www.hometownannapolis.com By EARL KELLY, Staff Writer As gas prices soar toward all-time highs, the average driver is spending an extra $42 a month to fill up the tank, AAA Mid-Atlantic said. Unleaded regular gasoline averaged $1.71 nationally -- just 2 cents under the record set in 1974. Statewide, unleaded regular sold for an average of $1.68 a gallon, AAA reported this week. A survey of area stations conducted by The Capital Thursday found that self-serve regular averaged $1.70 a gallon, as opposed to $1.66 in mid-February and $1.55 in mid-January. Gas costs about 52 cents a gallon more than a year ago. For the average driver who racks up 15,000 miles a year, the cost of refueling has jumped more than $1 a day in that time period, said AAA spokesman Deborah DeYoung. She said it appears that price increases are the natural outcome of a likely war with oil-rich Iraq and an ongoing oil-field strike in Venezuela. "We have not seen any evidence of price gouging but the situation really does not look good, especially for the economy. It was breathtakingly bad news," she said. Ms. DeYoung said industry analysts have warned that it could take the rest of the year for gas prices to return to what people consider "normal." Walter Thompson, president of the Maryland Motor Truck Association, said his members are paying $1.75 a gallon -- 35 cents a gallon more than in December. "It's causing many small companies to curtail -- or go out of business," he said. "The industry is hurting; many companies are trying to put fuel surcharges on deliveries." Rising trucking costs are likely to cause an increase in consumer prices, Mr. Thompson said. Jay Lowry, founder of Lowrys' Forest Drive Services in Annapolis, said motorists are coping by driving less and by buying only a few dollars' worth of gas at a time instead of topping off the tank. "Demand is down about 14 percent" compared to last winter. That's a significant percent," Mr. Lowry said. Dave Darden, owner of Gibson's Citgo in West Annapolis, said he sees customers buying lower grades when possible, a move that AAA encourages. "They look up there and see the price of (mid-grade) gas, and they put in the regular," Mr. Darden said. "And we don't make as much off regular as we do high-test." AAA offered additional pointers for coping with the gas crisis: Slow down -- Each 5 miles per hour over 60 is like paying an extra dime per gallon of gas. Consolidate errands -- More than 60 percent of gas is burned on trips other than than commuting to work. Maintain the auto -- Properly inflated tires and a tuned-up engine save 2 cents a gallon. Clean up -- take junk out of the trunk -- each extra 100 pounds costs 1 mile to the gallon.

newsobserver.com Saturday, March 15, 2003 3:08PM EST By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON (AP) - If U.S.-led forces invade Iraq, world oil prices will probably plunge from current levels and stay there - so long as the conflict ends quickly and causes little damage to production capacity in the Persian Gulf, several energy analysts said Friday.

However, a war that spills into neighboring countries or one in which Saddam Hussein sabotages his own oil fields could panic markets and trigger a spike in prices to $50 or even $60 a barrel, some said. The wide range of forecasts is a sign of the difficulty analysts face in trying to envision how markets will react to a war of unpredictable severity.

Fighting might be over in a few days, or it might erupt into a regional conflagration that affects crude exports from Kuwait and even Saudi Arabia. How OPEC and oil-importing countries respond to a war will also have a great influence on prices.

Perhaps the only certainty is that markets will welcome any move that keeps supplies flowing.

Crude prices fell Friday on reports that Saudi Arabia's state-run oil company Saudi Aramco had chartered supertankers to carry an exceptionally large shipment of crude - 28 million barrels - to the United States for delivery in May. April contracts of U.S. light, sweet crude tumbled by more than $2 a barrel in New York before rebounding somewhat to $34.90, down $1.11 from Thursday's close. In London, North Sea Brent crude futures were trading 98 cents lower at $31.45.

Analysts say that fears of a wartime disruption in supply have swollen crude prices by at least $5 a barrel. This so-called war premium has increased along with tensions in the Persian Gulf because markets worry that hostilities with Iraq will paralyze that country's 2 million barrels in daily oil shipments.

