www.wisinfo.com Posted Feb. 22, 2003 By Steve Wideman Post-Crescent staff writer

APPLETON — Glenn Adams filled up his Jeep Cherokee with gasoline Friday, and he wasn’t happy about it.

“Right now somebody is pocketing a lot of money,” said Adams, of Appleton, while at the BP Amoco station, 911 W. College Ave.

“It seems like everything was OK for a while until talk started of war with Iraq. I’d like to know the reasoning behind raising gas prices.”

Most area gasoline stations are selling a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline for $1.749 after a week in which prices rose a dime or more. But while area gas prices stabilized this week, motorists shouldn’t expect a significant downward trend anytime soon, a travel industry analyst said.

“There is no way of predicting what is going to happen,” said Michael Bie of AAA Wisconsin. “Thursday was the first day in two weeks prices didn’t creep up. I couldn’t begin to guess why prices have stabilized at this point.”

The threat of war with Iraq, a general strike in Venezuela and short supplies of finished petroleum products are all being blamed for the most recent price increases, according the U.S. Department of Energy.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl asked the Federal Trade Commission on Friday to monitor gas prices in the Midwest, saying consumers “are entitled to know whether they are being subjected to anticompetitive and anti-consumer practices.”

Kamaljit Singh, a manager at BP Amoco, said retailers are not responsible for the price increases, but only increase prices to keep up with jumps in wholesale costs.

“Everyone is saying gasoline is too expensive. The last couple of weeks it increased 10 to 15 cents a gallon,” Singh said. “We don’t make much money on a gallon of gas.”

The price of diesel fuel is affecting the trucking industry, said John Wilkinson, president of Wisconsin Paper Group, a Neenah-based shipping association.

“Diesel fuel is at an all-time high. The DOE said the nationwide average for diesel is a little over $1.70,” Wilkinson said. “It’s becoming more expensive to do business.”

Wilkinson said many carriers have imposed fuel surcharges on shipments.

“Sometimes the surcharge is buried in the rate charged per mile. Sometimes it is a totally separate charge,” he said.

He said the higher fuel costs are making an economically difficult situation “harder yet, because the economy is still pretty flat.”

Bie said gasoline prices began to increase in mid-January when cold weather hit the northeast United States and the most severe spikes came in the two weeks following president Bush’s State of the Union message.

“That’s when consumers began having problems with exorbitant price increases that went up simply on the fear something might happen with Iraq,” he said.

Bie noted that the 1991 Persian Gulf War produced slow, but steady price increases leading up to Operation Desert Storm.

Because the 1991 conflict was short-lived, wholesale and retail prices dropped dramatically.

The day after the U.S. launched its 1991 attack on Iraq, the price of crude oil had its largest one-day plunge in the history of the New York Mercantile Exchange from $32 to $21.45 a barrel.

“Hopefully that scenario would play out again if there is a quick resolution to this conflict, but there is no guarantee,” Bie said.

Steve Wideman can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 302 or by e-mail at swideman@ posstcrescent.com.

www.washingtonpost.com By John Briley Special to The Washington Post Sunday, February 23, 2003; Page E01

The relentless wind scours Aruba's limestone coastline, crackly desert landscape and beaches by day and courses through the palms, Divi Divi trees and hotel courtyards by night, pausing for neither dawn nor dusk. It sends umbrellas flying from fruity drinks, turns a friendly tennis game into a cussing match and transforms carefully coiffed hairdos into raging manes.

And all of this is good (minus the &%#! tennis), because for much of my four days in Aruba I am skipping across the Caribbean on a sailboard, watching through the water as the blur of the sandy sea floor melds into rock formations.

I had heard that Aruba was a windsurfer's paradise -- dry, warm, modern amenities -- and I expected such conditions to attract primarily wind pilgrims. And, yes, the fanatics are here, but they are more than balanced by families drawn by the guarantee of sun (Aruba gets but 20 inches of rain yearly; the U.S. Virgin Islands, by comparison, get about 55 inches), young groups seeking a party (available), casino gamblers and cruise ship off-loaders. Visitors come from the United States, Europe (Aruba was a Dutch territory until 1986) and Latin America (the island is 18 miles from Venezuela).

