news.bbc.co.uk Monday, 3 February, 2003, 15:46 GMT

Banks have continued to trade throughout the strike

Venezuela's commercial banks have reopened for normal business, marking the end of their part in the two-month old strike against the government.

President Hugo Chavez claimed outright victory over right-wing business and labour groups on Sunday after they announced a return to work to protect businesses from bankruptcy.

Chavez triumphs over "economic coup"

Factories, shopping malls, restaurants, schools and universities have all begun reopening.

"They have the 'F' of failure on their foreheads," the democratically elected president said as he marked the fourth anniversary of his government.

He vowed that strike leaders - who he accused of staging an "economic coup" attempt - would be punished.

"They can't remain unpunished ... They must go to prison," he said.

Banking on it

The private banks, which control 90% of the financial sector, will open for eight hours a day after trading for just three or four hours daily since 10 December.

The stock exchange resumed trade last Monday and said it would peg its hours to those of the commercial banks.

A strike by some oil workers will continue according to the opposition, despite conceding that production is now more than a third of pre-strike levels.

A walkout by workers at state oil company PDVSA formed the core of the strike and shut down production.

The government has said most of the remaining 35,000 employees have returned to work after it sacked about 5,000 dissident managers and staff.

Economic fall-out

The government estimates the strike has cost the world's fifth largest oil exporter at least $4bn in revenues.

Oil makes up a third of the economy and provides half of the government's income.

The Santander Central Hispano bank has forecast the economy could contract by 40% in the first quarter of 2003 and the central bank has put annual inflation at 33.8% in January, the highest in five years.

On Saturday the opposition formally conceded the strike had ended and reverted to legal tactics to remove Mr Chavez from office and denied they had lost.

"Today demonstrates that the struggle hasn't ended," said Julio Borges of the opposition party Justice First.

"It didn't end with the strike."

They hope to raise 1.8 million signatures, or 15% of the population, for a constitutional amendment to reduce Mr Chavez's term from six to four years - paving the way for general elections later this year.

Mr Chavez was first elected in 1998, and re-elected in 2000 with 60%, promising to use oil revenues to improve conditions for the 80% of 24 million population who live in poverty.

www.suntimes.com February 3, 2003

CARACAS, Venezuela--President Hugo Chavez declared victory Sunday after his opponents agreed to ease a two-month national strike, but thousands of Venezuelans still lined up for a petition drive seeking his ouster.

Strike organizers, who began the protest Dec. 2 to pressure Chavez into accepting a referendum on his rule, said Friday they would ease the work stoppage, already waning, this week to protect businesses from bankruptcy.

However, the strike will continue in the vital oil industry, where production was cut from 3 million barrels a day to 150,000 at the height of the strike. Chavez said Sunday the government boosted production to 1.8 million barrels a day, but striking workers put the number at 1 million.

''Today is a victorious day,'' the president said. ''We have beaten once and for all a new destabilizing attempt.''

But opposition leaders were far from conceding defeat.

Thousands of Venezuelans waited hours in the tropical sun Sunday to sign petitions in support of various measures seeking his ouster.

The opposition hopes one petition in particular--a constitutional amendment reducing Chavez's term from six to four years--will succeed, paving the way for general elections later this year.

iafrica.com Paula Bustamante Posted Mon, 03 Feb 2003

The Venezuelan opposition late on Sunday officially declared an end to a 63-day general strike that has crippled the economy, but said a poll of voters' desire to see President Hugo Chavez's mandate cut had been an "overwhelming" success.

The recall petition is aimed at allowing opponents of the president to voice opinions about possible options for cutting short the populist president's term, which is scheduled to stretch through 2006.

An although the strike was formally ended, it will continue in the oil sector, according to opposition leaders, who said its struggle against the government of Chavez was just entering a "new phase."

"The Democratic Coordinating Committee announced that tonight we are entering a long-expected and more trying new phase in our struggle," said opposition spokesman Timoteo Zambrano.

Struggle to "assume to assume new forms"

He said although the strike was ending, the protesters intend to stand by thousands of employees of Petroleos de Venezuela, the state-run oil company, who have been dismissed by the Chavez government.

"Our struggle will now assume new forms, and we will pursue our goals at the negotiation table," Zambrano said.

The strike has caused Venezuela billions of dollars in losses, largely because it slashed oil shipments from the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

The oil sector had prior to the strike produced of 2.8 million barrels per day.

Chavez said on Sunday that production had now reached 1.8 million barrels per day and that the world's largest refinery, in Amuey, was back on line.

Production fell to 250 000 barrels a day at the height of the strike in December.

Attempts to bring govt, opposition together

The Organisation of American States and former US President Jimmy Carter, meanwhile, have attempted to bring government and opposition together.

But ongoing clashes between Chavez supporters and police Sunday left at least five people injured, as opponents queued to sign the non-binding petition on cutting short his term.

By late Sunday, opposition had garnered more than 3.7 million signatures — comfortably above expectations, leaders said.

Opposition leader Carlos Ortega, who heads the Venezuelan Workers' Confederation (CTV), said Sunday's vote had been an "overwhelming victory," with a massive turnout.

"The results that we are getting in Caracas and the interior of the country are beating by a long way what we had projected," said Jesus Torrealba, General Secretary of the opposition umbrella group, Democratic Coordinator.

