www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 14, 2003 By: Press Releases

Re: News Release - Friday, March 14, 2003   Crucitas And Las Cristinas Updates

VANCOUVER, B.C. March 14, 2003 -- Vannessa Ventures Ltd. (VVV: TSX, OTC-BB: VNVNF,  Berlin: VVT -  WKN 914781) is pleased to  announce that its  wholly owned subsidiary, Industrias Infinito, has received  the long-awaited reply from  the Costa Rican government  on the filing of its Environmental Impact Study. The  reply  clarifies  the  concerns  SETENA  (the  Costa  Rican government's  environmental agency)  has and permits  the Company to file a response and continue the permitting process towards final approval for the development of the Crucitas Mine.

The EIS was reviewed by SETENA's technical group and has  subsequently been reviewed  by a commission of representatives of various Government agencies who resolved that the study in its current form could not be approved.

The Company will therefore immediately

(a)  deal with deficiencies in the study material related to the references and guidelines  given  to the  Company by SETENA at the time the study  was requested, and

(b) appeal the  introduction of new topics, which the company  feels  are expanding the scope  of  the study  and which were neither included  in the initial references nor  are  they  directly related  to  the  environmental concerns regarding the operation of a mine.

The filing of the revisions and explanations of indicated deficiencies will be undertaken over the next three days, and will include an appeal that the new  topics, which  were introduced  now and which were not included in the terms  of  references given to the Company last year, be withdrawn at  this time.

In Venezuela, a comprehensive  update on  the Las Cristinas legal issues is currently  being prepared  and  will  be distributed  to  our  shareholders shortly.

While it was our intention to let the court action take its course, we have been  consistently  forced to  rectify statements made by  Crystallex International Corp. which  can only be interpreted  as  blatantly self-serving.  The statements either contain the facts veiled in misleading language or omit the facts altogether and present false information.

A good  example  is Crystallex's statement in its letter to investors dated March 11, 2003 (Item #4) in which it states  that  MINCA formally withdrew its  action  against  CVG regarding  the cancellation  of  the MINCA mining contract. Responsible due  diligence  by Crystallex would  have ascertained that the MINCA versus CVG case regarding the mining contract's cancellation is still active and advancing.  The case that has  been withdrawn  was  for "Abuse of Power" by  the CVG against MINCA, of which  CVG is a shareholder, and the damage incurred by  MINCA as a result of  the abuse. The reason for the withdrawal is that current ongoing investigations  have provided  MINCA with substantially more  evidence and  the  case  is being  re-filed on the basis of this additional information.

"MANFRED PESCHKE" Manfred Peschke, President VANNESSA VENTURES LTD.

The  TSX Venture  Exchange has  not  reviewed and  does  not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

========================================= Copyright (c) 2003 VANNESSA VENTURES  LTD. (VVV)  All rights reserved.  For more  information  visit  our website at  www.vannessa.com or send mailto:info@vannessa.com Message sent on Fri Mar 14, 2003 at 9:04:07 AM Pacific Time

www.latintrade.com March, 2003

Tough times, tight money and increasing competition are now pitting Latin America’s largest companies against each other and a handful of foreigners in a feud for strategic acquisitions in the region.

Latin American output shrank in 2002, the first time in 19 years. Private capital flows to the region plummeted almost 50% to US$25 billion, reports the Institute of International Finance in Washington, D.C. Completed mergers and acquisitions fell 24% to less than $38 billion, its lowest level in six years, according to Thomson Financial.

The limited number of done deals, however, masks the underlying movements of a select group of Latin America’s most powerful businesses. They’re busy grabbing up assets from both retreating multinational companies and beleaguered family-run empires.

TELECOM Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is expanding his telecom interests across the Americas. He spun off his $3.2-billion Carso Global Telecom into holding company Telecom Américas, then invested $2.3 billion buying out big partners U.S. telecom SBC and Bell Canada International. The famed bottom-fisher hunts big game in Brazil and beyond. Spain’s multinational wireless company, Telefónica Móviles, continues to pressure Slim with strategic purchases in Mexico. Brasilcel, the merger of its Brazilian operations with Telecom Portugal, recently acquired Brasilia-based mobile operator Tele Centro Oeste for almost $1 billion. Still unclear: What will happen with Brazilian and Mexican long-distance companies Embratel and Avantel, holdings of financially troubled U.S. carrier WorldCom.

