www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, February 20, 2003 By: Kira Marquez Perez

Date: Thu, 20 Feb 2003 15:05:01 +0100 From: Kira Marquez Perez marquez@uni-duesseldorf.de To: editor@vheadline.com Subject: About the coup

Dear Editor:  The coup d'etat in Venezuela on April 11, 2002, was a very well planned event. One or two weeks before, the main leaders traveled to Washington to meet some representatives of the US State Department. During several weeks, the conspirators had been organizing secret meetings. Some Generals have now even revealed that they had been planning everything for more than a year.  Isaac Perez Recao (paramilitary of the worst reputation, owner of the company Venoco and ex-boss of Dictator Pedro Carmona Estanga, to whom several weapons and fake identity documents were confiscated) and Daniel Romero (private secretary of corrupt ex-President Carlos Andres Perez) stated (once Chavez had been forced out of office) that they had started to organize the complot several months before in different meetings that took place not only in Caracas but also abroad: Miami, Washington, Madrid, etc.

The Chuao demonstration on April 1, 2002, was no peaceful demonstration at all.

The real goal of this demonstration was clearly exposed by Carlos Ortega, Enrique Mendoza, Guaicaipuro Lameda and others. Anyone can ask for TV reports of that day and he or she can see in these reports how these "gentlemen" shouted: "Let's go to Miraflores to get rid of Chavez!"

As soon as this demonstration arrived at El Silencio, two armored vehicles (called La Ballena and El Rinoceronte) belonging to the Policia Metropolitana (directed by "opposition" leader Alfredo Pena) were sent to attack the persons that were congregated in the surroundings of the Palace of government (Miraflores). Their mission was to dissipate the multitude and make some space for the attacks. Clear images of the Policia Metropolitana shooting on the people can be seen in videos taken on April 11th and on the following days.

On April 11, between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., the people began to hear shooting. Some of the first dead and injured started to fall on the streets without any obvious explanation (most of the dead were supporters of President Chavez). At the beginning, nobody knew exactly where the shooting came from. However, a few minutes later it was evident that there were snipers shooting from the roofs of the Hotels Eden and Ausonia. Many dead fell directly in front of the Palace. Other Venezuelans were murdered at the Bolero Corner (esquina Bolero) and several others were razed close to the Fermin Toro High school (Liceo Fermin Toro) and at the Baralt avenue.

The actions of the snipers, as well as the deaths in the surroundings of the Palace, revealed, even with more clarity, the real intentions of this "demonstration." These snipers were not casually there. They were part of a well-thought plan to overthrow the democratically elected government.

They needed an excuse. They needed dead people, violence, etc. to justify a coup in a country where liberty and democracy were absolutely respected; in a country in which nobody had been punished nor followed for political reasons, where not even one newspaper, radio or TV station had been censored (although they actually deserved it) and where the widest freedom of expression existed.

Therefore, the "opposition" had to fabricate a motive to justify the conspiracy, using for this purpose one of the most macabre expressions of organized crime I have ever seen. The seven alleged snipers were immediately set free by the government of Dictator Pedro Carmona Estanga (an additional proof of the whole complot). In the morning of Saturday (April 12), explicit orders were received from Carlos Molina Tamayo (now s fugitive from Venezuelan justice) to set the snipers free. These seven individuals left the country immediately.

The participation of the Venezuelan media in the coup was decisive.

As the confrontations were taking place in the surroundings of Palace, President Chavez tried to speak to the country on Radio and TV to call the people to remain calm and sensible. However, as soon as his image appeared on the screen, interferences began and a noise silenced his voice. In a similar way, the signals of Venezolana de Television (VTV) and Radio Nacional (the two channels of the State) were intervened by the 'putschists.' At 8:00 p.m., all transmissions of VTV were suspended and the television screen turned black. Viewers could only hear a man's voice, that identified himself as Captain Alonso Rodriguez, who announced the cessation of the transmissions in the State channel and his support to the coup-d'etat. There was also sabotage to telephone communication.