Although prices might rise in the last hours before any actual outbreak of hostilities, several analysts predicted that an attack on Iraq would knock the floor out from beneath the market - just as it did when coalition forces launched Operation Desert Storm on Jan. 16, 1991.

Futures contracts of U.S. light, sweet crude plummeted by $10.90 a barrel on Jan. 17, 1991 to close in New York at $21.30.

"History would suggest that oil prices would go down fairly rapidly, maybe $5-7 a barrel, probably within one day," said Angus McPhail, an analyst at ING Financial Markets in Edinburgh, Scotland.

He believes that markets will be awash in crude after a swift war, particularly if Venezuela continues to recover from an oil industry strike and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries keep busting their output quotas. For the second half of the year, ING Financial Markets foresees an average Brent crude price of $18.50 a barrel.

"We are adamant that oil prices will fall," McPhail said.

Matthew Cordaro, an energy specialist at Long Island University, in Brookville, N.Y., argued that U.S. crude prices would fall to $25-28 a barrel "within a couple of days" of the start of a war.

Prices might fall by an additional $2 a barrel beyond that, Cordaro said, if President Bush authorizes a release of crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR.

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has repeatedly emphasized that the United States will tap into its 600 million barrels of strategic reserves only if it sees a serious disruption in crude supplies. A short war that didn't impair Iraq's ability to soon resume exporting oil would probably not warrant a release of SPR oil, Cordaro said.

The first line of defense for importing countries in the event of a war would be an increase in OPEC oil production. OPEC this week estimated its spare production capacity at 2-4 million barrels a day, but the International Energy Agency said that OPEC might not be able to raise output quickly by more than 1 million barrels. The agency is the energy watchdog for major consuming countries.

Adam Sieminski, an oil price strategist at Deutsche Bank in London, argued that the Bush administration would most likely tap into U.S. strategic reserves in a war. If not, he said, "Bush will win the war but lose the 2004 election."

With no SPR oil, Sieminski said it was impossible to predict how high prices could go.

"Who knows? It's going to be much higher than it is now, with consequent damage to the world economy," he said.

In a worst-case scenario, a wider war could inflame regional hostility to the United States and lead to another Arab oil embargo. Prices might then spike to as much as $60 a barrel, said Rob Laughlin, managing director of London brokerage GNI Man Financial.

Former Saudi Arabian oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani agreed, telling an industry conference Friday that prices could exceed $50 a barrel if supplies from neighboring countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were interrupted.

However, Yamani said that a short and successful war against Iraq could push prices to under $25 a barrel.

www.yomiuri.co.jp

=== Use oil reserves wisely

There seems to be no end in sight to the upward trend in world oil prices. Oil futures in New York are hovering above the 35 dollars a barrel mark--the highest level since the Gulf crisis of 1990.

Unusually high oil prices are casting a dark pall on the world's economic outlook.

Both oil producing and consuming countries must strengthen their cooperative ties and do their utmost to stabilize crude oil prices.

At its general meeting last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to keep its production quota of 24.5 million barrels a day intact for the April-June quarter, a period of slackening demand.

OPEC also made clear it would implement an extraordinary production increase should the United States and other countries launch military strikes on Iraq and oil prices skyrocket.

In doing so, OPEC countries took the world economy into consideration, although its members failed to agree on temporarily lifting a production quota. Its response can be considered an adult one.

Various factors have conspired recently to jack up oil prices--the tense situation over Iraq, the general strike in Venezuela, and a cold snap in the Northern Hemisphere.

The New York market took the possible decline in the U.S. oil reserve due to the latest OPEC decision seriously and buy-orders prevailed.

=== Widespread economic impact

If crude oil prices keep rising, the U.S. economy will inevitably slow down as private consumption will slacken and businesses will see profits drop due to higher energy costs.

And a U.S. economic contraction will affect not only Japan and other Asian countries but also the oil producing countries.

It was during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 when OPEC launched an oil embargo and triggered the first oil crisis. In the 30 years that have since passed the oil supply-demand situation has changed markedly.

