www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 2:35:30 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

Finance (Hacienda) Minister Tobias Nobrega is set to announce a new exchange rate control system tomorrow, and most expect it to be in the form of a single exchange rate, which will be adjusted on a monthly basis followed by a dual rate, later on, with priority granted to food, fuel, medical supplies and government transactions.

The initial rate is expected to be in the Bs.1,600.00 to Bs.1,750.00 to the US dollar range . This compares to the Bs.1,853.00 rate it closed on before being suspended on January 22.

The move will hopefully give the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) the breathing room they need to defend international reserves, which were believed to be slipping at around $60 million per day as the bolivar was being kept artificially high to prevent it falling further.

www.insidevc.com February 5, 2003

SOUTH KOREA

Rumsfeld considers more forces in Korea SEOUL -- The top U.S. military commander in South Korea said Tuesday he has not requested reinforcements, despite a deepening crisis over North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons development.

Gen. Leon J. LaPorte made his statement after U.S. officials in Washington said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is considering sending an aircraft carrier to the waters off the Korean Peninsula and adding bombers in Guam.

The moves are intended to deter the North from provocations during any U.S. war with Iraq, the Pentagon officials said.

In Washington, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he had no doubt the United States and North Korea will open a dialogue.

"Of course we're going to have direct talks with the North Koreans," Armitage told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday.

RUSSIA

Russian cargo craft docks at space station

KOROLYOV -- A Russian cargo craft docked Tuesday at the international space station, carrying fuel, food and water in a supply mission made critical by the loss of the Columbia and the grounding of the remaining U.S. space shuttles.

Maneuvering on autopilot, the unmanned Progress M-47 linked to the station two days after lifting off atop a Soyuz-U rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The 16-nation space station has depended on shuttles to deliver most supplies. With the other shuttles grounded pending the investigation into the Columbia disaster, Russian missions now remain the only link to the international outpost.

IVORY COAST

Ruling party doesn't want peace accord

ABIDJAN -- Ruling party lawmakers urged Ivory Coast's legislature on Tuesday to reject a peace accord, as rebels warned they would attack the country's main city rather than renegotiate the French-brokered deal.

The wrangling came as the army and rebels traded accusations of attacks -- the first since the French-brokered deal was signed Jan. 24. The claims of fighting could not immediately be verified.

Ivorian Patriotic Front representative Dalaba Zozore, reading a statement by ruling party members in the National Assembly, argued the accord "legitimizes" a 4-month-old uprising by rebels who have captured half the West African country.

ZIMBABWE

Witness says he was asked to arrange coup

HARARE -- A Canada-based political consultant testified Tuesday in the treason trial of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai that he was asked to help arrange a coup and the killing of President Robert Mugabe.

Ari Ben Menashe, who said he was a former Israeli intelligence agent who had once worked undercover in Zimbabwe with the approval of Mugabe's government, said he decided to set up a sting operation to record evidence against Tsvangirai.

Ben Menashe testified that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change told him it wanted to pay $10 million to the Zimbabwe Air Force commander, Air Marshal Perence Shiri, to lead a coup.

ISRAEL

Palestinian, Israeli wounded in shootings

JERUSALEM -- Palestinians seriously wounded a Jewish settler in a shooting attack in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a Palestinian boy was critically wounded by army fire in a clash in the West Bank.

Israeli troops also demolished eight Palestinian-owned homes in the Gaza Strip, witnesses said.

The Islamic militant group Hamas claimed responsibility for the shooting at the settler in the Kfar Darom settlement. One or more attackers sneaked into the settlement early Tuesday and opened fire on an Israeli near greenhouses there, rescue and security officials said.

The attackers got away, and troops were searching the area, the army said.

VENEZUELA

President celebrates anniversary of coup

CARACAS -- President Hugo Chavez celebrated Tuesday's anniversary of a 1992 coup attempt that launched his political career while opposition leaders trying to oust him mourned those killed in the botched putsch.

Under international pressure to end Venezuela's political crisis, Chavez's government rejected an opposition proposal to shorten his presidential term and instead suggested a referendum on his rule -- though it would take place far later than the opposition wants.

About 20 Chavez supporters briefly attacked the offices of Caracas' opposition mayor with gunfire, rocks and slingshots after a ceremony marking the Feb. 4, 1992, coup bid against President Carlos Andres Perez.

PAKISTAN

At least 17 killed by exploding fireworks SIALKOT -- Shipping containers full of fireworks caught fire and exploded Tuesday, blowing in walls of a nearby school and raining fiery debris on surrounding buildings. At least 17 people were killed, including two children.

