www.alertnet.org 21 Feb 2003 18:27

By Phil Stewart

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb 21 (Reuters) - It's hard to recall the humbled Hugo Chavez of April, who spoke of God, peace and reconciliation with his foes after surviving a 48-hour coup.

These days, Venezuela's paratrooper-turned-president spits out words like "attack" and "battle" and says he is going on the offensive against the "terrorists" and "fascists" who have defied him.

"I sheathed my sword (after the coup) and I was wrong," Chavez told a cheering crowd of thousands at a pro-government rally this week. "I have been forced to draw it again, and I will never ever sheath it."

His offensive is off to a roaring start. He's fired more than 13,000 dissident oil workers, crushed an opposition oil walkout and outlasted a two-month nationwide strike meekly abandoned this month. He has also tightened his grip on private sector enemies with newly imposed price and currency controls.

In his most triumphant stroke so far, Chavez won the arrest of a dissident industrialist for committing treason on Thursday and threatens to do the same to a group of media moguls he's dubbed the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

"The Chavistas are now on a roll ... I think now he's going to begin moving to tighten his controls on civil society and see what the reaction is," said Riordan Roett at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Most troubling for his opponents -- and there are millions -- is that the populist president's crackdown has been carried out within the bounds of Venezuela's loosely written laws, observers say. That has left little room for protest by wary foreign diplomats, especially in the United States, where the Bush administration was stung for its hesitant condemnation of last year's putsch.

"His main game is playing the constitutional president. He plays it up to the brink, but all of the measures he takes always have some sort of legal base," said Caracas-based political analyst Janet Kelly.

CHAMPION OF THE POOR?

Hailed by supporters as a champion of the poor and reviled by critics as an ignorant dictator, the maverick president has become as well known as those two other world-famous Venezuelan products -- abundant oil and beauty queens.

The second of six sons of school teachers, Chavez has come a long way from his humble rural roots.

Voted into office in 1998, six years after trying to seize power at the point of a gun, Chavez launched his self-proclaimed "Bolivarian Revolution".

This combined left-wing socialist tenets of equality and wealth distribution with fervent nationalism inspired by Venezuela's 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar.

But his honeymoon in power is long gone, as are his once soaring popularity ratings of 80 percent or more. Venezuela's economy contracted nearly 9 percent last year and unemployment and crime are rising.

His new currency controls are starving businesses of vital U.S. dollars and price controls on everything from tomatoes to funeral services threaten to bankrupt shopowners.

For the man who wants to united South America, as Bolivar tried to do, Chavez faces a deeply divided Venezuela.

His new offensive seems to be widening the rift between allies and enemies of his government, riding roughshod over negotiations on early elections and raising fears that the country's tense standoff will explode into class warfare.

"We've tried flags, we've tried whistles. The world has seen our frustration and nothing has changed," said middle class Luis Alberto, at an opposition rally this week. "The next step is forming self-defense groups and taking up arms."

The mostly poor pro-government "Chavistas," drawn from the country's sprawling urban slums, cheer the president's aggressive rhetoric against the Venezuelan elite and heed his calls to defend his revolution from coup-mongers.

As many Venezuelans arm themselves, there have been worrying outbreaks of violence -- far worse than the street clashes that left seven dead and scores injured since December. In a murky quadruple homicide police are still investigating, a dozen gunmen last week kidnapped, tortured and executed three military dissidents and female protester after a rally.

For analysts watching Venezuela unravel, the question isn't whether Chavez will again strike at his enemies -- but whether he might cross the line looking for revenge.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.21.03, 1:47 PM ET