OIL Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petrobras is making a play to secure its position as a leading Latin American oil company. In October, Petrobras paid $1 billion for 59% of private energy group Perez Companc, which expects to spend another $2 billion over the next five years to beef up international production, mainly in Venezuela but also Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Earlier, Petrobras swapped a billion dollar’s worth of assets with Spanish-Argentine energy giant Repsol-YPF for a share of its Argentine retail gasoline and refining business. National strikes, meanwhile, have paralyzed Petróleos de Venezuela, the region’s largest oil company, where the government talks of selling the state-run company’s U.S. refining subsidiary Citgo.

BEVERAGES Brazil’s Ambev and Colombia’s Bavaria have staked out territory as the No. 1 and No. 2 brewers in South America. Ambev snatched Argentina’s Quilmes Industrial from minority shareholder Heineken. Similarly, Bavaria ripped Peruvian powerhouse Backus and Johnson from the clutches of Venezuela’s Empresas Polar. Heineken has pushed forward with acquisitions in Brazil and Central America, but the big prizes in the major countries seemed to have slipped away, for now. With its acquisition of Miller Brewing Co. in the United States, South African Breweries gained a foothold in Costa Rica and proceeded to expand its operations in Central America.

BANKS Bradesco President Marcio Cypriano and Banco Itaú CEO Roberto Setubal, chiefs at the No. 1 and No. 2 private banks in Brazil, continue to consolidate control over the country’s banking market. The two institutions spent almost $2 billion last year. Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH), BBVA and Citibank also took advantage of the down market to consolidate. BSCH and Banco Santiago merged in a $1.7 billion deal to consolidate control of Chile. BBVA increased its holdings in subsidiaries in Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay. Banacci, Citibank’s Mexican affiliate, bought full control of its pension fund subsidiary for $1.2 billion.

POWER The next big wave of mergers and acquisitions appears poised to happen in the power sector. Debts in dollars but earnings in local currencies meant that devaluations and slow growth nailed international Big Power. “The bottom line is that the only way they’re going to grow is with demand, and that depends on the [domestic] economy,” says Jason Todd, director of Latin American power ratings for Fitch Ratings in Chicago. What’s ahead for the Latin power kings? Here’s the play-by-play:

AES Corp. After bingeing on Latin American assets during the headier days of a rising stock market, global power giant AES reported a US$2.7 billion dollar hit in the fourth quarter of 2002. Among leading reasons for the pain: Brazil and Venezuela, where write-downs and currency losses added up fast. Projects in Argentina and Colombia defaulted as well. It’s quite a comeuppance for a company that acquired so much, so fast in the region. What’s ahead: Facing reality, AES renamed its Turnaround Office the Restructuring Office, which it says is now actively managing its assets in Chile, Argentina and Brazil. AES tells investors it is busy now trying to figure out which companies can be rescued and which must be “sold or abandoned.”

Duke Energy International North Carolina’s Duke Energy perhaps can breathe a sigh of relief: It’s foreign holding unit, Duke Energy International, reported only slight losses in 2002, down US$221 million, almost entirely from European dealings. Meanwhile, it has built up a portfolio from Guatemala to Buenos Aires, more than half at Companhia de Geração de Energia Elétrica Paranapanema in southwestern São Paulo state, Brazil. What’s ahead: While Duke overall took a slight hit on a slowing economy, the company reports $2.9 billion in available credit. Duke’s managers, however, say they’ll batten down the hatches and make sure each unit is producing according to demand.

Endesa By the end of 2002, facing skeptical investors and slipping domestic economies, Spanish utility Endesa began hedging its bets in Latin America. Chilean holding company Enersis, Endesa’s base of operations in the region, took $290 million in accounting charges on lost investments in Brazil and Argentina as short- and medium-term debts of $2.2 billion cast a cloud over the company. What’s ahead: Don’t look for $4.5 billion-revenues Endesa to bail, just regroup and look for new opportunities. Even as it cleans up the books in Chile, Enersis put $100 million into Brazil’s Companhia de Eletricidade do Rio de Janeiro, increasing its stake to almost 73%. And the Spanish power giant is looking closely at power-hungry Mexico.

PSEG Global New Jersey energy company PSEG Global holds interests in 1,900 megawatts and distribution assets in Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. There was no hiding from Argentina’s decline, though: In 2002, the company reported $541 million in charges, $370 million from lost investments in the collapsing Southern Cone economy. What’s ahead: PSEG settled out-of-court to sell its stakes in several Argentine distributors and generators to AES Corp. for $30 million, a fraction of its original asking price of $376 million (AES had invoked a “political risk” clause to avoid paying full price). In Peru, meanwhile, PSEG’s ambitions have been frustrated by privatization delays.