The Venezuelan media did not only burden the country with their lies and dodges and create the situation of confrontation that was present at that moment, but, additionally, on April 11, they went on to a new phase: they kidnapped the truth, censored information and silenced the government of Mr. Chavez.

To achieve this, Gustavo Cisneros had built a high-tech operation centre in Mexico with specialized staff from his company: DirecTV (he built it two months before the coup). In the April 13, 2002 edition of El Universal (when Chavez had been kidnapped and the 'putschists' were enjoying their few hours of power) a proud statement from Mr. Hector Pena (executive president of DirecTV) appeared, in which he actually confirmed the use of this operation center in Mexico to support the coup. Additionally, Pena stated that Cisneros had remained in contact with this transmission center during the entire coup. It is really surprising how a couple of technicians hired by Gustavo Cisneros were able to cut off the entire Venezuelan communication system and silence the President in such an important moment as that.

Where was CONATEL (the National Council of Telecommunications) as this was happening? Definitely, this state organism must remain watchful in the future in relation to such sabotages. Mistakes such as those committed on April 11 cannot be repeated.

On the evening of April 11, military pronouncements against the constitutional government of President Chavez began. One of the Generals that expressed his support to the coup was Luis Camacho Kairuz (Deputy Interior & Justice Minister, who had been placed in that office by the traitor Luis Miquilena).  All that was happening, reminded us of the persistent calls promoted in most TV programs and newspaper articles for supporting the coup. These calls, which were made by several members of the so-called "opposition,"  took place almost every day before the coup and were particularly significant on the morning of April 11.

An open conspiracy and a barefaced abuse of the liberty of expression ... the press can not be used to promote and support a coup but believe it or not: That does happen in our beautiful Venezuela!

Chavez was arrested and taken to Fuerte Tiuna. Afterwards, he was moved to the island: La Orchila. Several of the rebel Generals wanted to send President Chavez to the United States so that he could be prosecuted there (I have no idea under which charges they wanted him to be prosecuted). Actually, the only ones that had violated the law and should be prosecuted were the putschists themselves. In any case, there was a plane in La Orchila ready for take-off.

• Dictator Pedro Carmona Estanga designated himself  "President." He dissolved the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional), the Supreme Court of Justice (Tribunal Supremo de Justicia) and the National Electoral College (Consejo Nacional Electoral).

Additionally, he removed governors from their offices (although they had been democratically-elected in separate elections that had nothing to do with the Presidential ones). He also dismissed several other authorities from President Chavez' government. The dictator also withdrew Venezuela from the OPEC and decided to change the country's name. Just like that!

Immediately, pursuit and attacks against ministers and representatives of President Chavez' government were initiated. Several of these attacks were carried out by the DISIP and the PTJ and were leaded by Colonel Gonzalo Lopez. Among the victims of these attacks we can mention: Ramon Rodriguez Chacon (Interior & Justice Minister), who was brutally thrashed following orders of the Mayor of Chacao Leopoldo Lopez (who belongs to the "opposition"), or deputy Tarek William Saab, member of the National Assembly, who was also mishandled.

With sadism the TV cameras, who knew in advance what was going to happen, filmed these events.

In the meantime, the media insistently repeated that President Chavez had resigned. However, many people did not believe such a lie (in spite of the strong propaganda), since they never showed any proof of it (it is now clear that the 'putschists' were preparing a falsification of the supposed resignation document). Actually, this subject of the falsifications and montages is quite common in the "opposition." One of the last examples of their lies were the 4 million signatures that they claimed to collect on February 2, 2003. Once again: JUST A LIE (I already mentioned some of their other lies and montages in my article: the attitude of the Venezuelan opposition is simply embarrassing).

