Posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

The United States government has strongly condemned the bombing of a Colombian and a Spanish diplomatic mission in Caracas, insisting the explosions highlight a need to further develop the process of dialogue and negotiation being facilitated by Organization of American States (OAS) secretary general Cesar Gaviria. 

• US government spokesman Philip Reeker called on the government to "launch an expeditious and thorough investigation" of the attacks.

Speaking in Washington yesterday, Reeker said "it is regrettable  that recent events like the unsolved killing of members of the Venezuelan armed forces and police, the recent arrests of opposition activists and now today's bombings stand in sharp contrast to the commitments that were undertaken by both sides in the agreement signed on February 18, in which both the government and the opposition agreed to curb confrontational rhetoric and reject violence."

The bombings come just days after President Hugo Chavez Frias hit out against "meddling" by the international community in what he insists is a sovereign issue.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Senior Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) deputy and National Assembly foreign policy committee member Tarek William Saab has condemned the bombings of the Spanish Embassy and Colombian Consulate as "despicable" and warned that the bombings will now probably be blamed on the government.

"Before investigations have been completed opposition spokesmen are already establishing links between the acts and and followers of the government."

Saab insisted the government is trying to promote a climate of peaceful co-existence and strongly denied that any government and in particular President Hugo Chavez Frias' would ever encourage these kinds of attacks, in spite of the mistakes it has made.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel also spoke out against the attacks "we reject any form of terror, either state or individual," and rejected any government links to the attacks.

www.channelnewsasia.com First created: 26 February 2003 1606 hrs (SST) 0806 hrs (GMT) Last modified: 26 February 2003 1606 hrs (SST) 0806 hrs (GMT) 

Dressed in his signature green military fatigues and cap, President Castro was warmly greeted by a group of Chinese officials at the Capital Airport.

Later Wednesday, the veteran Cuban leader will hold official talks with his long-standing communist counterpart Jiang Zemin, following a formal welcoming ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

The 76-year-old Cuban president arrived from attending a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

He had begun his Asian trip with a three-day visit to Vietnam.

This visit to China is his first since late 1995.

President Castro has developed close personal ties with his Chinese counterpart, who visited Cuba in November 1993 and April 2001.

President Jiang, who is the same age as his Cuban counterpart, is expected to step down as China's president in March after his second term is completed.

Thus, the upcoming talks between the two presidents could be one of the last bilateral presidential meetings for him.

China is Cuba's third most important trading partner after Venezuela, which provides the island with cheap oil, and Spain, which has hotel chains deeply invested in the tourism industry.

China took over as Cuba's main political and financial partner in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The trade balance however clearly favors China. According to official Chinese figures, in 2001 Cuba exported US$70 million worth of goods to China, while it imported US$547 million worth.

seattlepi.nwsource.com Wednesday, February 26, 2003 By PAUL NYHAN SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Gasoline prices hit a record level at Seattle-area pumps yesterday, forcing drivers around the region to spend more to fill their tanks or find new ways to get around town.

In Seattle, Bellevue and Everett, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline jumped to $1.77 yesterday, the highest level since AAA began tracking average daily prices in the mid-'70s.   Even higher prices can be found around the city, with one station in Magnolia charging $2.13 for a gallon of premium gasoline and another on top of Queen Anne Hill charging $1.89 for a gallon of regular.

Looming war with Iraq and labor unrest in oil-rich Venezuela are combining to force the price of crude oil, and thus refined gasoline, higher, industry officials said. Impending war and the strike help explain why the national average price for a gallon of unleaded gas rose to $1.66 yesterday from $1.13 a year ago, according to AAA.

But, the reasons behind the spike in Seattle gasoline prices are cloudier. Oil companies and wholesalers don't provide specific pricing data, according to local retailers. And West Coast prices have run counter to national trends in the past.

Whatever the cause, the spike is generating suspicion among local drivers, who say high gasoline price are forcing them to change their driving habits.

Bill Travers is ready to walk the 10 blocks to work and more willing to hop on his Vespa, which gets up to 60 miles per gallon, than drive his sports car.

"I think they (oil companies) are gouging a little bit, just to take advantage of impending disaster," Travers said, after paying $10 more for half a tank of gas then a few months ago. "I really wonder, as a lot of people do, how legitimate this is."     Phil H. Webber / P-I   Matt Beers checks tires at a station in Magnolia, where premium unleaded was going for $2.13 a gallon.