My last trip to Aruba was in 1969, when I was 3, and my only memories are of catching my first fish (an angelfish that I released) and slashing my face open with my dad's razor. I figured now was a good time to refresh my Aruba knowledge. Besides, windsurfing had barely been invented in 1969 and beachside rentals were years away.

Flying 2,040 miles for only four days may seem excessive, but United Airlines' 41/2-hour nonstop flight from Dulles makes it worthwhile. Duncan from England, a neighbor in the one-story beachside studio complex where I am staying, isn't buying it.

"You're down here for only four days?" he asks me. "From Washington?" He and his wife, Isabelle, are completing a three-week stay, which Duncan clearly views as too little island time, despite the fact that he can't do much due to the hip he shattered in a kite-surfing accident (the wind-filled kite dragged him across a beach, slamming him into a van and then a brick wall; this is another reason why I windsurf). That I would fly so far from the cold only to turn around confounds both him and Isabelle.

But I get Duncan talking about wind -- the wind in Aruba, in Barbados, in England, in the United States -- and he forgets all about my short vacation. Because of unobstructed trade winds from the Eastern Caribbean, the wind blows year-round in Aruba, peaking May through June, when it averages 35 knots. Typically, January is one of the calmer months, with winds averaging 18 knots. I love wind, but Duncan is boring me so I ask if he's found an identifiable culture in Aruba.

"I don't know. I'm really not into culture at all," he says proudly. "All the sightseeing, history and the like. It does nothing for me."

Fortunately for him, there is little danger of being ambushed by living culture on Aruba, although archaeological evidence abounds of the Caquetios nation of the Arawak Indians, who inhabited the island from about 1000 until 1515, when the Spanish shipped them off to Hispaniola to work as slaves.

Aruba's modern population is a mix of Dutch, black and Latino and, not surprisingly, I heard an almost even mix of Dutch, English and Spanish spoken. Some Arubans still speak Papiamento, a Spanish derivative developed in the 1500s in neighboring Curacao to allow slaves and their owners to communicate -- but you won't need a Papiamento phrasebook to get by.

Honestly, when it comes to Caribbean vacations I side with Duncan. I came to Aruba to play, not learn. So I rally my rented Jeep to the north end, past the upper-class hamlet of Malmok, to where the pavement turns to sand.

A vague path snakes to the beach. The landscape is lunar-desert-meets-tropical-paradise: Cactuses jut from the sand and rock, defying the wind, and dune grass billows beside the glowing ocean.

Eve, my hotelier, told me that an off-road tour of Aruba's undeveloped north and east coasts would take about two hours. Eve is exceedingly nice but also happens to be a local, meaning she's probably driven the coast 50 times, and a Dutch woman, meaning she is pathologically efficient. After two hours I have covered maybe a third of the coast, have been out of the car more than a dozen times for closer views of the scenery and am quickly running out of film.

My camera spins from wind-rippled tide pools and wild ponies to broad limestone shelves, hideaway beaches and unrelenting waves that curl from dark sapphire to bright indigo before exploding on the rocks. (You can access some of the coast without four-wheel drive but not the bulk of it; I haggled a Jeep for $180 for four days, not much more than a standard car.) This expanse of wild, hilly coast surprises me. Aruba is heavily promoted to gamblers, honeymooners and cruisers and, per the brochures, appeared well developed. In fact, in a hilarious case of poetic justice, many of the high-rise hotels built to attract windsurfers actually block the wind, making windsurfing directly in front of the hotels far less desirable than along coastal stretches where only low-rise buildings stand.

But almost the entire east side of the 19-by-5-mile island is undeveloped. Aside from taking the trade winds -- and the associated non-family-friendly waves -- head on, the east coast consists largely of rock. It is not what most developers would consider prime vacation real estate.

Just to be safe, the government in 2000 established Arikok National Park, an 8,000-acre preserve that includes about one-quarter of the eastern coastline. The park harbors numerous caves, many with Caquetios drawings, the ruins of a 19th-century gold mine, the Boca Prins sand dunes and the Boca Keto natural pool (a deep, calm pool on the sea encircled by rock).

