31 Jan 2003 20:40

(Recasts throughout) By Tom Ashby

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Venezuelan state oil company chief Ali Rodriguez said Friday he had restored half of the OPEC nation's strike-hit output and would impose a radical restructuring on the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

Rodriguez said there would be no return for thousands of fired Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) workers, whom he accused of sabotaging the country's oil industry and betraying the nation by trying to topple President Hugo Chavez.

PDVSA employees who were pardoned for their role in a failed coup attempt against Chavez last April had re-offended by organizing the strike, Rodriguez said.

"There has been a repeat of the behavior which definitely allows no going back," he told a press conference.

The PDVSA chief said he had fired almost every one of PDVSA's 700 senior executives for joining the strike. The total number of dismissed workers already topped 5,300 and could reach 6,000, he added.

Rodriguez, a former communist guerrilla, said PDVSA had grown fat during the past 20 years, consuming an ever larger share of oil income. He pledged to turn it into a vehicle for state revenue collection.

"PDVSA should be nothing more than an instrument to secure maximum benefit from the export of (oil) through its contribution to the treasury," Rodriguez told reporters.

He said production recovered to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), half of pre-strike levels, from a low of 150,000 bpd at the height of the strike.

He forecast output approaching normal levels of 3 million bpd by early March.

Almost two months into the opposition strike aimed at forcing left-winger Chavez to resign, the two sides have been providing conflicting accounts of the impact of the stoppage on South America's largest producer.

Strikers pegged output at 1.1 million bpd on Friday and said it would never reach pre-strike levels without a deal for elections that would also return them to their jobs.

They accuse Chavez of adopting dictatorial powers and leading the South American country towards Cuban-style communism.

DESTRUCTION

Striking PDVSA employees said Rodriguez was destroying Venezuela's economic powerhouse with his reforms.

"We are witnessing the destruction of PDVSA, which was ranked among the top global energy corporations before the strike," a dissident spokesman said.

They dismissed accusations of sabotage, saying they handed over installations in good working order and that unqualified strike-breakers had caused a spate of oil spills, computer crashes and refinery faults.

PDVSA's investment budget would be cut by 30 percent to adjust to the slump in export revenue, Rodriguez said, adding he would protect the key oil production budget.

He conceded that oil output capacity would probably suffer as a result of the cut.

Striking workers said Rodriguez planned to sell PDVSA's overseas businesses, which include the Citgo refining and marketing brand in the United States.

Rodriguez said some asset sales were planned as part of his restructuring, but declined to give details.

The PDVSA head questioned the motives of a strike that has pushed the country close to the brink of economic collapse and forced the government to impose currency controls.

"Can you imagine BP promoting a strike against the British Prime Minister because it doesn't like him? Or Exxon staging a strike against President Bush in the United States? Rationally it has no explanation," Rodriguez said.

"It is a case for psychiatric analysis. Maybe Freud has the answer," he added.

The strike has helped drive world oil prices up to two-year highs and sapped oil inventories at a time when Washington prepares for possible war with Iraq.

"MASSIVE" RETURN TO WORK

Rodriguez said a "massive" return to work by blue-collar workers and contractors at the oilfields meant output had risen much more quickly than he had expected.

Crude flows should reach 1.8-1.9 million bpd next week when four huge heavy oil upgrading plants, operated by foreign investors, are due to be restarted.

He reiterated PDVSA's aim to lift a force majeure on oil exports, a legal term meaning it can no longer fulfill sales agreements, by the end of February.

Striking PDVSA workers think he will have to keep some restrictions on exports all year, because of a complete collapse of PDVSA's trading and logistics team, and the computer systems used to execute sales.

Some of Venezuela's output was being shipped to storage tanks in the Caribbean for sale to customers still nervous about sending vessels to Venezuelan ports, Rodriguez said.

Before the strike, Venezuela pumped 3.1 million bpd of oil, and refined about one third of it. It supplied 13 percent of U.S. import requirements.

Rodriguez pegged refinery runs at 288,000 barrels per day, a quarter of normal levels, and said he would contract some foreign engineers from the United States to speed the recovery of halted units.

reuters.com Fri January 31, 2003 04:04 PM ET By Monica Garcia

TRES ESQUINAS, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe cast doubt on the quick release of a kidnapped British reporter and U.S. photographer, saying on Friday that he refused to meet Marxist rebel demands to halt military offensives during the handoff.