Back then, oil accounted for 74 percent of Japan's primary energy source supply. In fiscal 2001, it accounted for only 49 percent, thanks to the nation's efforts to become less dependent on oil, causing nuclear energy, which accounted for less than 1 percent 30 years ago, to now account for 13 percent of the annual energy supply.

Even if crude oil imports drop markedly, Japan today has oil reserves worth 171 days of net imports, when public- and private-sector reserves are combined.

=== Diversification

On the other hand, the nation's dependency on crude oil imports from the Middle East has risen to 88 percent from 78 percent.

There are also other concerns--not seen during the first oil crisis--that Asian economies such as China, South Korea and Thailand have rapidly increased crude oil imports, while lacking sufficient emergency oil reserves.

Japan's need to further diversify its oil import sources is emerging as a mid- and long-term issue, as it urges its neighbors to expand their oil reserves.

These efforts, however, will not help ease the current high oil prices. The only thing to do, for now, is hope Venezuela's oil production returns to normal, while Saudi Arabia, with its extra production capacity, increases its output.

Oil consuming countries, including Japan, must make effective use of their oil reserves.

It is also a matter of urgency that the nation's nuclear power plants, whose safety has been confirmed through inspections, resume operation.

www.proveo.org

Amigos!

En Venezuela y fuera de ella, se esta hablando hasta el cansancio de la necesidad de un programa politico y candidato unico de la oposicion. Oposicion...Que oposicion? Se refieren al conglomerado espontaneo de varios sectores de la sociedad civil?

Sin duda, la Coordinadora Democratica ha sentado las bases de una oposicion posible; democratica, unificadora, de alto contenido patrio. Por ende, estamos experimentando el resurgimiento del sentir popular, nacido del sacrificio de un pueblo engrandecido en las batallas libradas en las calles y plazas de todas las ciudades de Venezuela por un solo objetivo comun: salvaguardar la patria para todos.

Se ha caminado mucho, pero el camino nos llevo a una calle sin salida. Nadie ha tenido la culpa. Simplemente, existen otras vias y debemos explorarlas, sin perder el animo. Pero antes, debemos ordenar la casa: la fuerza civica descomunal pero amorfa hasta el presente (totalmente emocional, producto de la desesperacion, indignacion y amargura), debe ser canalizada lo antes posible, conformada en una organización politica, con oferta contundente. El tiempo nos acosa: vivimos un momento historico; seria un craso error ignorar la voz del pueblo que demanda, que pide a gritos ser escuchado. Un pueblo que ansia y merece ser reconocido y respetado a niveles nacionales e internacionales.

Es nuestra conviccion que, solo un PARTIDO POLITICO NUEVO, totalmente desligado del pasado y presente podria enfrentarse con el futuro. Un partido grande, de amplias bases, incluyente, venezolanista, capaz de interpretar y representar las aspiraciones de la Venezuela de hoy.

El nombre? Que tal: Union Pro Venezuela ? (La creatividad criolla sin duda producira mas y mejores alternativas.) El 2003 es importante. Es el año de los mas profundos cambios politicos desde 1958.

Todo se hundio, todo renacio en otra forma. Lo poco que queda de los grandes partidos democraticos es una colección de malos recuerdos manchados con traicion y oportunismo; politica y politicos desacredidatos tratando de camuflar la perdida de sus raices y su soledad penosa en este mundo tan cambiado. Los partidos de la vieja izquierda que siguen insistiendo en el camino al socialismo con cara amable, estan totalmente caducos. Los esfuerzos de la nueva generacion de democratas progresistas y politicos de laboratorio es notable y esperanzadora; pero no tienen suficiente peso, experiencia y fuerza para convencer a la masa heterogenea de los Venezolanos de hoy. Y la gente ya no cree en la "Revolucion Bonita" de Chavez. El 80% de los Venezolanos esta consciente que un sistema basado en el odio y guerra de las clases, jamas sera capaz de crear bienestar y desarrollo para el pais.

