Alertas de Robert Alonso Robert Alonso

Si buscamos a la Cuba de hoy en el ranking mundial de la salud (www.photius.com), comprobaremos que está ubicada en el puesto número 39 de entre 190 países incluidos. Pero ojo: por encima de Cuba están países hermanos como Colombia, en el puesto 22; Chile, en el puesto 33; Dominica, en el puesto 35 y Costa Rica, en el puesto número 36. Ninguno de esos países tuvo que instalar un régimen totalitario y comunista para tener un sistema de salud mejor que el que Cuba reporta y jamás he oído a alguien "publicitar" los logros en materia de salud de esos cuatro países que están por encima de la Cuba de Castro. De hecho, me asombré al enterarme que el sistema de salud de COLOMBIA está por encima de los siguientes países altamente industrializados o ricos: Suecia, Alemania, Arabia Saudita, Emiratos Árabes, Israel, Canadá, Finlandia, Australia, Dinamarca y Estados Unidos, que está en el puesto 37.

Pero ahí no termina la cosa. Entre Cuba y Venezuela solamente --- en el ranking mundial de la salud --- hay tres países americanos: Barbados, República Dominicana y Jamaica. Venezuela (en el puesto número 54), está --- en materia de salud --- por encima de Paraguay, México, Uruguay, Trinidad y Tobago, Santa Lucía, Belice, Nicaragua, San Vicente y Granadinas, Argentina (que está en el puesto 75), Guatemala, Grenada, Antigua y Barbuda, Bahamas, Panamá, Saint Kitts y Nevis, Suriname, Ecuador, El Salvador, Brasil (que está en el puesto 125), Bolivia, Guyana, Perú, Honduras y Haití... en ese orden. Por cierto que no hace falta sufrir una dictadura comunista para tener un buen sistema de salud. Rusia, que viene de la meca del comunismo, está en el puesto número 130, superando en el continente americano únicamente a Honduras y Haití. China, que yo pensaba tendría un sistema de salud más avanzado, está en el puesto número 144, por debajo de Haití, que está en el 138. Vietnam está por allá, en el hueco 160... Corea del Norte, ni le cuento: en el 167 (Corea del Sur está en el puesto número 58, tres peldaños por debajo de Venezuela); Camboya (que regresa de haber navegado por un paraíso de felicidad con Pol Pot al timón) en el puesto número 174 y Angola --- que estuvo protegida y asesorada por Cuba --- en el 181 a solo nueve peldaños del último.

No dejemos que el Sr. Chávez nos venga con más mariqueras. Si quiere tanto a Cuba, que se vaya de una buena vez y nos deje quietos aquí a nosotros.

Extracto del libro

"Regresando al Mar de la Felicidad" de Robert Alonso

El Hatillo 23 de marzo de 2003

Robert Alonso robertalonso2003@cantv.net

U.S.: Oil Output 'Consistent and Steady'

Fri March 21, 2003 11:44 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Friday that world oil production is "consistent and steady" as U.S. and U.K. forces invaded Iraq, based on analysis from the Energy Information Administration.

Abraham cited data from the Energy Department's statistical agency that showed OPEC oil production totaled 26.5 million barrels per day as of Thursday, slightly lower than the November 2002 figure of 26.9 million barrels per day.

"This despite losing all production from Iraq and also incurring other production losses from Venezuela and Nigeria," Abraham said in a statement.

OPEC production began to decline after November, when a workers strike in cartel-member Venezuela disrupted that country's oil output and exports.

The Bush administration has said it believes world oil supplies are adequate to meet demand, especially with promises from OPEC-member Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers to increase output to make up the lost crude oil exports from Iraq.

Iraq was exporting about 1.7 million barrels of oil a day before the U.S. and British attack began.

"Working with International Energy Agency partners, we continue to monitor global oil market conditions. We appreciate the continued commitment by oil producing countries to ensure stability in the world oil markets," Abraham said.

EIA estimated that there was between 900,000 and 1.4 million barrels per day in total unused world oil production capacity, with most of that in Saudi Arabia.

About 30 oil wells in southern Iraq have been set on fire, according to British military officials.

Iraq was the seventh largest foreign oil supplier to the United States last year, shipping an average 440,000 barrels per day.

Pascal Fletcher at The Manila Times: Fired Venezuela oil strikers are jobless but still defiant

Sunday, March 23, 2003 By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela—Four months ago, Migdalia  Salazar and Cecilia Hernandez had cushy office jobs at Venezuela’s state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (pdvsa), one of the giants of the oil world.

Today, jobless and struggling to keep their family budgets afloat, they are selling homemade cakes and pastries at a makeshift stall outside their old office in east Caracas.

Fired with 16,000 other pdvsa employees for joining a recent two-month opposition strike against leftist President Hugo Chavez, the two are fighting to come to terms with their new status among the ranks of Venezuela’s unemployed.

“I can’t say that we’re feeling happy. This is tough for all of us,” said Hernandez, 45, as she waved away flies from a cloth-covered table offering potato omelets and cakes.

As a bilingual secretary of 23 years service in pdvsa’s operations department, she and other fired colleagues enjoyed some of the best-paid and most coveted state jobs in the poverty-plagued nation, the world’s No. 5 oil exporter.

But their lives as members of the country’s envied professional elite were turned upside down in early December after they joined an opposition walkout seeking to force populist Chavez to resign and hold early elections. His foes accuse him of trying to install Cuban-style communism.

The tenacious former paratrooper, who survived a coup last year, refused to budge and ordered the strikers fired in their thousands, vilifying them as “traitors” and “terrorists” trying to topple him. The fired workers represent more than 40 percent of the original pdvsa work force.