Dozens of others were injured in the blasts at a trucking depot near the town of Sialkot as the fireworks were being placed in two containers for shipment to Lahore, 60 miles to the southwest.

Officials said the fireworks had been falsely listed on shipping documents as children's toys but said they didn't yet know what sparked the explosions.

EGYPT

New trial starts for rights activist

CAIRO -- Egypt's highest court on Tuesday opened a new trial for an Egyptian-American human rights activist whose seven-year conviction for tarnishing his country's image has drawn widespread international criticism.

The trial is Saad Eddin Ibrahim's last chance to fight his conviction before seeking presidential clemency.

The 64-year-old sociology professor said any verdict that does not clear him of the charges "will simply mean that a great injustice has been done."

Wednesday, February 5, 2003 Charita Goshay www.cantonrep.com

Imagine for a moment, that you are the Most High Exalted, Glorious Grand Pooh-bah and President for Life.

Your word is law. Schoolchildren sing your praises. You have unlimited wealth. Palaces. Yachts. Hummers. A luxury suite on the 50-yard line.

Your country is floating on a sea of oil.

Life is good.

Then one day, the most powerful nation on earth rings you up and tells you to dump your stockpiles of anthrax and poison gas, or prepare to be turned into a parking lot.

Would you do it? Or would you stick out your tongue and say, “Make me.”

That pretty much sums up the situation for Saddam Hussein.

Even if I didn’t have any weapons of mass destruction in my arsenal, I think I’d whip up some to turn over if it meant the United States would leave me alone.

Then again, Saddam is the same megalomaniac who vowed that the desert would be pockmarked with American graves during the Gulf War. Instead, ill-equipped Iraqi soldiers were begging to be captured.

Guess it’s hard to fight a war in dress shoes, especially when you haven’t eaten in three days.

Perhaps Saddam is looking to become a martyr.

If so, he’s about get his wish.

In Venezuela, the doltish Hugo Chavez is regularly and publicly humiliated by his wife, but it hasn’t loosened his grip on the government, which is in chaos.

A few weeks ago, Chavez fell for a telephone prank, in which the caller pretended to be Fidel Castro.

What, no caller I.D. in the presidential palace?

The only ones who might be more dense than Chavez are the Bush administration operatives who fumbled an attempt to overthrow him when their elderly, hand-picked successor promptly suspended all civil liberties.

Chavez was back at his desk in two days, because even a dolt is preferable to a doddering despot.

If you were to call Central Casting and say, “Get me a dictator,” chances are, Kim Jong II would show up.

With his Elvis eyeglasses and Don King hairdo, North Korea’s fearless leader looks like a bargain-basement villain from a James Bond knockoff.

A frustrated actor who starves his own people, a man whom supporters say was born on a “magic mountain,” Kim II has dared the world to do something about his nuclear arsenal.

So, what are we going to do about him?

Not much.

Why not?

No oil.

Too many times, we’ve crawled into bed with dictators because they served our purpose at the moment, or because they were preferable to communists, only to have them bite us in the end.

Augusto Pinochet. Manuel Noriega. Fulgencio Batista. The Duvaliers. Marcos. Mugabe.

The world always will be plagued with strongmen. We can’t eradicate them all. But we can, and should, promote democracy wherever possible. When people have a real voice in how their government is run, they’re not too quick to give that up in exchange for the trains running on time.

If Saddam was at all smart, or even sane, he would opt for exile.

He might even get to keep his luxury box.

You can reach Repository writer Charita Goshay at (330) 580-8313 or e-mail:

charita.goshay@cantonrep.com

Wednesday, February 5, 2003 Charita Goshay www.cantonrep.com

Imagine for a moment, that you are the Most High Exalted, Glorious Grand Pooh-bah and President for Life.

Your word is law. Schoolchildren sing your praises. You have unlimited wealth. Palaces. Yachts. Hummers. A luxury suite on the 50-yard line.

Your country is floating on a sea of oil.

Life is good.

Then one day, the most powerful nation on earth rings you up and tells you to dump your stockpiles of anthrax and poison gas, or prepare to be turned into a parking lot.

Would you do it? Or would you stick out your tongue and say, “Make me.”

That pretty much sums up the situation for Saddam Hussein.

Even if I didn’t have any weapons of mass destruction in my arsenal, I think I’d whip up some to turn over if it meant the United States would leave me alone.

Then again, Saddam is the same megalomaniac who vowed that the desert would be pockmarked with American graves during the Gulf War. Instead, ill-equipped Iraqi soldiers were begging to be captured.