La Coordinadora, por su parte, cumplio su papel para despertar al pais, pero ha llegado a sus limites. Estamos entrando en una epoca nueva, con nuevas perspectivas.

Hay un vacio, amigos. Enorme, peligroso, desesperante. El crater de un volcan ardiente, de profundidades inimaginables. Es la ultima oportunidad; o surgimos triunfantes, depurados por el fuego, o nos enterramos en las llamas devastadoras. Sera el "sepulcro comun de pueblo, pais, decencia y libertad".

Es hora de actuar, Señores. El momento es inmejorable. La gente invadida por dolor y asco, esta a la espera. La conciencia colectiva llego a su nivel mas alto posible, lista para enfrentar cualquier sacrificio con valor y dignidad y ponerle paro a la infamia.

El pueblo ha aprendido una leccion dura; se derrumbo el mito y credibilidad de los populistas. Se impuso el valor de nuevos lideres con capacidad, educacion, preparacion tecnica, economica y cultural. Salvo unos pocos politicos honestos,el resto de politicuchos (gallitos con plumas descoloradas cacareando sobre las ruinas del gallinero derrumbado), no han tenido ningun papel o peso en el despertar de Venezuela. Pateticos. En cambio se ha puesto de manifiesto la fuerza convocatoria de la sociedad civil, de la gente del petroleo, la confederacion de los trabajadores y empresarios y las organizaciones de gente comun, los vecinos. La GENTE QUE TRABAJA. La GENTE CONCRETA, que produce, que crea riqueza y puede mejorar las condiciones de vida para todos.

Ha pasado algo insolito, un fenomeno sorprendente: surgieron nuevas figuras con talla de heroes inconfundibles; gente comun sin afiliacion politica, desconocidos que se convirtieron de un dia a otro en protagonistas de la lucha sin tregua, armados solo con valor y dignidad. Han llegado de todas partes; de los puestos de trabajo, de los escritorios, de las plantas industriales, de los campos petroleros, de mar y tierra, de establecimientos comerciales, de las univesidades, de los destacamentos militares y fuerzas policiales. Los politicos de poca monta (ya comenzaron a preocuparse por la presencia de los uniformados), que estupidez, no sean mezquinos, por Dios, hay que maximizar su valentia, su sacrificio... que sean bienvenidos ya que Venezuela somos todos!

Pido campo abierto a nuestros heroes, los protagonistas de nuestra historia reciente. Son de la sociedad civil, apoyados por la sociedad civil. Son la fuerza forjadora primaria, capaz de aglutinarnos a todos en un partido nuevo, de la nueva Venezuela.

En lo practico, que yo sepa no hay restricciones para inscribir un nuevo partido en Venezuela, todavia. El regimen jamas ha esperado semejante posibilidad. Recoger firmas de inscripcion, emitir carnets de miembros es pan comido; contamos con la experiencia increible del Firmazo! El nuevo partido puede ser el mas poderoso de toda la historia venezolana; con masas de militantes inscritos en numeros jamas visto, uniendo a los Venezolanos en el pais y allende sus fronteras.

Los partidos existentes? Que recojan sus firmas tambien. Pero esta vez, tendran que demostrar que tienen el derecho de existir todavia. (Sera dificil). Union Pro Venezuela va a arrasar. El pais esta listo para unirse bajo una sola bandera.

La elaboracion de un programa politico contundente es esencial y urgente. No se puede dejar en manos de politicos oportunistas. La gente que trabaja (heroes y protagonistas) debe y puede hacer la tarea. Es muy posible que por primera vez en la historia, el programa politico/economico sea elaborado por especialistas, no por politicos trasnochados con tendencia a copiar sistemas fracasados y desacreditados hace tiempo. Tenemos la gente mas capaz y mas adelantada de America Latina; somos el Norte del Sur, recuerdan?

En cuanto a la reaccion internacional: opino que seria inmediata y favorable. La palabras magicas son: partido, democratico, programa, candidato. La oposicion en Venezuela perdio credibilidad por no poder demostrar significante organización politica y unidad frente al Chavismo.