Top Financial Advisers Rank ‘02 Rank ‘01 Adviser Value Deals US$ millions    1 1 Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney 9,244.10 16 2 2 JP Morgan 8,151.40 29 3 6 Credit Suisse First Boston 8,056.30 24 4 3 Goldman Sachs & Co 6,923.90 10 5 4 Merrill Lynch & Co 6,690.90 12 6 5 Morgan Stanley 3,875.20 9 7 9 UBS Warburg 1,968.10 6 8 17 Credit Lyonnais 1,681.70 3 9 7 Santander Central Hispano 1,583.90 14 10 19 Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein 1,573.00 3       Source: Thomson Financial    

Author: Mike Zellner & Greg Brown • Miami

www.swissinfo.org Saturday 15.03.2003, CET 15:01 swissinfo   March 14, 2003 5:49 PM

The collapse of the Mayan civilization has been blamed on severe spells of drought, according to research carried out in Switzerland.

Scientists have long been baffled by the demise of the Maya, who flourished in present-day Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras until about 1,200 years ago.   But analysis of sediment extracted off the northern Venezuelan coast suggests they may have been devastated by severe droughts lasting between three and nine years. One of the study’s authors, Gerald Haug from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, said between 750 and 950 AD the Maya experienced a “demographic disaster as profound as any other in human history”. At its height in 750 AD, the Mayan civilization is believed to have supported a population of between three and 13 million people. The Mayans began cultivating maize in Central America around 2000 BC, and eventually developed sophisticated irrigation techniques involving raised fields, canals, reservoirs and gravity-powered rainwater distribution systems.   High and dry   But their renowned mathematical and engineering brilliance appears not have been enough to save them. By the early 9th century most of the Mayan cities were abandoned. Haug told swissinfo that the droughts were what may have pushed Mayan society over the edge. He says the era during which the Mayan civilization went into decline coincided with one of the driest periods since the birth of Christ. “They were clearly running into problems,” said Haug. “One consequence of this was probably social upheaval and ideological decline… there is documentation of migration and war around this time.” The report – published in the journal Science on Friday – says the fate of the Maya remains difficult to determine.   Studying ocean floors   Using equipment at the institute in Zurich, researchers analysed the concentration of titanium in sediment cores drilled from ocean floor of what is known as the Cariaco Basin, north of Venezuela. Titanium is a key indicator of rainfall, because higher precipitation washes more of the metal from the land into ocean floor sediments. “We looked in detail at the period corresponding to the 9th and 10th centuries – taking 6,000 measurements per 30 centimetres of sediment – and found three extreme minima, as well as a low background level that lasted about 100 years,” said Haug.   Experts divided   Nonetheless the drought theory remains contentious. “Perhaps it was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Jeremy Sabloff, from the University of Pennsylvania told New Scientist magazine. But Sabloff argues that the Maya had coped well through earlier droughts. “The Maya thrived for 1,500 years before these droughts, so it’s clearly not climate alone that brought down the southern cities of the Yucatàn peninsular,” he said. Another expert, Boston University’s Norman Hammond, also questioned the findings, pointing out that the northern Yucatàn city of Chichén Itzà was not abandoned until the 13th century. swissinfo, Jacob Greber and Isobel Johnson

www.msnbc.com

LONDON, March 14 — World oil prices spiraled down on Friday as the United States hinted it was prepared to use force against Iraq regardless of the U.N. and said it reserved the right to make a unilateral release of oil from its reserves in any supply emergency. The market was also encouraged by news that OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia had snapped up 14 tankers to move a massive 29.5 million barrels of crude oil to the U.S. Gulf for May delivery.

	       U.S. LIGHT CRUDE by 1800 GMT was off $1.11 at $34.90 a barrel, an eight percent fall in two days as a series of automatic sell stops were triggered on New York Mercantile Exchange futures. London Brent fell $1.28 to $31.15 a barrel an eight-week low.

       U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said on Friday Washington reserves the right to make a unilateral release of crude from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.        Abraham told reporters that while Washington would first consult with the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), the energy adviser to 26 industrialized countries, a release need not be part of a coordinated drawdown.        “We made it clear that we would engage in consultation as we belong to the IEA for a reason,” said Abraham. “But certainly the U.S. always reserves its right to make its own ultimate decision of what it’s going to do with our reserves.”        Abraham was speaking after Japan said it was considering a unilateral release from emergency stocks in the event of war.        Abraham repeated that OPEC producers would be given first chance at filling any supply disruption during war, before it considering releasing its emergency stocks.        Thursday’s slump came after the United States and Britain pushed back until next week a deadline for a new U.N. resolution on Iraq and forecasts of warmer weather in the Northeast U.S. sent heating oil prices tumbling.        Analysts said market perception seemed to be shifting towards the view that a war on Iraq, which traders believe is imminent and will be short, will be contained and not seriously affect oil flows from the Middle East as a whole, which supplies 40 percent of the world’s traded oil.        “Last time in the 1991 Gulf War there was a big collapse when the shooting started and perhaps this time traders are getting in ahead of the game,” said Christopher Bellew, analyst at Prudential-Bache International.

