www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 02, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Five Venezuelan opposition journalists have made a trip to Washington to highlight 200 alleged human rights abuses committed against the media.

National College of Journalists (CNP) president Levy Benshimol, El Universal journalist Alicia La Rotta, El Nacional deputy editor Sergio Dahbar, Venevision journalist Luis Alfonso Fernandez Rodriguez, and National Press Workers Union (SNP) general secretary and Latin American Journalists Federation coordinator, Gregorio Salazar were accompanied by CNP legal adviser, Primero Justicia (PJ) National Assemblyman, Ramon Jose Medina.

Journalist Alicia La Rotta recalled how a state security uncover agent hit her on the mouth to recover an ID card she had picked up during an anti-government … ”the officer is still free and the case has not been followed through."

La Rotta says she felt afraid many times when she was writing up narco-trafficking stories … "when I asked state security for protection, I got it and felt protected … not any more.”

President Chavez Frias has mentioned her several times during his Sunday radio address, referring to her as an enemy of his government.

Presidential Media Minister Nora Uribe, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) president Ali Rodriguez Araque and Ambassador to the Organization of American states (OAS) Jorge Valero have also been visiting Washington at the same time to defend Venezuelan government policies in the wake of the 2-month opposition sabotage which almost crippled the nation's vital oil industry's capability to supply the United States with crude oil.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 02, 2003 By: Kira Marquez-Perez

Date: Sat, 01 Mar 2003 13:08:42 +0100 From: Kira Marquez-Perez Kira.MarquezPerez@uni-duesseldorf.de To: editor@vheadline.com Subject: The press MUST also do the same

Dear Editor: I just wanted to make a very short comment: I read the two articles published today by Mr. Patrick J. O'Donoghue, which I found both very interesting and good.

However, I was really astonished about the "official number of victims" of the Caracazo. That is exactly what I mean when I talk about censored information in Venezuela. This has been happening during all our governments.

Everybody knows that these 276 victims are only about 15% to 20% of the real number of personas that "dissapeared" during these days in 1989.

Because of this, each time you look for data related to the 27F you find a huge range.

Normally you find something like: "between 200 and 3000 persons were killed" ... see, for instance, this chronology of "Key events" presented by the BBC, where the range of victims was set between 300 (close to the official number) and 2000 (close to the realistic number): news.bbc.co.uk

The most reliable data concerning 27F can be surely found in the international press.

However, it is very sad to know that we will never find out how many of our fellow Venezuelans were really killed in these days... But one thing is for sure: these 276 "official" deaths are really a joke.

By the way... I hope the same thing doesn't happen with the events of April 11 to 14, 2002.

The Venezuelan State (in this case President Chavez) must give a realistic official report of the number of victims of the coup-d'etat promoted by dictator Carmona and the others...

The press MUST also do the same.

Best regards, Kira Marquez-Perez Kira.MarquezPerez@uni-duesseldorf.de

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 02, 2003 By: Julian Coningham

Date: Sat, 01 Mar 2003 23:20:12 +0000 From: Julian Coningham coninghams@hotmail.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Re: diplomatic corps not idiots

Dear Editor:  In an email, Jose Aranguren, FTM Houston LLC ftmaritima@hotmail.com writes:

"What does the Venezuelan government win, who knows for sure?  Let the bombs issue aside (even if evidence becomes more and more incriminating), I guess the government feels they win the same they win by destroying their own country's economy, PDVSA, the church, the industry, the society, the armed forces, and so on. They are suicidal and heading fast into collision course with the criminal hope that it may be their only ticket left for survival. On the other hand the opposition is a gravitating mass without enough articulation to produce a sophisticated event such as the bombings in the 2 consular offices. Sorry Julian, but your arguments still sound either biased or inaccurate to me."

Dear Jose: Thank you for your latest e-mail. I am sorry but your arguments do not make sense to me at all. One thing is that you may not like the present Venezuelan government because of its policies (legitimate), etc., and another is to think that those ruling your country are so stupid/desperate that they now bomb foreign embassies.

What for?  To "blame" you?