Y si Chavez decide declararse dictador, gobernando con un solo partido al estilo cubano, el partido, nuestro partido de la Venezuela verdadera sobrevivira.

En libertad o en clandestinidad, su fuerza sera incontenible; crecera y se fortalecera y estara preparado para surgir en el momento oportuno.

Pienso tambien, que la mera existencia de un partido de oposicion de peso y poder, con un numero de militantes inscritos que sobrepase de manera arrollante los votos recibidos por Chavez en todas las elecciones anteriores, va a cambiar los vientos que soplan y la actitud de la mayoria comprometida con el gobierno, empezando con las fuerzas armadas.

Tengo una vision de Venezuela, una Venezuela posible. Nada tenemos que perder y todo tenemos por ganar. Vale la pena intentarlo. Porque no le preguntamos al pueblo? No conozco mejor consigna para animarlos:

MANOS A LA OBRA VENEZOLANOS!!

Caracas 5 de Marzo, 2003

Esta propuesta fue enviada desde Venezuela por una de esas personas que luchan dia a dia por el pais. Su caracter democratico es evidente, si tienen alguna sugerencia por favor envienla a solution@proveo.org  Les agradeceria que trataran de mantener sus sugerencias al respecto lo mas concisas posible y que mencionen si desean que sus nombres sean publicados. Nota: esta iniciativa nada tiene que ver con la actitud de Salas Romer y es tan solo una propuesta. Proveo en su afan por promover la busqueda de soluciones y alternativas a la crisis venezolana esta tan solo facilitando la divulgacion de ideas. Todas las ideas son bienvenidas y seran publicadas.

Lean las respuestas a este Manifesto aqui.

www.softwaretimes.com January 25, 2003

The Marxist regime of Hugo Chavez Frias has orchestrated a huge disinformation campaign in the international press. To illustrate I have included a letter to the editor of The Enterprise , a Massachusetts newspaper, supposedly written by an American citizen outraged by the Venezuelan opposition to Chavez.

The letter was sent to me by a fellow poster at The Motley Fools message boards asking my opinion of the letter. After reproducing the letter in its entirety, I go into the analysis followed by additional comments by an American Attorney at Law who is also a frequent poster at TMF.

Hi Denny,

I would like to hear your opinion regarding a "Letter to the Editor" that I read in our local newspaper the other day. I do not know the author's background, but he seems to paint a different picture of what I thought was going on in Venezuela - and I would like to hear what you have to say about it. I searched for a link to the clip on the local paper's website, but came up empty. It follows:

To the editor of The Enterprise:

With the smoke screen of Iraq and North Korea in full effect, the White House has been plotting another regime change on the down low.

The bourgeoisie opposition-led strike in Venezuela, which most of the country does not support, has paralyzed their economy and taken the lives to two pro-government supporters. Most of us will never know the real deal, because the private elite-owned media that dominates Venezuelan television has been running opposition "infomercials" instead of advertisements, on top of the continuous slanted coverage of the protest. They are attempting to overthrow the two-time, popularly, and democratically elected president, Hugo Chavez, with the help of our American tax dollars.

According to the Center for Economic and Policy research, just before the Aprill 11 coup, the U.S. national endowment for democracy increased its funding six times for the opposition groups, including money funneled through the International Republican Institute. This is nothing new; in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Chile, just to name a few, Washington has instigated regime change when it simply didn't approve of the voters choice at the polls.

So predictably the Bush administration has sided with the opposition, demanding early elections, even when Venezuelan constitution specifies that a binding referendum of no-confidence cannot be held until August. President Chavez is accused of using "dictorial" powers for sending the military to recover oil tankers seized by striking capitans. But had U.S. strikers hijaked an oil tanker from Exxon Mobil here, they would all be facing hard jail time, in fact, American government workers are not allowed to strike at all, as Ronald Regan demonstrated when he fired 12,000 air traffic controllers in 1981, who were striking for better working conditions. Even American private sector workers can't strike for political demands, and if so, courts would issue injunctions against the strike and union money would be seized and leaders arrested. Employees of the state-owned oil company in Venezuela - mostly managers - will likely benefit in the event of a regime change.