Away from Arikok and the rustic coast, Aruba is less than beautiful. Mostly flat, developed and dusty, it bears evidence of the almost 100,000 residents who share the crudely shaped parallelogram. Oranjestad, the capital, is a zoo of traffic and cruise ship escapees, who throng the same shops (with the same prices) one could find in many U.S. cities. Farther from the capital, middle-class neighborhoods mix with businesses and industrial lots. One of the nicer restaurants I try, Captain's Corner, is in a small strip mall (a huge plate of grouper and rice, a salad and two beers costs me $23, including tip).

Most tourists crowd into Palm Beach or Eagle Beach, a few miles north of Oranjestad, where high-rise hotels line the shore. I am staying just south of Malmok, in the Sunset Boulevard Studios, a tranquil collection of about 10 units with kitchens, cable TV and air conditioning.

The $100-per-night apartments, each of which has a private outdoor table, ring a courtyard with a small pool, hot tub and two gas grills. The studios are 100 feet from the beach, directly across a two-lane road. Every morning I sit in the courtyard with cereal, coffee and a book, and repeat the routine with beers at sunset. Besides Duncan and Isabelle, guests include a New York couple and their baby, an older pair from Kansas, and Alex, an Australian here for three months to teach windsurfing.

Similar lodgings line the road near Sunset Studios and, aside from being far more relaxing than the imposing hotels, are a quick drive from the island's nicest beaches -- soft sand, pleasant coves and thatched palapas -- near Malmok.

One exception, at Aruba's southern tip and resting in the shadow of an oil refinery, is Baby Beach, so named for its broad, shallow lagoon, which is guarded from the wind-whipped currents by a long breakwall. Outside that barrier is the best snorkeling on the island, a descending field of coral and rock swarming with fish. I get a decent workout kicking against the wind for 20 minutes, then drift back to the narrow opening in the wall and return to the placid lagoon.

A group of American southerners stand knee-deep in the water, drinking beers from the on-site concessionaire, their guts jiggling as they rave about car racing. They are having a blast, but the scene reminds me that you don't come to Aruba to get away from it all. Yet 20 minutes later, as I hike over a shoulder of petrified lava below the Seroe Colorado lighthouse, a half-mile from Baby Beach, and gaze down into the whirling churn of the Caribbean with no other people in sight, I think that maybe, just maybe, you could lose yourself here.

Three hours before my flight home, I am windsurfing again, zipping past beautiful wooden sailboats moored offshore. A strong gust sends me out of control and I wipe out in a flurry of arms, legs and equipment. Swimming back to my board, I see a plane descending to the airport and I know I'll be back in D.C. before my bathing suit is dry. I also realize that in four days in Aruba I have not thought about work once, the worries of my world carried off by the wind.

John Briley last wrote for Travel about ski biking in New Hampshire.

Details: Aruba

GETTING THERE: United has seasonal nonstop flights from Washington Dulles to Aruba on Saturdays only, from December through April, with March departures starting at $850 round trip. US Airways and American Airlines have midweek flights starting at $600 round trip, with connections. Continental, Delta and Northwest also serve Aruba from the D.C. area, with connections.

WHERE TO STAY: Most beachfront lodging starts at about $200 per night during high season (through April) and drops to $130 per night and up in late spring and summer. For example, the Renaissance Aruba Resort in Oranjestad (800-421-8188; www.arubarenaissance.com) has doubles starting at $209. The Occidental Grand in Palm Beach (800-858-2258, www.occidentalhotels.com) has doubles starting at $228 and dropping to $185 off season. Many hotel rates include breakfast.

Prices at many of the low-rise hotels are similar: The Best Western in Manchebo Beach (800-528-1234, www.bestwestern.com ), for one, has doubles starting at $200 during high season, with occasional promotional rates of $140. The caveat: March and April require a seven-night minimum stay.

To save money, consider an apartment. We got lucky with Sunset Boulevard Studios (800-813-6540, www.aruba-sunset blvds.com), which offers doubles across the street from the beach starting at $104 per night. Cheaper beds are available, especially if you don't mind driving to the beach. Aruba Harmony Apartments (011-297-588-6787, www.arubaharmony.com) lists small apartments in Oranjestad from $85 per night in winter and $65 per night off-season. Note, however, that Oranjestad is a congested city housing a massive cruise ship dock.

Most lodgings, including villas and private rental homes, are listed on the tourism office's Web site at www.aruba.com, with links to each property's Web site.