In my opinion, since the government defeated the strike, they only need to "blame" you for the socio-economic problems. In short, they have plenty of ammo.

• Now, like it or not, the opposition is in a difficult situation after they failed to remove the President from office.

Don't forget that the strike was called to "remove" Chavez from Miraflores. Of course, the opposition may say "NO" in public, etc., but their strategy now is to create chaos, to internationalize (read foreign intervention), etc.

That's what they would love to happen.

Within the opposition, you have groups of people willing and ready to die for their "cause":  plant bombs, carry out shootings, etc.  As their propaganda states, it is "time for armed struggle."

Why?  Because they have failed to remove Chavez with strikes, marches, coup d'etat, etc.

Your idea that all in the opposition are saints is not the true picture of an opposition made up of different groups (including ultras).

regards Julian Coningham coninghams@hotmail.com

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 02, 2003 By: W. E. Gutman

Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 20:03:01 EST From: W. E. Gutman WEGUTMAN@cs.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Re: US 'intelligence' fails again... it was KARACHI and not CARACAS

Dear Editor: Most Americans are geographically challenged ... if not retarded. To wit the following anecdotes:

1. A man told me he had spent a couple of days in Athens and said ... Turkey is a very interesting country.

2. Overheard on line at a foreign currency exchange booth at JFK airport in New York: "I'm going to Puerto Rico. I need some Puerto Rican dollars..."

3. I told someone I was born in Paris. "Texas?" he asked. "No, Paris, France." "Oh, where's that?"

4. Most high school seniors believe that the Peloponesian Wars were fought on horseback by two opposing Polo teams...

5. Four out five people in Los Angeles have never heard of Connecticut.

6. I argued with a local school administrator that the elusive "smoking gun" can be found north of the 38th parallel, in Pyongyang, not Baghdad. "Pyong what?" he said.

7. The clincher: American babbitry can best be exemplified by a nice pink-haired old lady from Akron, Ohio, who observed that Italy must be a very poor country. "After all, they've had 2,000 years to repair the Coliseum and, look at it, it's still in ruins...'"

It should come as no surprise that in a nation where one out of ten people don't know who was the first president of the US, can't tell for sure whether Canada is north or south of the US, can't tell the difference between Austria and Australia, and couldn't find Madagascar on a world map if their lives depended on it -- that Caracas and Karachi would be confused.

After all, the first two syllables sound the same...

W. E. Gutman WEGUTMAN@cs.com

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, March 02, 2003 By: W. E. Gutman

Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 20:03:01 EST From: W. E. Gutman WEGUTMAN@cs.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Re: US 'intelligence' fails again... it was KARACHI and not CARACAS

Dear Editor: Most Americans are geographically challenged ... if not retarded. To wit the following anecdotes:

1. A man told me he had spent a couple of days in Athens and said ... Turkey is a very interesting country.

2. Overheard on line at a foreign currency exchange booth at JFK airport in New York: "I'm going to Puerto Rico. I need some Puerto Rican dollars..."

3. I told someone I was born in Paris. "Texas?" he asked. "No, Paris, France." "Oh, where's that?"

4. Most high school seniors believe that the Peloponesian Wars were fought on horseback by two opposing Polo teams...

5. Four out five people in Los Angeles have never heard of Connecticut.

6. I argued with a local school administrator that the elusive "smoking gun" can be found north of the 38th parallel, in Pyongyang, not Baghdad. "Pyong what?" he said.

7. The clincher: American babbitry can best be exemplified by a nice pink-haired old lady from Akron, Ohio, who observed that Italy must be a very poor country. "After all, they've had 2,000 years to repair the Coliseum and, look at it, it's still in ruins...'"

It should come as no surprise that in a nation where one out of ten people don't know who was the first president of the US, can't tell for sure whether Canada is north or south of the US, can't tell the difference between Austria and Australia, and couldn't find Madagascar on a world map if their lives depended on it -- that Caracas and Karachi would be confused.

After all, the first two syllables sound the same...

W. E. Gutman WEGUTMAN@cs.com