Guess it’s hard to fight a war in dress shoes, especially when you haven’t eaten in three days.

Perhaps Saddam is looking to become a martyr.

If so, he’s about get his wish.

In Venezuela, the doltish Hugo Chavez is regularly and publicly humiliated by his wife, but it hasn’t loosened his grip on the government, which is in chaos.

A few weeks ago, Chavez fell for a telephone prank, in which the caller pretended to be Fidel Castro.

What, no caller I.D. in the presidential palace?

The only ones who might be more dense than Chavez are the Bush administration operatives who fumbled an attempt to overthrow him when their elderly, hand-picked successor promptly suspended all civil liberties.

Chavez was back at his desk in two days, because even a dolt is preferable to a doddering despot.

If you were to call Central Casting and say, “Get me a dictator,” chances are, Kim Jong II would show up.

With his Elvis eyeglasses and Don King hairdo, North Korea’s fearless leader looks like a bargain-basement villain from a James Bond knockoff.

A frustrated actor who starves his own people, a man whom supporters say was born on a “magic mountain,” Kim II has dared the world to do something about his nuclear arsenal.

So, what are we going to do about him?

Not much.

Why not?

No oil.

Too many times, we’ve crawled into bed with dictators because they served our purpose at the moment, or because they were preferable to communists, only to have them bite us in the end.

Augusto Pinochet. Manuel Noriega. Fulgencio Batista. The Duvaliers. Marcos. Mugabe.

The world always will be plagued with strongmen. We can’t eradicate them all. But we can, and should, promote democracy wherever possible. When people have a real voice in how their government is run, they’re not too quick to give that up in exchange for the trains running on time.

If Saddam was at all smart, or even sane, he would opt for exile.

He might even get to keep his luxury box.

You can reach Repository writer Charita Goshay at (330) 580-8313 or e-mail:

charita.goshay@cantonrep.com

www.roanoke.com Wednesday, February 05, 2003 THE MIAMI HERALD

   CARACAS, Venezuela - For Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Feb. 4 is a holiday, so he'll keep celebrating that historic day he led a failed insurrection that killed at least 60 people.

    "When history is written, it will have to be divided into before and after Feb. 4, 1992," Chavez said Tuesday at a ceremony marking the 11-year anniversary of his failed uprising against former President Carlos Andres Perez.

    "It wasn't a coup," Chavez insisted. "It wasn't a conspiracy of elite, economic, political and military corrupt. It was a volcano that erupted from the moral depths of the military youth who rebelled against a military elite submissive to corrupt governments."

    Chavez honored himself on the 65th day of a strike aimed at ousting him.

    Instead of overthrowing him, the work stoppage dealt severe blows to the state oil industry and national economy until it eventually petered out. Schools, malls and factories swung their doors open this week, while tens of thousands of oil workers continued to strike.

    Chavez is the object of a millions-strong opposition that wants him out of office because of his control over government institutions. But while Chavez assails the opposition as coup-plotting bourgeois, he rarely acknowledges that his own political career began at dawn 11 years ago, when a military tank rammed the gates of the presidential palace.

    Chavez led a group of junior and mid-level officers here in an armed revolt against Perez, who was accused of widespread corruption and ignoring the needs of the poor. The two-hour mutiny killed 14 soldiers, seven presidential guards and at least 40 civilians.

    "Coups are not festive occasions," said legislator Julio Cesar Montoya. "There is a profound contradiction in Chavez when he accuses the opposition of being coup-plotting fascists, when we all know the only one who attacked government institutions with arms was him."

    Chavez, then an army lieutenant colonel, was imprisoned for two years and two months, but continued to organize military upheavals from behind bars. Then he got a pardon and ran for president. And Venezuelans - lots of them - voted for him.

    The majority turned against him later, after he rewrote the constitution, took over control of government bodies such as the Supreme Court and threatened the media. He is accused of arming civilian militias to defend him at all costs.

    "Feb. 4 is an important date: that's the date people woke up," said Omyra Reyes, who attended a Mass Tuesday morning to commemorate the uprising. "It wasn't a coup, it was a civic-military rebellion."

    The Mass was attended by a bulk of Chavez's cabinet, including the vice president, foreign minister and minister of education.

    Shortly after Blanco stepped out of the Caracas cathedral, a band of rock-throwing thugs attacked the office of Chavez's nemesis, greater Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena. He wasn't hurt.     ---     (c) 2003, THE MIAMI HERALD.

    Visit The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at www.herald.com

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