GETTING AROUND: Shuttles serve the major hotels and taxis are plentiful. If you want to rent a car, expect to spend about $160 a week for a compact. I paid $180 for a Jeep for four days and could have done better per day had I rented for a week.

WHERE TO EAT: My most scenic meal was at Ventanas del Mar at the Tierra del Sol Resort and Country Club in Malmok. The property sits on a hill -- so go early, grab a fruity drink and stroll the terraces at sunset. The grilled tuna with Oriental mango-tomato chutney and soy sauce is a winner, as is the seafood ceviche appetizer. Dinner for two, with wine, runs about $100.

La Trattoria el faro Blanco,next to the California Lighthouse, has perhaps the best sunset vantage on the island. The prices seem high for Italian food -- entrees average $30 -- but the mood is romantic.

WHAT TO DO:

• Sail boarding. The owners of Sunset Boulevard Studios also own Aruba Boardsailing School, south of the studios. Look for gear-packed trailers along the beach (the "office"). Rentals start at $30 per day for guests, $40 for non-guests. Other rental operations, with similar rates, include Aruba Sailboard Vacations (800-252-1070, www.arubasailboardvacations.com).

• Snorkeling is average along the Malmok coast, and the best beach in this area is Boca Catalina, about 11/2 miles north of the Marriott. The best snorkeling I found was outside the breakwall at Baby Beach, on Aruba's southern tip. Red Sail Sports rents gear for $10 per day. Info: 877-733-7245, www.redsail.com; located at the Hyatt Regency, Allegro Resort and Marriott.

• Touring the east coast is a must, in a four-wheel drive Jeep (as I did) or on horseback or mountain bikes. Numerous outfitters offer horseback tours, including Rancho del Campo, with tours from $50 a person. Info: 011-297-585-0290; www.ranchodelcampo.com.

INFORMATION: Aruba Tourism Authority, 800-TO-ARUBA, www.aruba.com. -- John Briley

www.washingtonpost.com By Gary Lee Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, February 23, 2003; Page E01

A wake-up caw jolted me from slumber on my first morning in Tobago. Out my window at Richmond Great House, the old sugar plantation where I had stayed the night, was the source: a pheasantlike bird covered in brown plumage, strutting across the lawn as if it owned the place. In a sense, it did. The cocrico, I later learned, is a species of wild fowl native to the island. It is to Tobagonians what the bald eagle is to Americans.

And so began a weeklong parade of exotic creatures and plants I spotted as I explored this little-known tropical outpost off the coast of Venezuela. At the botanical garden on the edge of Scarborough (the island's otherwise forgettable capital), there were Easter-yellow heliconias, blood-orange bougainvillea, cotton-candy-pink dichaea pieta orchids and dozens of other species of trees and flowers I had never heard of. In a boat ride off Pigeon Point, a beach favored for its delicate white sand and bath-warm water, I peered through 40 feet of transparent water at a forest of sea feathers, sea rods and other brilliantly colored clusters of coral. In an afternoon of snorkeling off Buccoo Reef, I saw wrassle, parrotfish, blue tang, butterfish and a dozen other species little-known outside the tropics.

That was 10 years ago. So impressed was I by the island's wildlife and flora that I gave Tobago the ultimate endorsement: I bought a home there.

Dozens of trips later, I still stumble across new natural wonders every time I return. Last month, a day after a nonstop 41/2-hour flight from Dulles, I found myself on a three-hour hike through the wonderfully unkempt rain forest that stretches across the northern end of the island. With infectious enthusiasm, guide Fitzroy Quamino led me down trails and under towering samaan trees, pointing at red-footed and brown boobies, rufous-tailed jacamars and even the rarely seen white-tailed sabre-winged hummingbird. Tobagonians are proud of their island's natural wonders, and Quamino recited the inventory of flora and fauna found here: 123 species of butterflies, 210 birds, 370 kinds of forest trees, at least a dozen kinds of wild orchids.

One reason for this impressive assortment of wildlife is the island's location. Perched about 20 miles northeast of Venezuela and 10 degrees north of the equator, Tobago has a tropical climate more remindful of the Amazon than the Caribbean. Days average 85 degrees, and even in the late autumn and early winter rainy season, showers rarely linger more than a couple of hours. The locals have worked hard to protect the island's delicate ecology. Its forest is the oldest nature preserve in the Western Hemisphere.