By the way, with so many proven evidences of their behavior, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that the three soldiers found dead a few days ago in Guarenas were killed by the "opposition" just to blame the government, as they did it with the snipers on April 11, or with the Portuguese Gouveia on December 6, 2002. Now they're even trying to connect Venezuela with Al-Qaeda to justify an intervention. This is really too much. I always ask myself: How far can these people go?

Well, back to April 11, 2002: Millions of Venezuelans started to congregate on the streets of Caracas, Maracay and several other cities to ask for the return of their constitutional President. At the same time, several loyal military groups, leaded by General Raul Baduel, General Garcia Montoya, General Jorge Luis Garcia Carneiro, Colonel Jesus Morao and others, expressed their repudiation of the coup. Things were getting more and more complicated for the conspirators. The multitude of Venezuelans shouting in the streets: "Chavez. We want our president Chavez!" was really impressive! Later, a fax arrived from the Turiamo military base in which our President confirmed once again that he had not resigned (this fax was written in Chavez' handwriting and was signed by him).

While this was happening, all commercial channels: Venevision, Globovision, RCTV and Televen were showing something else. Some of them were even presenting cartoons (and that was really strange, since before that, they had been repeating over and over, the images of April 11 and the auto-designation of Dictator Carmona Estanga).

Nobody knew what exactly was happening because the Venezuelan press was not interested in showing it. It was a report from CNN that allowed many Venezuelans (unfortunately only those who had cable-TV) to get in touch with reality.

Venevision, RCTV, Globovision and Televen never showed images of the millions of persons on the streets that were asking for the return of President Chavez. They also didn't show the escape of personalities of the "opposition," such as reporter Patricia Poleo and several others, who left the Palace of Miraflores appalled when they realized that loyal troops and civilians were determined to recover democracy in Venezuela. You should have seen those images! They're really good!

In any case, they actually had no reason to run, since nobody planned to do anything to them.

But, as we say in Venezuela: "cada ladron juzga por su condicion" and that's the only reason why they were scared: They knew exactly what they had done. Most of these people are still talking nonsense on TV and that's the best proof that nothing has happened to them . But, I think it's time that they start paying for what they've done, and it's very good to know that LEGAL processes have finally begun against Ortega and Fernandez! Very good!

April 12-14 there was absolute censorship in the Venezuelan press. Nobody was allowed to make any commentaries whatsoever in favor of President Chavez or his people. RCTV production manager Andres Izarra, who was in charge of the news in that channel, (probably one of the few Venezuelan reporters that still has ethics and that understands his enormous responsibility), decided to resign because he did not agree with lying in such a  barefaced manner. The editorial board at RCTV was actually forcing him to lie. Izarra indicated that RCTV did not allow him to show the huge pro-Chavez demonstrations on the streets of Caracas; they didn't allow him to tell the truth about Chavez' resignation (although it was absolutely clear at that moment that he had not resigned); and they did not allow him to attend the press-conference that took place in Maracay with the loyal military troops. Maria Gabriela Chavez (the President's daughter), even had to communicate with the international press (she talked to Telemundo) to announce that her father had not resigned, because she was not allowed to talk in any of the Venezuelan channels.

• Finally, on the evening of Saturday, April 13, Dictator Pedro Carmona Estanga was arrested by Colonel Jose Gregorio Montilla for "violating the Constitution."

On April 14, a few hours before dawn, President Chavez was rescued by loyal soldiers from La Orchila and was returned to Miraflores, where he was received by his people with songs, applause and even tears of happiness, such as it has been shown in many videos taken on that day, and which RCTV, Venevision, Globovision and Televen have never wanted to show.

