new.stockwatch.com 2003-03-13 17:11 ET - News Release Ms. R. Page Chilcott reports

Cadre Resources Ltd Snapshot Symbol CSL.T Shares Issued 8,971,715 Close 2003-03-07 C$ 0.09

Cadre Resources has negotiated a private placement for a total of 650,000 common shares at 10 U.S. cents per share based on the following terms: 400,000 common shares at 10 U.S. cents payable immediately; and 250,000 common shares at 10 U.S. cents payable by the sooner of August, 2003, or at such time as the weighted trading market price of the common shares of the company exceeds (equivalent) 30 U.S. cents for five consecutive trading days.

No finder's fees are payable on the transaction.

As previously reported, the company has arranged a joint venture with Bateman Project Holdings Ltd. and Seabulk Systems Inc. with the objective of developing jointly, the multiproduct alluvial mineral-quartz/granite aggregate extraction project known as the Caroni River project in the state of Bolivar, Venezuela.

The proceeds of the private placement will be used for the furtherance of the goals of the joint venture.

On behalf of the joint venture, a Propuesta proposal has been submitted to Venezuela authorities requesting the right to conduct a bankable feasibility study on the project with the right of tenure to jointly develop, design, construct and startup the project subject to favourable outcome of the study.

A recent meeting requested by Venezuelan authorities was postponed due to recent (force majuere) events in Venezuela causing a delay in the granting of the feasibility permitting.

That meeting is to be rescheduled at a mutually acceptable time. The project represents much sought after foreign investment in a multiproduct, multimarket, non-petroleum export.

The proposed project adheres to the four principles of sustainable development: environmentally friendly, ecologic sustainability, economic vitality and social equity over a project life of 50-plus years.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, March 13, 2003 By: Kay Onefeather

Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 21:43:30 EST From: Kay Onefeather Kaonefeather@aol.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Simple Truth

Dear Editor: There is a saying here: "Too many Chiefs, and not enough Indians."

It means everybody wants be a leader, and nobody wants to be a follower.  In Venezuela, there seems to be some "wannabe" leaders who refuse to follow ... like spoiled children, they try to disrupt everything and everyone, simply because they cannot have their own way.

• It's sad to see adults behaving so badly, adults who, if they were "adult" would use their resources to help the leader and help their countrymen.

Instead, they spend their time and resources plotting and conniving and conjuring up ways to disrupt and violate and infringe. Infringe upon the Rights of each and every Venezuelan to vote for and elect the leader of their choice ... which the people have done, time and time again.

But, the spoiled wannabees refuse to accept it.

Venezuelan people have the right to the leader of their choice.

What is it about that that the wannabees cannot understand?

Have the "oh, so many" years of "free-handing" in Venezuela left them incapable of understanding Simple Truth?

Kay Onefeather kaonefeather@aol.com

www.kansascity.com Breaking News Posted on Thu, Mar. 13, 2003 By KEN GUGGENHEIM Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Directing unusually blunt language at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the top U.S. military officer in Latin America said Thursday he sees a trend toward authoritarianism in the troubled country.

Gen. James. T. Hill, head of the U.S. Southern Command, gave his assessment of the situation in Venezuela during an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Hill also said U.S. efforts to help Colombia fight leftist guerrillas have been successful, but the country's conflict will not be resolved solely by military means.

He said the Colombian military is gaining momentum in its battle against the guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries.

On Venezuela, Hill described the street protests during the two-month general strike that crippled Venezuela's economy as, "for lack of a better term, democracy in action." The strike crippled oil exports in what had been the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

He said that following the strike, Chavez's "actions may portend a move toward greater authoritarianism. In my mind, that bears watching very carefully. I have directed my people to do that."

Since the strike ended, Chavez has come under international criticism for cracking down on political opponents. Chavez has accused the United States and other nations of conducting a smear campaign to discredit his government. He continues to have strong support among Venezuela's many poor people.