 Bush, allies plan emergency summit        Analysts say timing is now key for the war because oil demand is generally two million barrels per day (bpd) lower in the second quarter of the year as spring advances. The loss of roughly two million bpd of Iraqi crude would therefore not be as acutely felt.        The United States says that it could go to war on Iraq without clear United Nations backing but Russia, Germany and France all refused on Friday to drop their opposition to rapid military action.        U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a congressional committee there might be no vote at all on the resolution, widely seen as a war trigger — a sign that Washington fears it might not get enough support at the international body.         SAUDI SHIPMENTS        The tankers booked by Saudi Arabian, to move 29.5 million barrels, represent additional spot tanker bookings over and above normal demand and term contracts.        “It’s a huge volume, yes,” one broker said.        The bookings made by Vela International Marine, state oil company Saudi Aramco’s chartering arm, indicate that its own large fleet is already fully employed.        Oil traders said the volume shows Riyadh will keep supplies running high into May after a sharp increase in recent months to fill shortages from OPEC producer Venezuela and allay possible supply disruption fears ahead of a possible second Gulf War.        Saudi Arabia has raised output by more than a million barrels per day since the start of the year and is likely to average more than nine million barrels per day in March of its 10.5 million bpd capacity.        Brokers said 11 of the tankers booked to load between 27 April and 18 March had so far been confirmed. It takes up to five weeks to reach the United States from the Gulf.        Some four other Very Large Crude Carriers representing some 1.12 million tons of crude, booked under Tankers’ International, were on subjects and had still to be confirmed by the charterer, brokers said.         YAMANI WARNS OF $50 OIL        Despite the short-term easing in oil prices, Saudi Sheikh Zaki Yamani, famed as the face of OPEC during the oil price shocks of the 1970s, warned on Friday a war on Iraq could drive oil above $50 a barrel and wreck the world economy.        “If the absence (of Iraqi crude) is long enough and it can’t really be corrected and reduced by strategic reserves, prices can go to a very horrible ceiling and the price will be above $50,” the former Saudi oil minister told journalists on the sidelines of a seminar organized by his London-based thinktank, the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES).        “It will ruin the world’s economy.”

       U.S. oil prices surged to nearly $40 a barrel on fear that a U.S.-led war could disrupt Baghdad’s 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of exports, but have since calmed to around $34 after OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia promised to make up any shortfall.        Asked how much war premium was factored into prices, Yamani said: “You can’t really quantify.” But he added there were also fundamental reasons for current price strength, such as low U.S. oil inventories, which have fallen to a 27-year low.        Yamani said prices would fall to less than $25 a barrel if any conflict were short and did not do any permanent damage to oilfields, but he doubted OPEC could make up in the short-term for any outage of Iraqi supplies.        “With the absence of Iraqi crude from the market for some time, I don’t think OPEC will really stand up to the present offer to make up for the difference, especially if the Venezuelan problems are not solved quickly,” Yamani said.        Asked later by journalists if that meant that the International Energy Agency (IEA) and its leading member the United States would have to tap into emergency stockpiles to meet demand, he said: “I hope so, I think they have to.”        Both the Paris-based IEA and Washington have indicated a preference for OPEC to meet any shortfall on its own, although both remain ready to act swiftly should extra oil be needed.        Among the worst case scenarios would be if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein set out to destroy Iraqi oil wells, something the Iraqi leader has denied he would do, though Yamani said he didn’t take Saddam’s denial very seriously.        He cited research that because pressure in Iraq oil wells was low — in contrast with Kuwaiti wells torched by Saddam during the Gulf War — setting fire to them could destroy them for good.         DEATH OF OPEC?

