www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 21, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The USA has closed its Embassy in Caracas, alleging security reasons in the wake of the War on Iraq. The State Department has listed its Embassies in Venezuela and Argentina as potential targets for terrorists.

Both countries have large Arab communities … several years ago, a Jewish synagogue in Buenos Aires was bombed.

The USA has said that Arab business sectors in the Venezuelan cities in Isla de Margarita and North Zulia are involved in money laundering and fund-raising for extreme Islamic groups, such as Hamas.

US Ambassador Charles Shapiro has been quick to point out that the measure to close the Embassy until further notice is not an answer to any specific threat on the Embassy but because of possible violent demonstrations against the war.

PROVEA human rights groups has been the first civil sector group to voice criticism of the war. Two weeks ago, there was a demonstration against the war but only a few pro-government groups attended.

Opposition groups that are against the war decided not to cross Venezuela’s deep political divide to unite against the war.

There is a sense that most opposition groups are accepting the US invasion of Iraq in the hope that President Chavez Frias, who they compare to Sadaam Hussein, will be the next US target.

The US decision to close its Embassy in Caracas is seen as sign of the Bush administration’s intention to classify Venezuela as a non-friendly State.

The State Department has also closed its Embassies in Kazajstan, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Macedonia, South Africa and Norway.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 21, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuela’s leading human rights group PROVEA has delivered a seething condemnation of the war on Iraq in a letter handed in to the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and Spanish Ambassadors.

Calling the war “illegal and illegitimate,” PROVEA forecasts it will bring unforeseen consequences to the whole world, especially in the realm of public security.

“We wish you express to our solidarity with the pain this illegitimate and illegal action will cause the Iraqi people, whose human rights have been trampled upon enough already … we expressed the same solidarity with the pain caused on 9/11.”

PROVEA adds that the military action has undermined the United Nations (UN) as an institution and placed the USA outside the international rule of law.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 21, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) Electoral Chamber has supported the Venezuelan child protection system Foro Propio’s (civil sector forum) interpretation of electoral proceedings for children’s rights councils.

According to the Child Protection Law (Lopna), the forum is a legal organization of child advocacy and non-government groups (NGOs) that has the power to propose and elect civil sector representatives on municipal, State and national children rights and protection councils respectively.

The National Children’s Rights Council (CNDN) consisting of 50/50 government appointees and civil sector elected officials issued guidelines in December to elect civil sector members.

• Regional forums contested the unilateral decision, arguing that Article 141 gives them the right to choose their representatives.

The TSJ rule confirms that the forum is a citizen assembly of organizations, associations, non-State foundations and persons that have a social vocation in the best interests of children and teenagers and it is up to them to establish electoral mechanisms.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 21, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Rebel Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) employees and contractor workers at the Palito Refinery in Moron (Carabobo) say they will not return to work or accept an amnesty unless they are fully reinstated and the company can guarntee safe working conditions.

Federation (Fedepetrol) secretary of organization, Rosmer Landinez says PDVSA has set up a conciliation committee but it has not offered any proposal yet.  Government spokespersons have approached to sense the environment and mood but a general assembly has just ratified that we are staying outside.

Landinez claims that 90% of the El Palito work force support the stoppage and are concerned about safety measures inside the plant. “Workers who tried to return to work have been asked to resign from PDVSA and sign an individual contract ... PDVSA wants to rescind the collective bargaining contract and fill the refinery with workers ready to sing the national anthem and 'butter up' to Chavez Frias."

Meanwhile, El Palito refinery plant coordinator, Robert Capriles has announced that the catalytic coke unit has been fired up and the BTX plant is operating.

news.ft.com By Leslie Crawford in Madrid Published: March 21 2003 18:37 | Last Updated: March 21 2003 18:37

Investors wiped a fifth of the market value from Inditex after the owner of the Zara fashion chain reported its weakest quarterly profit growth since its stock market listing in May 2001.

Analysts also expressed concern about the outlook for margins at Inditex, Europe's second-largest clothing retailer after Sweden's Hennes & Mauritz, which had hitherto been a darling of the Madrid stock exchange.

However, the company sought to shrug off a decline in fourth-quarter margins, and maintained its goal of achieving sales and profit growth of 20 per cent a year until 2006 and planned store opening schedule.

"That was what we told investors when we listed the company in 2001 and we have not modified our forecasts," an Inditex spokesman said on Friday. "We are still exceeding our forecasts, although the market may have been expecting more from us."

Traders said the company had become a victim of the high expectations generated by the runaway success of Zara fashion stores. Its just-in-time manufacturing and delivery model, which minimises inventory costs and cuts back on unsold merchandise, has been viewed as a revolution in the industry.

Net sales rose 22 per cent to €3.97bn ($4.18bn) in 2002 and net profit rose 29 per cent to €438m, but the results released after Thursday's market close failed to meet the expectations of investors accustomed to annualised growth rates of 30 per cent.

"There has been a lot of profit-taking, and perhaps some panic selling because of the war," said an analyst at Ahorro Corporación, a Spanish brokerage. "A lot of investment funds are selling today in the hope of picking up shares at a cheaper price next week."

Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, the US investment banks, lowered their recommendations on the stock. The company's fourth-quarter earnings were affected by a general strike in Venezuela and lower-than-expected sales in Europe before Christmas.

More than 80 per cent of Inditex's sales are in Europe, where consumer confidence is at a six-year-low because of the war against Iraq and the region's economic slowdown.

Nevertheless, Inditex said it planned to open between 265 and 310 new stores this year. It opened 274 stores in 2002. At the start of the year, the Spanish fashion group operated 1,558 stores in 44 countries.

Inditex shares closed down 19.7 per cent at €22.90.