Situated at the bottom of the chain of Caribbean isles, Tobago's remote setting has also helped to preserve its pristine natural beauty. Until British West Indian Airways introduced a nonstop flight from Dulles last fall, it took at least three planes and a day and a half to reach from most spots along the East Coast. And so only about 175,000 tourists visit a year, compared with the million or so that throng the beaches of Jamaica or Puerto Rico.

Dwarfed in size and population by Trinidad, the more industrialized sister island linked to it politically since 1898, Tobago's 26-mile length and eight-mile width is deceptively small on a map. A drive around the circumference at an appropriately gentle pace -- stopping in a village for a chat with locals or taking a dip in its seductively warm waters -- takes a full day.

For nature lovers, one key diversion is Arnos Vale, a resort sprawled across several acres, with a lush garden of trees, bougainvillea, ginger lilies and other tropical flowers. I always stop for a picnic lunch in the fishing village of Parlatuvier, a couple of hours' drive from Scarborough. Duran Chance, who runs the country store there, will supply visitors with picnic supplies and local gossip. For a swim, there's no finer spot than Pirate's Bay beach at Charlotteville, a cove once used as a hideout for pirates.

Besides helping preserve its natural wonders, the island's isolation has helped locals cling to many Old World artistic and social endeavors. The majority of the 45,000 Tobagonians trace their roots to Africa. Wood carving, practiced by some impressive masters, is one art that carries echoes of the old country. Cullen and Lisa Andrew, who have a stall at the crafts market at Store Bay, are among the best carvers I've seen. Although they have never visited Africa and rarely travel off Tobago, Cullen's masks and figurines, hewn mostly from cedar and mahogany, look as if they'd been plucked from a market in Ghana.

"I carve what I feel," Cullen said. "And what I feel almost certainly harks back to Africa."

Another local art form with African roots is bamboo dancing, in which two players open and close long pieces of bamboo while barefoot dancers sally in and out. A troupe from the village of Les Coteaux dresses in African garb and performs bamboo dancing on different nights of the week at hotels across the island, including the Grafton, the Turtle Beach and the Arnos Vale Waterwheel. After hearing of the group for years, I finally saw them last month. The show, following a buffet dinner at Le Grand Courlan, one of the island's premier hotels, was one of the high points of my visit.

And then there is "pulling the seine," a method of fishing dating to the 1800s in which fishermen fill a net with bait and slowly tug in the day's catch. Tobagonians hang around with buckets to buy their share. On the beaches at Turtle Bay, Bloody Bay and Parlatuvier, visitors can watch the seine pullers and snag a red snapper, kingfish or other local fish from them.

Over the past 10 years, modernization and some development has begun to creep into the local culture. About four years ago, Jemma, a local who manages a rustic restaurant built in a gnarly tree in Speyside, began to take charge cards. In spite of local protests, the Tobago Hilton opened in 2001, complete with a world-class golf course. And in the same year, actor Harrison Ford built a vacation mansion not far from my own little house, bringing a celebrity status that seems out of synch with the island's homespun image.

But for the most part, the newcomers have been respectful of the island's special status. In my recent amble around, I ran into several such characters. Hira, a 75-year-old artist whose ancestors emigrated from India to Trinidad, produces heartwarmingly naive depictions of the Tobago landscape. Montrealer Cynthia Clovis, chef/owner of Kariwak Village, takes pride in using local spices and ingredients in her dishes. Gemma Cassimir, the Trinidadian public relations manager at the Hilton, boasts of the works local craftsmen used to decorate the lobby.

And so, in spite of the changes, Tobago's integrity and peaceful way of life remain intact. The palm and coconut trees that blanket the island still lilt lazily in the warm breezes. By unwritten rule no building is taller than a palm tree. Even on holiday weekends, the beaches never seem to hold more than a few sunbathers. In the summer, mangoes and papayas fall from the trees until some hungry soul comes along and snatches them up. And the cocrico still caws at daybreak, pulling me out of one dream and into another.

Gary Lee will be online to discuss this story during the Travel section's regular weekly chat tomorrow at 2 p.m. on www.washingtonpost.com. Details: Tobago

GETTING THERE: BWIA flies nonstop from Dulles to Tobago on Thursdays, with fares starting at $570 round trip, with restrictions. American flies from Reagan National, via Miami and Port of Spain, Trinidad, with winter fares starting at $650.