The hard-line leader said quartering his troops would send "a contradictory message" to the war-torn Andean nation, while branding the journalists' planned release in eastern Arauca province a "show" meant to improve the image of the Cuban-inspired National Liberation Army, or ELN.

"The ELN should free the journalists without turning Arauca into dramatic spectacle. If the government signs off on the drama and the paraphernalia in Arauca, and the show, it would send contradictory messages, discourage our troops," said Uribe, whose father was killed by leftist rebels. "For this reason, deploring as we deplore the kidnapping of the journalists, yearning as we yearn for their release, the government has made the decision to proceed in Arauca with actions that do not affect the morale of the troops," he said, speaking at Tres Esquinas military base in southeastern Colombia.

British reporter Ruth Morris and U.S. photographer Scott Dalton were abducted while traveling on freelance assignment for the Los Angeles Times along a rural road on Jan. 21 in the province of Arauca, where U.S. Special Forces started training local troops in counterinsurgency techniques this month.

The 5,000-member rebel army said in a communique this week it intended to soon free the reporters "safe and sound" as long as the country's president and the military did not try to rescue them by force. It also requested that a commission, composed of prominent officials, be present for the handoff.

The media have, in the past, accompanied rebels for the release of kidnap victims -- beaming images of the emotive handoffs to television sets across the nation.

Following Uribe's speech, a member of the proposed commission Jaime Bernal -- former public prosecutor -- branded the situation "delicate." He had not left for Arauca.

Colombia, ravaged by a four-decade-old guerrilla conflict, is one of the world's most dangerous places for reporters -- with eight Colombian journalists killed last year alone.

Still, until the kidnapping of Morris and Dalton, international press had gone relative unscathed. Leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary outlaws have often posed for foreign press cameras and chatted happily into microphones.

Uribe said ELN abduction of Morris and Dalton was a clear attempt by the rebels to win points abroad by staging a spectacle, which the guerrilla had further hoped would be made safe with Colombian troops locked up in their barracks.

"When they kidnap international reporters and realize they have summoned an international reaction, then they start feverishly asking for commissions to unleash the drama and appear like kind-hearted observers and followers of international human rights law," Uribe declared.

"They don't do the same thing when they kidnap our middle class every day."

The Cuban-inspired ELN, a 1960s rebel group, kidnaps hundreds of people every year for ransom to pay for their struggle, which they say is to impose socialist reform in a country torn by the divide between rich and poor.

But ELN forces have not appeared interested in money in kidnapping Morris and Dalton. Rebels stopped them at a roadblock, hooded them and took them to a secret guerrilla camp, according to their driver, who was later released.

Arauca, an oil-rich region of savannas and swamps bordering Venezuela, is one of the most violent zones in a war that kills thousands every year. Suspected rebels killed six soldiers in Arauca on Sunday, in the fourth car bomb attack there in January.

www.upi.com By Anwar Iqbal From the International Desk Published 1/31/2003 4:06 PM

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Key U.S. allies are on President Bush's list Friday of 23 countries designated as major producers or transit routes of illicit drugs.

Besides China and India, two key allies in the war against terror -- Afghanistan and Pakistan -- are also on the list.

Myanmar, Guatemala and Haiti are the only countries labeled as those that have failed to control drug producing and trafficking. Others on the list have been effective in curbing drug production and trafficking and therefore are exempted from punitive action, the White House said.

Guatemala and Haiti will continue to receive U.S. economic assistance, however, because the administration believes it is in Washington's interest to do so.

The former Burma, however, faces U.S. sanctions as a major drug producer.

"The major drug-transit or illicit drug producing countries on the list are: Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

"The president ... reported to Congress his determinations that Burma, Guatemala, and Haiti failed demonstrably, during the previous 12 months, to adhere to their obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements and to take the measures set forth in U.S. anti-drug law," the White House said.