Playing now: • Consumer sentiment hits decade low • Saudi Arabia books extra oil tankers for U.S. • MasterCard seeks separate antitrust trial       Provided, however, any war ended quickly and damage to oilfields was limited, prices could slump and the producers’ cartel, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could lose its power.        “OPEC has a lot of problems... OPEC has to reduce production in order to stabilize prices. To what extent can Saudi Arabia continue to reduce production I don’t know. OPEC has problems even without a war,” Yamani said.        Should foreign investment pour into Iraq, production could soar, heralding an era of far cheaper oil.        “Foreign oil companies injecting billions of dollars have to have a return on their investment, Iraq will produce without restriction,” Yamani said.        CGES Executive Director Fadhil Chalabi went further saying a post-Saddam Iraq could emerge as “a super-giant oil producer and exporter,” leading the world oil supply map to be redrawn and transforming the international oil industry.        Since the price shocks of the 1970s, there has been a shift away from the Gulf, where oil is cheapest to find and produce and to new areas where the development cost is higher, but supplies are seen as more secure.        Opening up Iraq could reverse this, Chalabi said.        In six-to-eight years, Iraq could reach production capacity of at least eight million barrels per day (bpd) from its present known recoverable reserves, estimated at 112 billion barrels.        The CGES believes reserves could reach as much as 200 billion barrels.        But Chalabi said Iraq’s oil, severely under exploited in the past, would only see rapid development with radical reform, including partial privatization of the nation’s oil industry.

www.sun-sentinel.com Posted March 14 2003

You can exercise the adventurous side of your palate as well as your high-school Spanish at Karibe, where plates of tequenos y pasteles and arepitas con nata arrive alongside bandeja paiza, pabellon nacional and parrilla criolla. Huh?

Don't fret if you didn't get most of that. It's tricky -- unless you're well versed in the cuisines of Venezuela, Columbia and Cuba. If not, look to the helpful staff at this friendly spot. They'll explain the menu (in Spanish with English subtitles) with as much detail as you're willing to take in. The result should add up to a better understanding of three cuisines, and, perhaps, your new found status as an aficionado.

You might recognize the word tostones on this menu, but you probably haven't had them the way they make them here -- Caracas-style. Listed as an appetizer ($5.99), the portion is enough to share with several people or can be a meal in itself since it fills up a dinner-size plate with layers of goodies. The base is large discs of crisply fried green plantains topped with shredded lettuce, peppers, onions, enough shredded beef (ropa vieja) to more than satisfy, a dusting of Parmesan cheese, and several plops of yellow ballpark mustard, of all things. Pick it up and eat it like pizza or with a knife and fork and enjoy this multidimensional discovery of textures and flavors.

If you visit when the Columbian gem ajico is the soup du jour ($2.99 per cup; $4.99 bowl), you're in for a treat. The broth is clear and flavorful, filled with boneless chicken breast, potatoes and sliced corn on the cob. A taste delight in itself -- even better with two accompanying accoutrements -- a dollop of rich crèma (the Mexican version of crème fraiche) and capers.

Even the house empanadas ($1) are a different experience from the norm. These tidy packages have a gritty corn meal crust instead of the usual flour dough and are plump with nicely seasoned ground meat and potatoes.

Or, enjoy queso frito ($2.99), delicious triangles of fried queso blanco that pulls like taffy when you eat it. Tequenos y pastels ($5.99), golden brown fried dough twisted attractively around more queso blanco makes great finger food, but my favorite first course is cachapas -- a Venezuelan style open-face arepa ($4.50). The foundation is a sweet corn studded crisp fried pancake (like the best corn fritter you ever ate) topped with cheese and ham, pork, chicken or beef.

Regular arepas are more like sandwiches ($2.50 with any of the same fillings) and come wrapped in deli paper, while arepitas ($3.50) are mini versions of the bigger model.

For a garlic-lover's main course, have filet de pollo ajillo ($7.95) a massive portion of sauteed chicken breast fillets in telltale garlic sauce with peppers and onions.

There's also good churrasco ($9.95) and lechon asado ($7.95), or try a Columbian country platter -- a steal at $8.50 for a feast of thin cut pork chops, chicharrones, a palomilla steak, a meaty chorizo chub and arepitas -- all topped with a fried egg. There's a similar platter from Venezuela called parrilla criolla ($11.95), another meat-eaters smorgasbord with some of the same ingredients as well as grilled chicken breast.

We loved the full flavors of the tomato based sauce in cazuela de mariscos ($10.95), a stewlike combination of mussels, squid, fish chunks, scallops, tiny shrimp and imitation crab. But most of the seafood was overcooked by American standards.

Most desserts don't match the rest of the meal and that's too bad. The flan de caramelo we did try ($2.50) was uneventful, as was tres leches ($2.50). Skip dessert and concentrate on the rest of the tasty geographical menu at this melting pot dedicated to Latin American fare.

Please phone in advance to confirm information on hours, prices, menu items and facilities. For review consideration, please fax a current menu that includes name and address of restaurant to 954-356-4386 or send to Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301-2293.

If you would like to contact dining correspondent Judith Stocks, e-mail her at judithstocksreviews@yahoo .com or write to her in care of the Sun-Sentinel.