Hill said he has not personally been in contact with Venezuela's military, but praised it as professional and said it has good relations with the U.S. military.

"The Venezuela military did not go out in the street and kill its citizens, nor did they conduct a coup," he said. "I think that's an important aspect of what's going on."

The Bush administration long has been wary of Chavez, who has befriended Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and other U.S. adversaries. But after appearing too eager to support a failed coup attempt last April, the United States has been cautious in its criticism. It is following the leadership of the Organization of American States in seeking a peaceful resolution of Venezuela's political crisis.

Hill created a stir in Venezuela last week when he said terrorist organizations were operating on the country's Margarita Island, as well as in border areas of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Venezuela's foreign minister, Roy Chaderton, called on him to provide evidence.

On Colombia, Hill said the guerrillas and paramilitaries will never be eradicated. But the government can reassert its authority in parts of the country where the groups have freely operated.

"There will never be a purely military solution to the problem that is Colombia," Hill said. "They recognize that and we recognize that, but I remain cautiously optimistic."

The United States has provided about $2 billion in assistance to Colombia in recent years, most of it in anti-drug aid.

sg.biz.yahoo.com Friday March 14, 4:52 AM By Jehan Senaratna Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--With the effects of a debilitating general strike just about behind him, Alberto Hassan, chief executive at Venezuela's Orinoco Iron, is working on August and September business.

Output hasn't been fully restored quite yet after gas shortages during the strike forced the facility into standby mode, but Orinoco Iron is among a growing number of companies that are slowly resuming production.

According to Hassan, Orinoco is sold out through July, and "normalizing" is definitely a near-term goal. "We plan to restart our second production line on Mar. 21, and we should have all the gas we need for that," he said.

Orinoco Iron, along with its sister company Venprecar, produces about 1.3 million tons a year of hot briquetted iron - about a third of Venezuela's total output.

The company needs about 60 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to run its equipment, and Venprecar, which should be restarted in the "first days of April," needs about another 35 million cfpd, Hassan said.

At the most conservative of estimates, Venezuela's state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela SA (E.PVZ) is now pumping about 4.1 billion cfpd of gas, according to Alfredo Gomez who represents a group of dissident oil workers who brought the company to a virtual halt during the strike which began Dec. 2.

That's only about 43% of pre-strike levels, but "it's good enough" to get most heavy industries back to normal, Gomez said.

Since gas is pumped during crude oil extraction, the levels are rising as Venezuela's oil output increases.

Gomez's group estimates crude output at around 2.1 million barrels per day now, well on its way back from a low of around 150,000 b/d at the height of the strike. Daily production stood at about 3 million barrels before the strike.

Orinoco Iron isn't alone in slowly bringing production back to pre-strike levels as gas supplies improve.

Comsigua, a competitor, is also returning to its normal output of about 1.1 million tons a year, according to industry sources, although another hot briquetted iron producer, Opco, which is run by Japan's Kobe Steel Let. (J.KOB) and produces 900,000 tons per year, hasn't yet achieved that.

Steelmaker Siderurgica del Orinoco CA, or Sidor, another major player in Venezuela's heavy industry belt in eastern Bolivar state, is getting about 190 million cfpd out of the 200 million cfpd of gas it needs, according to industry sources.

In other parts of the country, too, operations are slowly returning to normal.

Ricardo Tinoco, spokesman of Ford Motor Co.'s (F) local unit in central Venezuela, said operations have returned to normal since about a month ago because suppliers, many of whom had shut down due to the lack of gas, have resumed production.

"Our suppliers are doing OK. I haven't recently heard of any problems with gas," Tinoco said.

Orinoco Iron's Hassan is celebrating another fortunate, if unrelated, turn of events.

International hot briquetted iron prices have risen by about 40% to $145 per ton F.O.B, due to supply problems and heavy demand in China and Southeast Asia, he said.

But there's no forgetting Venezuela's problems, he said.