Kira Marquez Perez marquez@uni-duesseldorf.de

www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.20.03, 9:38 AM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Rebel Venezuelan oil workers said they will stage protests Thursday outside offices and installations of state-oil firm PDVSA, following the overnight arrest of a strike leader on rebellion charges. The dissident oil workers -- 12,000 of whom have been fired by President Hugo Chavez -- were not planning to take over installations or occupy PDVSA offices, organizers said. The workers pegged output at 1.4 million barrels per day, compared with 3.1 million barrels before they launched a crippling strike on Dec. 2 meant to force Chavez from power. The government says output stands at more than 2 million bpd. Before the strike, Venezuela was the world's fifth largest oil exporter. The previously scheduled protest was expected to take on added momentum following the shock arrest of business chief and opposition leader Carlos Fernandez. Heavily armed police grabbed him at a restaurant in Caracas before bundling him into a car. Union chief Carlos Ortega, who spearheaded the two-month opposition strike started in December to try and oust Chavez, also faces a fresh arrest warrant for civilian rebellion, sabotage and other charges. Ortega has not been arrested. PDVSA officials at the port of Jose said Exxon Mobil Corp. > have begun loading cargo of Cerro Negro synthetic crude, marking the first crude loading by a foreign oil major since the early days of the strike. "We are loading the ship," said loading manager Rubin Rodriguez. He added that the port was secure with the national guard in place and he expected no trouble from strikers.

cbs.marketwatch.com By Myra P. Saefong, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 3:37 PM ET Feb. 20, 2003

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Crude prices declined Thursday, breaking a six-session rise on the back of mixed data on U.S. crude stocks and the expiration of the March crude contracts.

"Selling begets selling and nobody wants to be the last man standing especially at these 'nosebleed' levels," said John Person, head analyst at Infinity Brokerage Services.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for March delivery closed lower by 37 cents at $36.79 a barrel.

Earlier, the benchmark contract briefly touched $37.55 -- a level not seen since spot prices topped out at $37.89 in September 2000. It gained $2.68 per barrel between Feb. 10 and Feb. 19.

April crude, which became the lead-month contract at the session's close, slipped by 92 cents to close at $34.74 per barrel.

Also on Nymex, gold futures prices closed higher at $353.10 an ounce amid a weaker U.S. dollar and growing global tensions. See Metals Stocks.

Analysts blamed the oil price pull back on the expiration of the March crude contracts as well as confusing data from two key sources.

"After the mixed data traders are dazed and confused -- the DOE says crude stockpile rose while the API says they fell," said Kevin Kerr, analyst at Weiss Research in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. "Traders don't know what to believe with skewed data like this."

Early Thursday, the Energy Department said the nation's inventories of crude oil rose by 3.1 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 14 compared to the prior week. But the American Petroleum Institute reported a 3.3 million-barrel decline in crude stocks.

Aggregate crude stocks stood at 272.9 million and 268.3 million barrels, according to the Energy Department and API, respectively.

On a year-over-year basis, however, crude inventories are down more than 15 percent, the equivalent of 50.4 million barrels, the government report said, amid tight import supplies brought on by Venezuela's general strike and war tensions in the Middle East.

"Crude-oil inventories remain critically low, just slightly above the lower operational inventory level of 270 million barrels," said Thorsten Fischer, an economist at Economy.com, referring to the government data. That's the minimum level required to keep refineries running normally.

Last week, the Energy Department reported its lowest level for inventories in 27 years -- just under 270 million barrels.

"Supplies are still tight and the concern is there will be a continued imbalance between an immediate replenishment of stockpiles and demand," said Infinity Brokerage's Person, adding: "there does not look like there is an immediate solution and tensions are on the rise in Venezuela and in the Middle East."

The latest data came as a surprise to some industry analysts. Fimat USA had been looking for inventories to rise by 1.75 million barrels, while IFR Pegasus had expected crude stocks to fall by 1 million to 3 million barrels.

Starting Wednesday, the API and Energy Department will release their weekly data on petroleum supplies at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, an hour and a half later than previously scheduled so traders will be able to see the reports during the trading session.

$40 oil still possible

Some analysts were still optimistic that the tight inventory situation could take prices to highs not seen since the Gulf War in the early 1990s.