This is clearly a strike of the privileged in a nation where 80 percent of the people live in deep poverty and inequity, which happens to be the top crude supplier to the United States.

What is needed is for our government to stop talking out of both sides of it's mouth with regard to "respect for the rule of law, accountability, human rights and democracy" when the only real interests being served are those of the corporate fat cats.

Michael Miguel Brockton

Thoughts? '38Packard

38Packard:

Thoughts?

This supposed American citizen does not know how to spell the last name president Reagan.

The bourgeoisie opposition-led strike in Venezuela,

The second word is the code word that gives the author of the letter away. Who but a communist would use such a word? An average American might use "conservative," "right wing," or even "reactionary" but never "bourgeoisie."

The Venezuelan labor movement, hardly a bourgeoisie organization, is solidly behind the strike. Approximately 85% of the oil workers back the strike. Roughnecks seldom form part of the bourgeoisie.

I realize that he is accusing only the leaders of being bourgeoisie but he never explains why the proletariat has joined the bourgeoisie against the tyrant. You should ask him that question.

which most of the country does not support

According to recent polls more than half the people want early elections.

has paralyzed their economy and taken the lives to two pro-government supporters.

There are close to 50 dead already. I guess the other 48 don't matter to the writer, they must be bourgeoisie opposition, hence worthless.

because the private elite-owned media that dominates Venezuelan television has been running opposition "infomercials" instead of advertisements, on top of the continuous slanted coverage of the protest.

There is state run radio and TV that are not controlled by the opposition. The reason why there are no commercials is because the media is on strike as well. They have cut all programming except for news coverage, interviews and editorials. The private sector is losing money hand over fist in this strike.

the U.S. national endowment for democracy increased its funding six times for the opposition groups, including money funneled through the International Republican Institute.

I have no idea if this is true or not. I have never heard of the International Republican Institute.

This is nothing new; in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Chile, just to name a few, Washington has instigated regime change when it simply didn't approve of the voters choice at the polls.

Probably true but I'm not sure how much bearing it has on Venezuela. It does seem that during the events of April 11, 2002 the Americans were openly in favor of a regime change. Unfortunately, the people who took over the government that day for a few hours were a total disaster. They betrayed the opposition as much as they overthrew Chavez. These people have since fled Venezuela.

My neighbor is a keen observer of the political situation and back then he commented that the leader of our labor movement, Carlos Ortega, was not to be seen with the Carmona people anywhere. This raised a red flag for him. Clearly Ortega recognized early the betrayal of Carmona and his boss whose name I don't recall at this time (Corao?).

So predictably the Bush administration has sided with the opposition, demanding early elections, even when Venezuelan constitution specifies that a binding referendum of no-confidence cannot be held until August.

The American Ambassador has stated that Venezuelans must resolve their own problems. This is hardly siding with the opposition. On an ideological level, clearly not just Bush but most Americans would side against a dictator who accused America of being the real terrorist back on 9/11. The Americans would not back a buddy of Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein.

President Chavez is accused of using "dictatorial" powers for sending the military to recover oil tankers seized by striking captains. But had U.S. strikers hijaked an oil tanker from Exxon Mobil here, they would all be facing hard jail time, in fact, American government workers are not allowed to strike at all, as Ronald Regan demonstrated when he fired 12,000 air traffic controllers in 1981, who were striking for better working conditions.

This is a clever twisting of the facts.

First.- In theory PDVSA is NOT a government office but a public company owned by the government. This was an effort to keep politics out of the oil business. This means that PDVSA employees are not government workers as were the air traffic controllers.

Second.- The striking workers did not hijack the ships. They anchored the ships and they offered to turn them over to properly qualified personnel when requested to do so by the ship owners. This was a clever game of cat and mouse. They knew full well that there are no such people available because not only did the law require the certified people to be technically proficient but they also had to be Venezuelan nationals. Chavez could not bring in foreign workers to take over the ships without breaking or changing the law.