WHERE TO STAY: For travelers seeking luxury at any cost, Le Grand Courlan (868-639-9292, www.legrandcourlan-resort.com) is the spot. Rooms at this all-inclusive beachfront property are elegantly decorated and the amenities are first class, including tennis courts, a wonderful pool, Xgym and spa. Although the cuisine is okay, it rarely rises to the hotel's four-star rating. Winter rates start at $270 a night per person.

For those on a budget, the Blue Horizon (Jacamar Drive, Mount Irvine, 868-639-0432, www.blue-horizonresort.com) is a small guesthouse with great sea views and comfortable rooms. It's about a 10-minute walk to a lovely beach and the same distance to a golf course. Apartments suitable for two, including a kitchenette, start at $60 a night.

La Colline (868-639-0316, www.vacationresidences.com), a three-bedroom villa in the village of Bethel, is good for families or couples who want seclusion. It's furnished with wonderful locally made furniture and art. Amenities include cable TV, VCR and maid service. Rates are $400 a week.

WHERE TO EAT: The Kariwak Village, a holistic haven and hotel off Store Bay Local Road in Crown Point, offers a fabulous set menu of Caribbean and Creole cuisine for around $25 a person, including dessert. On weekends there's a live band with dancing. The Hilton Tobago, less than three miles from the airport, serves tasty buffet lunches and dinners in a stylish setting. The food usually includes at least a couple of local specialties, such as callaloo soup. At around $30 a person, it's a splurge, but a worthwhile one. The Toucan Inn and Bonkers (Store Bay Local Road, Crown Point ) is a good, fairly inexpensive place for chicken and chips. The atmosphere is festive and there's usually a good crowd of locals, especially on weekends. Dinner for two, with a couple of drinks, runs around $35.

WHAT TO DO: For offshore nature excursions, glass-bottom boats leave from Store Bay, a beach near the airport, every morning around 11. No reservations necessary. The rate for the three-hour trip is around $9 a person. Fitzroy Quamino (868-660-7836) conducts three-hour nature hikes through the Bloody Bay rain forest for $50 per person.

INFORMATION: Tobago Department of Tourism, 868-639-0509, www.visittobago.gov.tt.

-- Gary Lee

www.globeandmail.com Associated Press

Oppopnents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hold a rally Thursday in Caracas to protest against the arrest of business-lobby head Carlos Fernandez.

Caracas — President Hugo Chavez said he “went to bed with a smile” after a leader of Venezuela's recent general strike was arrested, even as his opponents protested the move and threatened a new work stoppage.

Thousands of people rallied in the capital Thursday against the arrest of Carlos Fernandez, president of Venezuela's leading business chamber. He was captured late Wednesday night by several armed security agents.

“We are here to protest the abuse of power by this government, which is arresting our leaders to silence the opposition,” said 35-year-old Maritza Casas. Similar protests took place in other major cities.

The arrest threatened to spark yet more political turmoil in a country still struggling to recover from the two-month strike that ended Feb. 4.

The new demonstrations didn't phase Mr. Chavez, who triumphantly proclaimed that he authorized Mr. Fernandez's arrest.

“One of the coup plotters was arrested last night. It was about time, and see how the others are running to hide,” Mr. Chavez said at the foreign ministry. “I went to bed with a smile.”

Mr. Chavez, a former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and re-elected two years later, said judges should not “be afraid to issue arrest warrants against coup-plotters.”

A warrant was also issued for Carlos Ortega, leader of the nation's largest labour union. He and Mr. Fernandez were the chief leaders of the strike, which was staged to demand Mr. Chavez resign and hold early elections.

Attorney-General Isaias Rodriguez said Mr. Fernandez and Mr. 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,” Mr. Velasquez said. The existence of such a list could not be immediately confirmed.

Mr. Ortega remained at large and pledged to “continue the fight'' against Mr. Chavez's regime from clandestine locations.

“The only one who has a date with justice is the president,” Mr. Ortega told the local Globovision TV station by telephone.

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

Manuel Cova, secretary-general of the million-member Confederation of Venezuelan Workers, which Mr. Ortega leads, called on all affiliated labor unions “to be on the alert.”