Travers is not alone. Sixty-five percent of respondents are ready to alter their driving routines because of higher gas prices and a threat of war with Iraq, a Yahoo! Autos survey found yesterday.

In fact, 23 percent of those surveyed said they are prepared to buy more fuel-efficient cars.

As drivers look to assign blame, gas station owners say they are not the culprits. Their pumps reflect the fluctuation in prices charged by wholesalers and resellers.

At Rick's Chevron on Fifth Avenue in Seattle, owner Rick Hubbard learns of price increases when a message appears on his cash register, linked directly to Chevron. The alert eventually tells him the price of wholesale gas rose or fell that day.

Hubbard decided to post the increases on his pumps to explain to customers why they were paying more at his pumps.

"The only time they (retailers) change their price, usually, (is) when they get an increase from the dealers," said Hubbard, who has sold gas in Seattle for 35 years.

Gas prices can fluctuate from neighborhood to neighborhood, in part because wholesalers use market data and formulas to set prices, according to Tim Hamilton, executive director Automotive United Trades Association in Olympia.

"Gasoline is not priced by the cost of doing business, it is priced by the ability to charge," Hamilton said yesterday.

And Hubbard says companies don't share the data with him.

The "price of crude is all they tell me," he said.

The market sets the price of gasoline, Shell Oil Co. spokesman Timothy O'Leary said. The company considers myriad details, everything from traffic and shopping patterns to neighborhood characteristics.

Shell, however, said it doesn't comment on pricing in Seattle or any particular location.

U.S. drivers faced a similar situation in 1990-91 during the Persian Gulf War, said Edward Rice, associate professor of finance and business economics at the University of Washington Business School.

As the United States prepares for war, oil companies could be holding more fuel in reserve, guarding against a disruption in supplies, and that could be forcing gas prices higher, he said.

And gasoline prices are not yet at record levels elsewhere in Washington, although many are close. In Bremerton, the average daily price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose to $1.69 yesterday, still below that region's record of $1.74 set in September 2000, according to the latest AAA data.

Meanwhile, Bellingham drivers paid, on average, $1.75 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas yesterday, also below the record of $1.80 set in 2000.

With so much uncertainty in the global oil market, it is difficult to predict where gas prices will move in Bellingham, Seattle or anywhere in Washington.

"I don't think anyone really knows. It's kind of like the stock market," said AAA Washington spokeswoman Janet Ray.

P-I reporter Paul Nyhan can be reached at 206-448-8145 or paulnyhan@seattlepi.com

www.kolotv.com 02/25/03 by Ed Pearce, ed.pearce@kolotv.com

RENO -- Gas prices are still on the rise.  While some analysts say pressure for them to continue rising may be easing a bit now that the oil strike in Venezuela is over, there is still little hope they'll go down any time soon.

These hikes affect all of us, but some of us are feeling it more directly than others.

The news at the pump has been getting worse for some time.  Two months ago regular was a $1.31 per gallon at a Stop-and-Go station in Reno.  By two weeks ago, it was 35 cents higher.  Last week added a nickel.  Yesterday, it was six cents higher, then hours later it rose again by two cents.

Few of us fail to notice the difference when we fill up the tank every week or so. No one watches it more closely than the area's cab drivers.

"It's up above $1.80," laments cabbie Scott Williams.  "Right there, it rose two cents overnight."

Williams drives for Reno-Sparks Cab, and like other cabbies he buys his own gas every day.  Every day, it hurts a little more.  It adds up.

"My monthly income is down $80 to $90 at a time when the economy is slow to begin with," Williams says.

There's no relief in sight.  Williams can't raise cab rates -- they're set by the state's Transportation Services Agency.  The cab companies would have to apply for an increase.  Drivers like Williams are caught in between, and every new hike in gas prices comes right out of their personal profit margin.

At a busier time of the year, the loss would be easier to absorb, but things are always slow in Reno in late February.  This year, a daily trip to the pump makes it seem all the more so.

"What are you going to do?  You have to put food on the table," Williams says.  "Things will get better.  They have to.  In this business, I can't see it getting worse."