The strike was aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez to declare early elections but the left-leaning leader has refused and many fear he may block any form of a vote in a bid to stay in power despite overwhelming opposition.

The government is in the process of cutting this year's budget while hoping to raise money from various bond issues to plug estimated financing needs equal to about 10% of gross domestic product.

Unemployment is seen soaring to more than 25% from the current 17% as more businesses shut their doors after the government imposed currency controls to protect falling reserves given oil revenues, which account for about half of pubic income, were severely affected by the strike.

The controls include restrictions on imports - which accounted for about 60% of consumption last year, including raw materials for an array of manufacturing process - sparking fears that some industries may never resume normal output.

Annualized inflation is almost 40% and is seen likely to increase as the bolivar's value drops beyond the current VEB2500 per dollar levels in private markets despite the official VEB1598 per dollar rate.

-By Jehan Senaratna, Dow Jones Newswires;58 212-564-1339 jehan.senaratna@dowjones.com

www.wnewsj.com Fri, Mar 14, 2003, 09:19 PM by Jeff Hibbs

March 14, 2003 - Claims of gasoline price gouging are examples of politicians and consumers getting pumped up over nothing, an economist told the News Journal Tuesday. "In 1982, a gallon of gas cost on average $1.40. Since then, the consumer price index has doubled," said Lee Coppock, a professor of economics at Hillsdale [Michigan] College and adjunct scholar with the Buckeye Institute. "If you look at it, as long as gas remains below $2.80 a gallon, it’s still gone down in real terms. If somebody was to buy Gatorade by the gallon, it costs about $10 a gallon. Vicks Nyquil costs about $180 a gallon. Pepto-Bismol costs about $125 a gallon. So, just be glad that your car runs on gasoline." Allegations of gouging at the pump last surfaced in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Throughout the country — including in Wilmington — gasoline prices soared as motorists flocked to the pumps. In Wilmington, the cost of a gallon of gasoline doubled at some locations. Coppock defended retailers’ decisions. "Put yourself in their position," Coppock said. "You’re sitting here, and in one afternoon all you know is this: some guys from the Middle East have just bombed the World Trade Center, and you don’t know where your gasoline is going to come from in the future. You’ve got some in the ground, but you have no idea where that’s coming from in the future. You don’t know what it’s going to cost, because you know there’s going to be some turmoil in the Mideast and you know the price of crude oil is going to rise. "So, what are you going to do to make sure that you don’t run out of gasoline, so that you can at least sell something? I think those guys are the ones that are getting the squeeze. They’re in a very risky environment. They’re just reacting as rational businessmen." The potential for conflict in the Mideast and labor problems in Venezuela will likely result in continuing increases in gas prices, Coppock said. But he said he doesn’t expect to see huge or long-term jumps or gouging as end results. "I don’t believe so. I think that we should be very surprised if we don’t see gas prices rising," Coppock said. "The main reason is the big uncertainty with regard to Mideast conflict. If you look at an indicator to see if that should affect gasoline prices, you would look at crude oil prices, which have risen above $37 per barrel now. And they were less than $20 about a year ago. So, you would assume that gas prices should rise, just to reflect an increase in cost. Retailers cannot just give this stuff away." Contrary to conventional thinking, Coppock said the purchase of gasoline is a "voluntary process," one that works against the argument of price gouging. "I think people often times think, ‘Well, gas is a necessity. We certainly have to have it.’ And certainly, to an extent, that’s true," Coppock said. "But we can change our behavior to affect the amount of gasoline that we consume. We can carpool. We can ride some sort of public transportation a lot of times. Or, in the long run we could live closer to where we work or where we commute to on a regular basis. "And we can buy different kinds of automobiles. You look around and you see people buying SUVs, you see people buying cars that are not in any way conserving, as far as gasoline is concerned. It’s not logical to term a voluntary transaction, which people do not have to undertake, as gouging from one party to another."