NEW YORK, Feb 21 (Reuters) - NYMEX crude oil and refined product futures remained sharply higher Friday afternoon after a gasoline barge exploded at an oil terminal on Staten Island, one of New York City's five boroughs. Exxon Mobil (nyse: XOM - news - people), the owner of the oil terminal, said the barge contained 110,000 barrels of gasoline. Two employees were unaccounted for after the blast and one other employee was injured, Exxon Mobil said. The blast in the narrow Arthur Kill waterway between Staten Island and New Jersey sent plumes of black smoke and flames into the sky. Staten Island makes up the southwestern-most part of New York City. Law enforcement officials said there were no initial indications it was anything but an accident. Fire officials initially said the barge contained propane. "We have low stock cover and events like this makes the market more headline-sensitive," said Jim Ritterbusch, energy market analyst and president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Illinois. At 1332 p.m. EST (1832 GMT) NYMEX April crude , making its debut in the front-month position, traded 69 cents higher at $35.43. It earlier jumped to $35.95, surging $1.21, on news of the blast, and has posted a session low of $35.15. The March contract expired on Thursday with a 37-cent loss at $36.79. In London, April Brent crude traded 58 cents higher at $32.14 a barrel. "The fire, the explosion on the barge, sent everything higher. It's more emotional than anything else," said a NYMEX floor trader. NYMEX March heating oil traded 3.43 cents higher at $1.093 a gallon, after hitting a session high of $1.12 on news of the barge explosion. Forecasts of colder weather in the U.S. Northeast, the nation's biggest user of heating oil, by next week also supported the early gains for heating oil. NYMEX March gasoline was up 3.42 cents at $1.00 a gallon, trading in a range from 97.50 cents to $1.01. U.S. defense officials said the United States and Britain have gathered more than 150,000 military personnel in the Gulf region along with dozens of warships and hundreds of aircraft. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in an interview on U.S. Public Broadcast System, said that the build-up was now sufficient for an attack. "We are at a point where, if the president makes that decision (to attack), the Department of Defense is prepared and has the capabilities and the strategy to do that." The United States will present a new U.N. resolution next week declaring Iraq in "further material breach" of a November resolution ordering Baghdad to disarm, opening the way for military action, a senior official said on Thursday. In other news affecting fundamental factors, OPEC Secretary General Alvaro Silva said in London that the oil producers' group could cover any interruption in Iraqi supplies in the event of war, but poured water on talk of suspending quotas. Nigerian public sector oil workers have ended a six-day pay strike, but have yet to return to export terminals now manned by replacement staff, officials said on Friday. The strikers are expected to be at their posts next week. OPEC-member Nigeria, the world's seventh largest exporter, exports around two million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil. Its exports were not affected as oil companies used replacement workers at oil terminals during the brief strike. OPEC-member Venezuela, a key U.S. supplier, is still struggling to return crude output to normal levels amid a strike that started Dec. 2. Thursday's government inventory data, showing that distillate stocks, including heating oil, fell 4.6 million barrels to 103.6 million barrels, fostered concerns of a supply crunch amid the forecasts for much colder weather in the U.S. Northeast by next week.

www.newindpress.com REUTERS

NEW YORK: Oil prices pulled back from 29-month highs on Thursday as a modest rebound in US crude stocks prompted profit-taking from six straight days of gains. Fears of war in Iraq and over 11 weeks of disruption to oil exports from strike-bound Venezuela have pushed oil prices up around 45 per cent since November, strengthening concern over the potential fallout on the world economy. US light crude for March delivery fell 37 cents to $36.79 a barrel, sliding from a peak of $37.55 struck early on Thursday, which was its highest level since September 2000. Prices are less than $5 below an all-time peak of $41.15 posted in the run-up to the 1990-91 Gulf war. In London, benchmark Brent crude was 77 cents lower at $31.56 a barrel, off a 26-month-high of $33.10 touched last week. Dealers took the chance to reap profits from strong recent gains after government figures showed a 3.1million-barrel rise last week in US crude stocks, which had fallen to their lowest level since 1975. The scope for more price losses is limited, analysts said. Cold weather and reduced production from US refiners hurt from higher crude feedstock costs have slashed inventories of gasoline and heating fuel. "Continued strong demand related to the snowstorm that hit the Northeast over the past weekend may show up in next week's statistics and maintain bullish pressure," Washington-based PFC Energy said in a report. Shortage fears Concerns are growing that the scramble to meet winter heating fuel needs will leave the United States short of gasoline for the summer vacation driving season. Pump prices are already above $2 a gallon in some West Coast cities. Higher energy costs threaten further damage to an economy already in the doldrums. Wholesale inflation surged, while Americans bought foreign goods rather than stimulating domestic output, economic reports showed on Thursday. Oil dealers fear war in Iraq could disrupt supplies from the Middle East, which pumps a third of the world's oil. Iraq exports a little less than two million barrels daily, some four per cent of world oil exports. A senior Bush administration official said on Thursday that the United States will submit a new resolution to the divided UN Security Council next week seeking authorisation for military force against Iraq. UN diplomats have said the Bush administration was not likely to push the resolution to a vote until the first week of March, after another report from UN weapons inspectors. In Venezuela, rebel oil workers said they will stage protests on Thursday outside offices and installations of state-oil firm PDVSA, following the overnight arrest of a strike leader on rebellion charges. The workers pegged output at 1.4 million barrels per day, compared with 3.1 million barrels before they launched a crippling strike on December 2 meant to force President Hugo Chavez from power. The government says output stands at more than two million bpd. A six-day strike by oil workers in Nigeria, which had threatened to affect exports from Africa's biggest producer, was called off on Thursday following talks between unions and the government.

europe.cnn.com Friday, February 21, 2003 Posted: 1810 GMT

The only one who has a date with justice is the president. -- Carlos Ortega, from hiding

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Police searched for the leader of Venezuela's largest labor group Friday after President Hugo Chavez authorized his arrest on treason charges for his role in a general strike that disrupted the economy and the nation's oil industry.

Carlos Ortega, president of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, remained in hiding after strike co-organizer Carlos Fernandez, head of the nation's largest business group, was arrested and charged with treason Thursday.

Dozens of national guardsmen in riot gear stood guard outside as Fernandez made his first appearance in court Friday.