Workers, joined by citizens opposed to Mr. Chavez, planned massive street demonstrations to protest “the political persecution,” Mr. Cova said.

Labour and business leaders warned of another nationwide strike in response to the arrest. The earlier work stoppage cost Venezuela an estimated $4-billion (U.S.).

Mr. 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.

Mr. Chavez has accused the opposition of plotting to overthrow his government with the strike.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said officials in Washington worried that Mr. Fernandez's arrest could hinder efforts to end the stalemate between Venezuela's political rivals.

“We fear the act could undermine the dialogue process,” Mr. Boucher said. “This increases our concerns about human rights in Venezuela.”

www.newsday.com By ALICIA CHANG Associated Press Writer

February 22, 2003, 2:02 PM EST ALBANY, N.Y. -- From Albany to Buffalo, motorists are feeling the unwelcome pinch in their wallets as gasoline prices at the pumps continue their spike in recent weeks. Motorists' loss could be New York's gain. The state could receive a surge in revenues if the cost of gas and diesel fuel maintains this trend because the state charges 4 percent sales tax on gas sales, or 8 cents a gallon if the average price of motor fuel reaches $2 a gallon. On a 10-gallon fill-up, that could be a tidy 80 cents for the state. Analysts blame the price hike on tensions in the Middle East and a strike in Venezuela that has crippled that nation's petroleum industry. This turmoil is potentially good news for New York state, which is struggling to plug an $11.5 billion hole in its budget over the next 13 months. Even without the price surge for most of this fiscal year, the state expects to raise more than $500 million from its motor fuel tax. But while prices at the gas pump might inject much-needed revenues into state coffers, the harsh winter New York is suffering through is increasing the cost to the state to heat its buildings. So far this winter, the state has spent $3.82 million alone to heat the state Capitol and the sprawling Empire State Plaza complex in Albany where 16,000 state employees report to work. That's an increase of more than 50 percent compared to the same period last year, when the state spent $2.13 million. "Because of the colder temperatures and the longer winter that we're experiencing, our costs this winter are higher because of the increased demand for fuel," said Jennifer Meicht of the Office of General Services. The state heats its buildings with a combination of oil and natural gas, depending on price and supply and demand. Last winter, the state used only gas, which is environmentally cleaner and cheaper, to heat buildings. This month, the state paid $1.12 a gallon for heating oil, up from 89 cents in October 2002. Last week, the U.S. Energy Department, citing low stocks _ as well as higher natural gas prices _ said heating bills could be 50 percent higher this year than last winter. If the cold winter persists, refiners will need to keep up the heating oil supply and postpone their push to making gasoline. If so, gasoline inventories may not recover, leading to higher gas prices this spring and summer, analysts said. Across New York, gas prices have reached record highs. In the Albany area, the average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded gas Saturday was $1.70, up from $1.16 a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association. In Buffalo, it was $1.74 a gallon, up from $1.17 a year ago. In New York City, it was $1.81 a gallon, up from $1.29 a year ago. The Pataki administration disputes that the state benefits from higher gas prices at the expense of motorists. Officials contend that drivers tend to purchase less gas as prices skyrocket, essentially offsetting a revenue surge when gas prices spike. Robert Sinclair Jr., a spokesman for the American Automobile Association of New York, disagreed. He said that contrary to popular belief, people don't buy less gas when prices are expensive but rather shop around or cut back on nonessential driving. "In the United States, we are tied to our vehicles so folks don't have a choice," Sinclair said. Under a special contract, the state, which maintains a fleet of 12,823 vehicles, currently pays 98 cents a gallon for gas compared with 66 cents a gallon a year ago, Meicht said. Of that fleet, 20 percent use alternative fuel such as electric and ethanol and are not subject to gas price fluctuations. It was not immediately clear how the soaring prices have affected the state's fleet, she said. During the last gas price hike in summer 2000, Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno proposed to permanently repeal the motor fuel tax in order to give motorists a financial break while Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver favored a two-month suspension of the gas tax. Neither proposal passed. Given the climate of the state's fiscal problems, it's unlikely any state leader will suggest giving back any surge it gets in gas tax revenues in 2003. Earlier this month, New York U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer asked the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into the rising gas prices in order to determine whether there was evidence of price gouging.