Bush's report also noted the alarming increase in the quantity of ecstasy, or MDMA, entering the United States, of which a significant amount is manufactured clandestinely in the Netherlands. Bush expressed concern that Canada is a primary source of pseudoephedrine, which is exported to the United States and used in clandestine drug laboratories to make methamphetamines. Canada has also become a growing source of high-potency marijuana.

Bush said the administration will continue to work closely with the governments of the Netherlands and Canada to address these issues.

The White House sends this annual list to Congress, of the major illicit drug producing and drug-transiting countries.

The president must consider each country's performance in areas such as illicit drug cultivation, drug trafficker extradition, and law enforcement efforts to prevent and punish corruption that facilitates drug trafficking or impedes drug crime prosecution.

The president also has to consider efforts to stop the production and export of illegal drugs.

www.granma.cu Havana. January 31,  2003

THE Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) recently refuted a claim that the Chávez government is donating oil to Cuba, a claim it qualified as a "gross lie by fascists and coup organizers" within the Venezuelan opposition, circulated by the privately owned media to confuse the public in that country.

These evil-intentioned persons, states a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated January 9 and reproduced in its entirety in Granma International (No.2), "are overlooking the hundreds of millions of dollars paid by Cuba to PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela), fully meeting its commitments month by month, cent by cent, not without some effort and sacrifice, as well as "the effects on our economy (of more than $200 million USD), "by their Olympian omission that no ‘present’ whatsoever exists and that the signed Cooperation Agreement is not one-sided but of two-way benefit."

The documents points out: "In contrast, what has Cuba’s attitude been? Has the island perchance caused some damage to Venezuela?" It moves on to quote various examples of the island’s cooperation with "that sister nation:

"A total of 748 Cuban doctors, nurses and health technicians have freely given their services in dangerous places and the remotest areas of Venezuelan territory where no such services existed." In the locations where they have worked, it points out, the infant mortality rate has been reduced from 19.5 to 3.9 per one thousand live births.

It notes that 380 young Venezuelans, "in their overwhelming majority from modest backgrounds," are studying, likewise free of charge, at the island’s Latin American School of Medical Science.

"A total of 3,042 Venezuelan patients, in their majority suffering from serious disorders and injuries, have been freely treated in Cuban health institutions. That treatment, including a large number of highly complex operations, would have cost the Venezuelan government tens of millions of dollars," adds the MINREX statement. It notes that "adding on the free services offered by Cuba, its value would rise to more than $100 million USD in barely two years¼ "

It likewise refers to the fact that "600 Cuban trainers and other sports technicians have been working in many cities and areas of Venezuela" to promote the development of physical education and sports among the population. "For this cooperation — which is not free of charge — Cuba has received an income far below the average amount charged in professional fees by specialists from other nations or from its own nation, if it had such private-sector professionals."

www.knoxstudio.com Scripps Howard News Service January 31, 2003

WASHINGTON - The "majors list" - which identifies the most problematic illicit drug-producing and transit countries - has been released by the White House. It contains many of the usual suspects: Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

President Bush's report also noted the alarming increase in the quantity of ecstasy entering the United States; a significant amount of it is manufactured clandestinely in the Netherlands. Bush also noted his concern that Canada, although not on the majors list, is a primary source of pseudoephedrine, which is exported to the United States and used in illegal drug laboratories to make methamphetamine. The report noted Canada increasingly has become a source of high-potency marijuana exported to the United States.

X...X...X

You probably don't need another study to be convinced that too many commuters are distracted by talking on cell phones.

But here goes anyhow.

According to the National Safety Council, drivers are often distracted whether they are holding a cell phone during a conversation or using a hands-free cell phone. The conclusion? Local laws requiring hands-free use only will not help much.

Cell phone stats: About 134 million are in use in this country, and about 75 percent of drivers have used their phone while driving. Federal officials estimate that 20 percent to 30 percent of all crashes are caused by some form of driver distraction, with cell phones being just one of several culprits.

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Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry! ... As if enough hot air hasn't settled over the Senate, Jerry Springer, the former Cincinnati mayor who hosts one of the more, uh, flamboyant TV talk shows, is contemplating a campaign. The Democrat would face off against Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

Meanwhile, some folks are hinting that Oprah Winfrey, who soon is expected to end her longtime Chicago-based talk show, would be the perfect Democratic candidate to oppose Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Ill.