His arrest threatened to spark more turmoil in a country struggling to recover from the strike, which opposition leaders had hoped would force Chavez to resign or call early elections.

Thousands of people around Venezuela protested the Fernandez's arrest, and nine people were injured during clashes with police in the central city of Valencia.

Further protests were planned for Friday.

Opposition negotiators urged the Organization of American States, the United Nations and the Carter Center, run by former President Jimmy Carter, to send representatives to condemn the government's actions and revive talks aimed at organizing a new election.

The U.S. State Department said the arrest of strike leaders would lead to more political violence in the world's fifth leading oil-exporting nation.

'It was about time,' president says

President Chavez has labeled strike organizers as "coup plotters" and appeared unfazed by the opposition reaction to the arrest orders.

Carlos Fernandez, surrounded by secret police officers, arrives Friday at the court building in Caracas.

"One of the coup plotters was arrested last night. It was about time, and see how the others are running to hide," Chavez said Thursday. "I went to bed with a smile."

Chavez, a former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and re-elected two years later, seemed to hint at further arrests, saying judges should not "be afraid to issue arrest warrants against coup-plotters."

Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez said Fernandez and Ortega were the only opposition leaders wanted for arrest, but ruling party lawmaker Luis Velasquez said that about 100 more people who supported the strike, ranging from labor bosses to news media executives, could be arrested.

"More than 100 are on the list to be captured," Velasquez said. The existence of such a list could not be immediately confirmed.

Ortega remained at large and pledged to "continue the fight" while in hiding.

"The only one who has a date with justice is the president," the labor leader told the local Globovision TV station by telephone. I went to bed with a smile.

-- President Hugo Chavez, about the Fernandez arrest

Fernandez and Ortega face charges of treason, rebellion and instigating violence for their roles in orchestrating the strike, which continues in the vital oil industry.

Labor and business leaders warned of another nationwide strike in response to the arrest orders. The earlier work stoppage cost Venezuela an estimated $4 billion.

Chavez supporters gathered near the police headquarters, where Fernandez was being held, and a downtown plaza to celebrate the arrest.

"It's what had to be done. These opposition leaders tried to destroy the country; now they must be punished," said Tomas Ordonez, a 49-year-old taxi driver.

www.macon.com Posted on Fri, Feb. 21, 2003 JAMES ANDERSON Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez demanded 20-year prison terms Friday for two prominent opponents who directed a nationwide strike that devastated Venezuela's oil-based economy.

Carlos Fernandez, head of Venezuela's largest business chamber, and Carlos Ortega, leader of its biggest labor confederation, are charged with treason and other crimes for the two-month strike, which cost more than $4 billion.

Fernandez was arrested by secret police Wednesday and hauled into court Friday. Ortega went into hiding when a judge issued an arrest warrant.

"These oligarchs believed that they were untouchable. There are no untouchables in Venezuela. A criminal is a criminal," Chavez thundered during a ceremony handing land titles to peasants in Trujillo state.

He demanded a 20-year term for Fernandez, president of Fedecamaras, and for Ortega, of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, for allegedly sabotaging the oil industry, inciting civil disobedience "and trampling the human rights of the Venezuelan people."

The treason charge carries a 20- to 26-year prison term.

Oil is Venezuela's strategic industry, and its exports were the fifth-largest in the world before the strike began Dec. 2. The strike ended Feb. 4, but Chavez's government is battling a continuing walkout in the oil industry.

Citing nationwide hardship caused by gasoline shortages, Chavez condemned Fernandez and Ortega as "terrorists" who failed to topple his government - both during a brief April coup and this winter.

The tempestuous president also had a message for foreign critics. The United States, Organization of American States and other entities voiced concern that Venezuela's crisis is escalating.

"I want to remind all the governments of the world that Venezuela is a sovereign country! We are nobody's colony!" Chavez shouted.

Fernandez's arrest fueled speculation Chavez has begun a crackdown on his opponents.

Chavez won't allow strikers access to U.S. dollars under a new foreign exchange system, and he has threatened to shut down broadcast media for inciting rebellion. He also has warned he will seize private businesses and property to deliver gasoline, food and other basics.

Ruling party leader Willian Lara told the state Venpres news agency that the hundreds of strike organizers should be prosecuted "for crimes against the republic."

The labor confederation, meanwhile, said it wasn't planning another strike to protest Fernandez's arrest.

The OAS, the United Nations and the Carter Center, run by former President Jimmy Carter, have sponsored three months of talks to seek an electoral solution to Venezuela's crisis. The future of those talks was in doubt after Fernandez's arrest.

Venezuela's opposition wants early elections and collected more than 4 million signatures to back its demand. The government dismisses the petition drive; Venezuela's elections authority is in shambles.

Chavez is a former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 to a six-year term. He vows to distribute Venezuela's oil riches to the poor. Critics accuse him of imposing an authoritarian state and driving the economy into the ground.