process. Basic necessities would be priced out of reach. The Arab Monetary Fund estimated during the 1991 Gulf War that while the Middle East lost US$676 billion in oil revenue and structural damage, the cost to Iraq was US$256 billion. According to the Arab fund, the poorest Asian countries lost US$23 billion.

The EU imports 30 per cent of its oil from the Gulf, which has two-thirds of the world's known reserves and has more spare capacity than any other oil-producing region. Another 15 per cent comes from Iran and Iraq.

Of course, there are other reasons - morality, legal propriety and respect for the UN - why EU leaders advise caution. And they have not forgotten the devastation of two world wars. They know better than Mr Bush that it is folly to imagine all evil can be driven out and the world reinvented according to some idealistic model. They might also be keen to show that Europe counts. Waxing lyrical on the 40th anniversary of the signing by France and Germany of the Elysee treaty to forge closer ties, Mr Chirac said: "When Germany and France get along, Europe advances. When they don't, Europe stops." Maybe. But the most immediately compelling reason why they agree on the question of war and peace in the Middle East is that they do not want to add to voter discontent.

Oil causes concern even in Britain. One has only to think of the strike by oil tanker drivers in 2000. The British had adequate reserves but responded with long queues at petrol stations, while panic buying emptied many supermarket shelves.

Britain cannot remain isolated from a global fuel crisis. Its food imports have doubled in the last two decades and the food trade deficit stands at £8.3 billion (HK$106 billion). Food accounts for 40 per cent of all road freight in Britain and there was a 90 per cent increase in food and agricultural product freight between Britain and continental Europe from 1989 to 1999.

Trying to keep the oil price at between US$22 and US$28 a barrel, Opec decided recently to increase daily production by an additional 1.5 million barrels. This was to counter the crippling strike in Venezuela, which supplies 13 per cent of US imports. Ironically, America - which has less than 3 per cent of the world's oil reserves - saw Venezuela as its bulwark against Arab oil politics. Now the Arabs have had to go to America's rescue.

Prices will fall if Mr Bush pulls back and Iraq is allowed to return to normal oil production. However, the US calculates that a quick war would give them control of Iraq's oil industry. They would then be able to lift UN restrictions, invest in drilling and increase production. But even the US knows that prices are bound to rise during hostilities, however short they might be.

Seeking support, the US is reported to have privately promised Russia that Iraq will have to pay its outstanding dues of about US$8 billion.

It has also assured Turkey that, apart from financial compensation, its claim to royalties from the Mosul and Kirkuk fields (the reason Britain prised Iraq out of the Ottoman empire) will be considered. China has been told that only a common strategy on cheap energy can sustain its phenomenal growth rate.

Urban societies that depend on the long-haul transport of imported food fear the most from the political fallout of economic discontent. Panic buying would mean massive disruption, sudden scarcities, an erosion of confidence in governments and civil unrest. There was evidence of this during the 1973 Arab oil embargo.

But, of course, the developing nations will bear the main brunt. Some could be reduced to destitution. As the traditional English song has it:

"It's the same the whole world over,

It's the poor what gets the blame. . ."

For blame read punishment.

Sunanda Datta-Ray is a senior fellow at the School of Communication and Information of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.