As if there isn't enough talk in Washington.

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Who favors war with Iraq? Support is highest among Republicans, conservatives, younger Americans and those with a high school education or less, says the Gallup organization, which analyzed data from six polls taken in December and January. A majority of Democrats, liberals and those with a postgraduate education oppose an invasion. Men are slightly more likely than women to favor U.S. action against Iraq.

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California Gov. Gray Davis is having a slight problem delivering on his Super Bowl bet with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The Sunshine State is one of 37 states that restrict direct shipping of wine. So the dozen bottles of 1999 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon that Davis put on the line, which run at $150 a bottle, will remain in the Napa Valley.

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Irony doesn't get much better than this.

Guess which country is slated to take over the rotating chairmanship of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in May? Yep, Iraq. In alphabetical order, U.N. member countries get the chairmanship for a month or so at a time. The conference is the globe's top disarmament forum.

"The irony is overwhelming," said a spokesman for John Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

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Maybe President Bush should have let Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson occupy the front-row seats at his State of the Union address instead of the Joint Chiefs.

"American Idol," the lead-in to the president's Tuesday speech on the Fox network, drew an estimated 23 million viewers, according to the Nielsen ratings. But about 13 million fans of the tone-deaf singers getting bashed by a smarmy Brit found something better to do when president took the podium.

Even so, the 10 million who stuck around, along with those viewing on other networks, helped make the state of the union Bush's most watched televised address ever - 62 million overall.

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You've heard of the teacher shortage? The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future says it's actually more of a retention problem. A new report by the panel finds almost a third of all new teachers leave the classroom after three years, and that close to 50 percent leave after five years.

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Regular beach swimmers might take offense, but environmental groups are suing a federal agency to reduce the number of sharks that the fishing industry can catch and kill.

Ever since the release of the movie "Jaws" back in 1975, swimmers have kept a close watch for signs of sharks near their beaches. But Earthjustice, The Ocean Conservancy and the National Audubon Society claim that federal officials need to shrink quotas for hunting certain species of sharks to avoid dangerous population declines. One study estimated that the sandbar shark family has declined by up to 80 percent since the late '70s. In the past two decades, hammerhead numbers are down as much as 89 percent, great whites by 79 percent, and tiger sharks by 65 percent.

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Drug lobbyists are trying to deep-six Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., former high-profile chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, famous for skewering Bill Clinton. Thanks to GOP rules, Burton had to forfeit his chairmanship in this Congress, and drug-industry lobbyists are urging GOP leaders to ensure he doesn't get another because of Burton's opposition to vaccinations. Burton, who has an autistic grandson, has been investigating whether children's vaccines can cause autism.

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Alarmed by childhood obesity rates, some Democrats want to use the upcoming reauthorization of child nutrition programs to bar public schools from leasing space to vendors selling sugar snacks and sodas. But the new chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., says such decisions should be left up to local schools. His father was a school superintendent.

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It must be tough being so out of the loop as America faces its biggest diplomatic challenges in a long time. But ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright seems to have found a pressing cause to champion - dog parks throughout Washington, where canines can cavort off their leashes. Albright's sister, Kathy Silva, is one of the key organizers of the D.C. Dog Owners Group, which is lobbying the city council for at least one such park in each of the city's seven wards.

"I don't understand why non-dog owners wouldn't want to have a designated area for dogs where it will be cleaned up," Albright argued at the rally, according to a local weekly newspaper.

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How secure are the smart bombs and positioning systems they use? The Air Force is confident enough of GPS satellites being able to evade any jamming efforts that a proposed upgrade for the new generation of spacecraft has been pushed back two years, until 2006.

And Air Force brass say they're sure signals can be kept strong and pure enough to guide munitions wherever they are sent in Iraq, no matter what countermeasures are put into play.

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While federal officials ponder stamping some scientific studies "sensitive" because of their potential for aiding terrorists, the scientific community is struggling to come up with common definitions of what might be harmful to researchers and publishers. Scientists hope self-imposed controls on distribution will head off any bid at government censorship of information exchange. But the diverse community of researchers has yet to come close to common ground on the issue, despite several gaggles in recent weeks.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com)