Oil prices could soon hit $40 a barrel, said John Vail, an analyst at Mizuho Securities USA, based in Chicago, with a stockpiling trend taking part of the blame.

"China's crude imports are rising rapidly as they plan a significant strategic petroleum reserve," he said, adding that the country's imports were up 77 percent in January, representing an additional 880,000 barrels per day of crude demand.

"As with many commodities, war fear inventory build is a major factor," Vail said.

And as war becomes more likely, "crude oil prices have started a rally, which will continue and even accelerate during the run-up to military action," said Economy.com's Fischer. See Countdown to War.

On the other hand, if investors assume that war with Iraq is closer, this could lead to some speculation that oil prices "could settle back down as OPEC promised to 'open the spickets' in case military action occurred," said Person.

In other energy news Thursday, Nigerian oil workers met with government officials in a bid to end a strike that began Saturday. Production and exports haven't yet been affected.

In Venezuela, a country still suffering from a labor strike that began Dec. 2, opposition leaders threatened to call a new strike in response to the arrest of strike co-leader Carlos Fernandez. The general labor strike ended this month, except in the oil sector.

Oil product supplies fall

The API and Energy Department also reported declines in inventories of petroleum-product stocks for last week.

Distillate inventories declined by 3.2 million to total 107 million barrels, while gasoline supplies fell by 1.8 million to 210.7 million barrels, the API said.

The Energy Department posted a 4.6 million-barrel fall for distillates to total 103.6 million barrels. And gasoline stocks fell by 1.4 million barrels to 211.2 million barrels in the latest week.

The distillate results reflect "high demand caused by severe winter weather and cold temperatures, especially in the Northeast," said Fischer.

IFR Pegasus had forecast drawdowns of 2 million to 4 million barrels in distillates and of 1 million to 3 million barrels in gasoline supplies. Fimat had been on the lookout for distillates falling by 4 million barrels but gasoline stocks increasing by 2 million barrels.

Following the supply update, March gasoline eased back by 3.64 cents to 96.58 cents a gallon. The March contract for heating oil fell 4.06 cents to $1.0587 per gallon.

Meanwhile, refinery utilization rose by 2.2 percent to 87.8 percent of capacity, the API reported, while the Energy Department said utilization rose by 2.3 percent to 88.8 percent.

Supply data finally lifts natural gas

In other energy trading, natural-gas futures closed higher, finally finding support from the larger-than-expected decline in supplies.

On Nymex, March natural gas closed at $6.162 per million British thermal units, up 2.8 cents after trading mostly flat during the session. It touched an intraday high at $6.25, a level last seen in February 2001, when prices reached $7.10 per million British thermal units.

The contract gained nearly 4 percent in Wednesday's action.

Also Thursday, the Energy Department reported a 203 billion cubic fall in inventories as of Feb. 14.

By two key measures, total inventories of 1.168 trillion cubic feet are significantly lower -- 868 billion cubic feet less than the year-ago level and 436 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said.

Fimat expected a contraction of 168 billion cubic feet, while IFR Pegasus was looking for a decrease of 150 billion to 170 billion cubic feet. A year earlier, stocks contracted by 124 billion cubic feet.

In the equities arena, most oil-service shares traded higher. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX: news, chart, profile) rose more than 1 percent. See Energy Stocks.

The Reuters/CRB Index, a broad-based measure of the commodity futures market, closed at 246.5, down 0.6 percent. Myra P. Saefong is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in San Francisco

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, February 20, 2003 By: Roy S. Carson

Accion Democratica (AD) deputy Henry Ramos Allup says that the Chavez Frias government plans further detentions over the next several days after last night's successful capture by DISIP security agents of rebel Fedecamaras president Carlos Fernandez.  Confederation of Trade Unions (CTV) president Carlos Ortega is next on the list along with leading opposition dissidents including rebel PDVSA executive Juan Fernandez, CTV secretary general Manuel Cova, Globovision's Alberto Federico Ravell and Guillermo Zuloaga, El National editor Miguel Henrique Otero, shadowy Coca Cola billionaire Gustavo Cisneros, Venevision's Víctor Ferreres, Televen's Omar and RCTV's Marcel Granier and Eladio Lares.