Third.- There is no law that can force a person to work if the person does not wish to work. Forced labor is anticonstitutional. You can fire a person for not working but slave labor is not legal.

Fourth.- The opposition bases its activities on article 350 of the constitution which I have not read but which authorizes civil disobedience under certain circumstances.

Even American private sector workers can't strike for political demands, and if so, courts would issue injunctions against the strike and union money would be seized and leaders arrested.

You are going to have to ask an American lawyer if this is true or not.

Employees of the state-owned oil company in Venezuela - mostly managers - will likely benefit in the event of a regime change.

That may or may not be so but it is irrelevant as to the legality of the strike

This is clearly a strike of the privileged in a nation where 80 percent of the people live in deep poverty and inequity, which happens to be the top crude supplier to the United States.

This is a bunch of bull. The great majority of Venezuelans are on strike and we are not all privileged. If 80% of us are poor, why has Chavez not solved the problem during his three years in government. He has visited half the world. He bought himself a brand new presidential plane. He changed the constitution and even changed the name of the country.

He has not repaired the damage from the torrential rains that fell while he was being elected. He has not solved a single problem in Venezuela. He has brough in Cuban advisor that we don't need or want.

He sells cheap oil to Cuba and Caricom when we need those funds to feed our 80% poor. If this were such a paradise there would be no general strike. We are used to bad government but this disaster is more than we are willing to live with.

What is needed is for our government to stop talking out of both sides of it's mouth with regard to "respect for the rule of law, accountability, human rights and democracy" when the only real interests being served are those of the corporate fat cats.

I'll leave this point for you guys to decide.

Denny Schlesinger Caracas - Venezuela denny@softwaretimes.com

Hi Denny,

Thanks for your response and your "on the ground" reporting. The most critical portion of your response to me was:

This is clearly a strike of the privileged in a nation where 80 percent of the people live in deep poverty and inequity, which happens to be the top crude supplier to the United States.

This is a bunch of bull. The great majority of Venezuelans are on strike and we are not all privileged.

My impressions are that Chavez has completely mismanaged the government and this has affected all Venezualians - not just the priviledged. That is why there are such large demonstrations in the streets.

According to recent polls more than half the people want early elections.

This confirms my understanding of the situation. I was not aware that the PDVSA was a private company owned by the government - a wise decision.

Thanks again for our response. I may just write to the editor of the local paper and challenge this person's editorial.

Be Safe! '38Packard

What follows is the opinion of TinkerShaw, an American Attorney at Law and a frequent poster at TMF

Even American private sector workers can't strike for political demands, and if so, courts would issue injunctions against the strike and union money would be seized and leaders arrested.

Hey Denny,

As you so well surmise, this is a bogus letter. The above quote is so flagrantly erroneous to be nothing but a propoganda letter.

Labor law in the U.S. provides striking workers protection from retaliation, such as being fired, if the strike is a legal strike. It does not forbid people to strike in ways not protected by the labor laws, and it does not make it illegal to strike in ways that are not protected by labor law. It just simply means, if you strike in a manner that is outside the protection of America's labor laws, your employer can fire you without violating the law. You are still free to strike, and no one is going to arrest someone for refusing to work. They might get arrested for trespassing if they picket inappropriately, or damage property, et al., but not for refusing to work.

And btw, union money would never be seized and union leaders would not be arrested for an "illegal strike." America is not Cuba, we are free to choose not to work and no one can force us to work. If we choose to strike, and do so in a manner not protected by labor law, you can be fired, PERIOD.

It takes someone who thinks that the U.S. is a police state to assume that "union money would be seized and leaders arrested."

No, that is what happens in Marxist and fascist states.

Tinker

Tinker:

Thank you for your input. If you have no objections, I will use your post at Software Times where I will expose the Chavez disinformation campaign.

Denny Schlesinger Caracas - Venezuela denny@softwaretimes.com