He said the figure surpassed that obtained by Chavez in the 1998 presidential elections, and that a possibility exists the petition could be used to move forward toward constitutional reform to cut short Chavez's mandate.

Despite the official electoral council's failure to endorse Sunday's vote, opposition went ahead with its decision to collect signatures, at some 3400 collection points set up around Venezuela.

The voting tables opened at 6am local time (1000 GMT), and had 30 000 volunteer helpers in attendance. Some 11 million voters were invited to put their signature to the survey.

One of the options would be to seek a formal recall referendum, which could be held from mid-August, according to the constitution, when Chavez hits his term's midpoint. Under the constitution, the opposition needs to get the vote of at least 20 percent of the population, some 2.2 million signatures.

Chavez supporters lash out

In two Caracas neighbourhoods, Chavez supporters hurled stones and other blunt objects at authorities on guard as Chavez opponents queued to sign petitions. One man was hit by gunfire and a 26-year-old lost an eye, authorities said.

Chavez had insisted during his weekly radio show "Hello, Mr. President" that: "We have completely defeated a new attempt at destabilisation, a new spiteful, criminal attack to sink Venezuela, the government and to destroy the state."

A mid-term recall, for Chavez, could come as early as August 19, and it is the only vote he has said repeatedly that he will accept if it is requested at the polls.

Opposition business, labour and political leaders launched the strike over what they say is Chavez's autocratic style, and especially his decree of 49 controversial laws governing the economy, 47 of which petition signers are also demanding be rescinded.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.03.03, 4:47 AM ET

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - European blue chips sprinted higher on Monday morning, with UK insurers such as Aviva <AV.L> and Prudential <PRU.L> leading the charge after news the UK's financial watchdog will consider easing solvency rules. Ericsson <ERICb.ST>, the world largest mobile networks maker, dropped sharply after reporting a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and issuing a gloomy outlook. Investors also picked through results from Europe's biggest biotech, Serono <SEOZ.VX>. The stock was 0.75 percent higher after the Swiss group gave an upbeat forecast. "Wall Street's gains and the dollar's small recovery over the weekend should help stock markets," said Gert de Mesure, head of equity strategy at Delta Lloyd Securities in Antwerp. The dollar <EUR=> hit a one-and-a-half week high against the euro. At 0934 GMT, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index <.FTEU3> of pan-European blue chips was 1.51 percent firmer at 809 points while the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index <.STOXX50E> was 0.99 percent stronger at 2,270 points. The Eurotop 300 <.FTEU3> benchmark, coming on the back of three straight years of losses, ended January more than seven percent down -- its worst start to the year since the index's records begin in 1986. Some strategists were sceptical that Monday's rebound will continue given worries over a possible war in Iraq and a fragile macro-economic background. "Military action looks inevitable now within the next six to eight weeks. This means that stocks will remain at an impasse until then, especially while there are precious few signs of any real economic recovery anywhere in the United States or Europe," said David Brown, chief European economist at Bear Stearns. U.S. stock futures were higher, boding well for Wall Street's open. In New York the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 1.4 percent on Friday and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> ended 0.11 percent lower. The FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index of British shares was a standout gainer amongst national bourses, up 2.5 percent. "The UK equity market has been a conspicuous underperformer year to date. Aside from Venezuela and Indonesia, it is the worst performer among the 48 countries within the FTSE world index," said Ian Scott, European strategist at Lehman Brothers. "The common factor is a sustained attempt by UK institutional investors to reduce their exposure to equities ....however it does seem as if this process is much closer to the end than the beginning." Insurers were leading the way in the UK after Britain's finance watchdog said on Friday it would consider granting waivers to life insurers to prevent them having to sell equities over fears they may risk breaching solvency margins amid tumbling global stock markets. Royal & Sun <RSA.L> rose 8.3 percent, Aviva <AV.L> gained 7.9 percent, Prudential <PRU.L> jumped 7.2 percent, Britannic <BRT.L> was up 7.6 percent and Friends Provident <FP.L> gained 6.2 percent.

CHEMICAL REACTION Celanese <CZZG.DE> was 11.5 percent firmer at 20.30 euros, reacting to a Financial Times Deutschland report saying a financial investor plans to buy the German chemicals maker, offering 27 euros per each Celanese share. "Financial buyers have been very active in the sector during the past three to five years as chemical stocks are good for cash generation and restructuring opportunities," said one chemicals analyst in London. France's Rhodia <RHA.PA>, which has long been viewed as a potential bid target in the chemicals sector was 4.3 percent firmer. Merger and acquisition speculation also stirred up Trinity Mirror <TNI.L>, one of Britain's largest regional newspaper publishers. Sources said the group has discussed a 1.3 billion pound takeover approach with two venture capital firms. Trinity Mirror rose 6.6 percent.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, February 03, 2003 - 2:31:19 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

According to Confederation of Trade Unions (CTV) secretary general Manuel Cova, the results of Sunday's Opposition-organized petition, which is estimated to have been signed by around four million of Venezuela's 12 million registered voters, should be translated into actions during the Organization of American States (OAS) peace negotiations.

• This should happen over the next few days and produce "the final direction that the people should take towards an electoral solution."

In Cova's opinion, Sunday's events should have a major impact on the international community and in particular the Friends of Venezuela group, made up of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States and this should now be "taken into account" during negotiations.

"We demonstrated that the opposition is in the majority in Venezuela, that President Hugo Chavez Frias has already lost the support of the vast majority of the Venezuelan people."