The list does not contain the names of any National Assembly (AN) deputy since all parliamentary representatives enjoy immunity from arrest while holding office.  Ramos Allup says that opposition deputies are on a general alert because "the government's action is a ferocious reaction and they will not be caught up in legalities ... the g overnment prefers to shoot first and investigate afterwards."

Rebel PDVSA leader Juan Fernandez is making a renewed call for Venezuelans to take to the streets in protest for "however long it takes to overthrow the Chavez Frias regime" insisting that the current government is leading Venezuela back to the Dark Ages.

Opposition rhetoric set aside, security and law enforcement agencies have been piling up damning evidence against Venezuela's anti-constitutional opposition which has been less than guarded in their open defiance of law & order and the 1999 Constitution.  Government lawyers have begun a series of legal actions against the perpetrators which evidences the overwhelming fact of the current government's adherence to democratic procedures despite wild propagandist accusations of dictatorship and a drift in to a totalitarian communist state.

Opposition propagandists have kept up a constant barrage of blatant lies against the democratically-elected government of Venezuela, insisting a return to the status quo enjoyed by a minority corrupt elite during the last 40+ years under the guise of Venezuelan democracy.

In the latest thrust, Militares Democraticos -- a propaganda organization in support of rebel ex-military officers congregated in Plaza Altamira -- have claimed that Venezuela is being used as an Al Qaeda terrorist base and that the 37-year-old man arrested in London a week ago with a hand grenade in his luggage had obtained Venezuelan nationality as a terrorist cover ID.  What Militares Democraticos had forgotten (or neglected) to mention in their internationally disseminated propaganda was the fact that the ID and passport had been issued under special instructions from then President Carlos Andres Perez (CAP) just months before he was impeached and imprisoned on multi-$ million corruption charges.

www.mpa.gr FRIDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2003 Thessaloniki, 20 February 2003 (15:10 UTC+2)

Europe is not self sufficient in oil and natural gas and all EU countries have the same dependence on third countries – exporters for energy, such as OPEC and Russia, said the Secretary General of the Ministry of Development Giorgos Agrafiotis, in statements to mpa.gr, pointing out the EU's common interest is obvious and that any problem must be dealt with jointly. At the same time he estimated that oil prices will not surpass a barrel. Regarding the informal Energy Meeting to be held on Saturday in Thessaloniki, Mr. Agrafiotis stated that the first issue on the agenda is the crisis in the Gulf, while an attempt to approach a unified European position will be made. “Europe must show its unity during a crisis, it must look and find the elements of its power”, said Mr. Agrafiotis, adding that “there is the spirit of a united confrontation, which, at least, the Greek Presidency will explore”. He appreciated that during the works no specific decision will be made, but there will be a first exploration of the member-states' intentions will be made by the presidency, so that if necessary, the Greek Presidency can prepare a draft for a joint decision, similar to that of the European Council in Brussels last Monday. The Secretary General of the Ministry of Development supported that the creation of a strategic supply in Europe will give it the ability to intervene in the rise of prices. “All member-states have corresponding legislature. The issue is how do we have a unified legislature – direction in Europe on the common management of the security supply”, he stressed. According to the Ministry's appreciations, oil prices will not surpass those of the present at a barrel. “We are missing 2.4 million barrels on the daily market from Venezuela. A crisis in Iraq would mean a further shortage of 1.8 million barrels. However, the strike in Venezuela is over, and the country is reentering production – it is already at half its daily output. We believe that any loss of oil from Iraq will be covered by Venezuelan oil. I do not think that we can escape from the a barrel price”, said Mr. Agrafiotis.