www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

During the two-month-old opposition work stoppage many businesses suffered badly from a loss of sales, however, this was not the case for pharmaceutical company Pfizer, as it appears while Venezuelans' minds were off the job they were clearly elsewhere!

During the stoppage Viagra was the top selling medicine in the country, with more than six million pills sold.

These figures put Venezuela in third place in third in terms of per capita Viagra consumption.

According to a report in the Tal Cual newspaper "Venezuelan men with erectile disfunction have used their time well during the general strike." Reports claim that the stress levels associated with the strike may have led Venezuelan men to look for a pressure value to forget their woes!

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

According to Portuguese embassy in Caracas head of business relations Carlos D'Oliviera has been reported by Venpres as saying his government recognizes the constitutionality of the Venezuelan government and President Hugo Chavez Frias. 

"The Portuguese government has absolutely no doubt that President Hugo Chavez Frias is the legitimate leader of Venezuela. His legitimacy is uncontestable and their is absolutely no doubt over the constitutionality of his government."

The Portuguese diplomat went on to say that his government sees the Bolivarian movement as a democratic one and based on the National Constitution "and in this we have no doubt at all, President Chavez Frias is the constitutional leader of the Republic."

D'Oliviera backed the Organization of American States (OAS) effort for a peaceful and democratic solution to the current crisis, and urged both sides to "lower the levels of aggression."

Reuters, 02.18.03, 6:20 AM ET By Tom Ashby LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell further from two-year highs on Tuesday as a diplomatic battle between Europe and the United States over Iraq eased fears of a supply disruption from the world's eighth largest oil exporter. International benchmark Brent crude oil fell four cents to $31.88 per barrel, its second consecutive day of falls, having hit a two-year high of $33.10 last week. U.S. crude futures, which were closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday, fell 74 cents to $36.06. "I don't think anyone is naive enough to think war clouds have gone away for good, but they are being held in check for a while at least," a London-based broker said. "An attack at the end of February through to the middle of March still seems almost inevitable," said Lawrence Eagles of brokers GNI. European Union leaders united on Monday to warn Iraq that United Nations arms inspections could not go on indefinitely without Baghdad's cooperation and declared for the first time that war could be the last resort. But the 15 leaders, bitterly divided over the Iraq crisis, failed to agree on how much time Baghdad should be given to rid itself of suspected weapons of mass destruction. The split prompted the United States and Britain to look at other ways to get the Security Council to support a new resolution on Iraq. But no draft is expected to emerge before Wednesday, with both nations waiting for the end of a public debate by countries without seats on the 15-member Security Council. That session, expected to turn into another forum against U.S. war plans, begins on Tuesday afternoon and will spill into Wednesday.

BAD WEATHER, STRIKES Oil prices took some support from bad weather in northeast United States, the country's largest consumer of heating oil, a two-month-old strike in Venezuela and a strike by Nigerian oil workers which began on Saturday. Heavy blizzards hit New England on Monday, closing most major airports between Washington and New York. The storm should boost heating oil use, but will also dampen gasoline demand as motorists stay at home. Venezuela, once the world's fifth largest exporter, is battling a prolonged opposition strike which has crippled the oil industry. Output there is still only half its normal three million barrels per day, while Nigerian oil workers threatened to cut off exports from Africa's top producer in a strike that began on Saturday. Blue-collar Nigerian oil workers joined a strike by white-collar workers on Tuesday, but oil companies managed to maintain exports using senior staff to replace strikers.