Chavez, who makes a point of emphasizing his own humble background, displays little sympathy for the fired strikers. While they held their jobs, their average living standard was far above the destitution experienced by the impoverished majority of Venezuela’s population.

Invoking the social and economic fault lines that bisect Venezuela’s society, Chavez portrays the pdvsa rebels as a snobbish, insensitive “mafia” whom he accuses of plundering the country’s oil wealth while turning their backs on the poor.

Come down in the world

Most found out about their dismissals through daily newspapers, where the government published long lists of the executives and employees being removed from their posts.

“I was fired twice, in two lists,” said Maria Gabriela Gil,  who used to work for pdvsa’s technology and information department but now staffs the strikers’ cake stall.

The fired oil employees are now rallying together to survive, setting up a solidarity fund to help out the most needy of their out-of-work colleagues and organizing raffles, bingo games, dances, markets and cake sales to raise money.

Salazar, a 56-year-old mother of three who worked for pdvsa for 34 years and speaks English and French, is unrepentant.

“This is all about resistance. We’re not moving an inch,” said the veteran oil company staffer, who before the strike served in pdvsa’s external relations department attending foreign oil delegations and helping to organize conferences.

But some of the fired workers, who range from highly paid executives and engineers to secretaries and field workers such as welders and divers, are already feeling the pinch from not having received a paycheck for several months.

“I think the majority of us are already living off our savings,” said Mirna Santella, who had worked as a supervisor at the pdvsa petrochemicals affiliate Pequiven.

The strikers have set up a meeting place outside pdvsa offices in east Caracas, a hotbed of opposition to Chavez. They gather daily around the building to plan their next protests against the government, organize solidarity campaigns or simply to offer each other advice, sympathy and support.

“There is a sense of family that is being maintained . . . It’s as if the company is existing on the street,” said Rafael Porras, a former advisor for strategic planning in pdvsa’s exploration and production department.

Hoping to return, but when?

Porras said private companies and individuals were supporting the solidarity fund with donations. Associations of doctors and psychologists, insurance firms and even landlords’ groups were also offering services, facilities, credits and discounts to make life easier for the fired workers.

But Porras said the strikers were so far avoiding holding mass public collections in the streets because they are aware that even without jobs they are still better off for the moment than the vast majority of unemployed Venezuelans.

The strikers maintain the hope that, sooner or later, they will be going back to the company. “We’re doing this with the conviction that we are going to return,” said Gil.

But the question is when. Chavez says most of the recent pdvsa strikers actively backed the short-lived coup against him in April 2002 and vows they will not be given another chance to cause mischief in the country’s most strategic industry.

“There will be no forgiveness for anyone. Traitors are traitors. They can’t come back and they won’t come back,” the president said earlier this month as he swore in a new, firmly pro-government management of pdvsa.

This means that the former pdvsa employees are banking on Chavez being pressured or voted out of office well before he completes his current term due to end in early 2007.

The president has resisted opposition calls for early elections. But his government says it accepts the idea of a binding recall referendum which under the constitution can be held after August 19, half-way through Chavez’s current term. “He’s going, before August,” said Hernandez optimistically.

Opposition leaders struggling to negotiate a deal on elections with the government have promised the fired pdvsa workers their reinstatement will be a condition of any political agreement. Government negotiators have dismissed this demand as a nonstarter but the strikers see it as a lifeline.

Sabotage denied

But the pdvsa rebels insist they will not go back while the company remains under Chavez loyalists, such as the current president, former left-wing guerrilla Ali Rodriguez. He served as secretary general of the oil exporters’ cartel opec before he took over as pdvsa president last year following the coup.

Chavez has called for the arrest of the oil industry strikers, accusing them of seriously damaging the national economy and sabotaging the installations they abandoned.

State prosecutors issued arrest orders for seven leading pdvsa strikers, forcing them into hiding, but an appeals court later quashed the orders, alleging legal flaws.

The strikers deny any sabotage and say the faults, fires and oil spills that have occurred at refineries and fields in the last few months were caused by inexperienced personnel and troops brought in by the government to replace them.

Nevertheless, the government says it is gradually restoring the country’s oil operations to normal. The strikers dispute this, saying the company will never recover its former output and export levels unless the fired workers are reinstated. -- Reuters

Wait and see Sunday, March 23, 2003 By Alistair Scrutton

CARACAS, Venezuela—They disrupted Christmas. They froze Venezuela’s oil lifeblood. They marched in their millions. To little avail.

Vast numbers of Venezuelans who failed to force out leftist President Hugo Chavez with a huge strike are now in limbo. They are wondering what do to next and fearful of what may come as the nation, split along economic class and political fault lines, falls deeper in recession.

“Depressed isn’t the word for it. I’m totally crushed,” said Maria Jose Alonso, a brooding, out-of-work pharmacist who chatted in a restaurant about the two-month strike that petered out early last month. “Now Chavez is on the offensive.”

Chavez, a former paratrooper who survived a bungled coup in April last year, took on and defeated the strike which slashed oil output in the world’s No. 5 petroleum producer.

He has called his foes “oligarchs” out to destroy his self-styled “revolution” to help the poor.

“We thought the strike would push Chavez out in a week, 10 days at most,” Alonso said, flashing ten fingers in the air.

In December, she took part in demonstrations for the first time ever. Like many Venezuelans across the country, she spent Christmas banging pots and pans to protest against Chavez and to call for early elections.

Alonso’s pessimism reflects a mood swing among the middle and upper classes, the backbone of the opposition whose marches often ended in street battles with Chavez’s mainly poor supporters.

Trip wires still lie ahead—from opposition calls for a referendum to fears the government could take over private TV stations—that could spark further civil unrest. But many of Chavez’s foes are soul-searching.

Opposition in disarray

“There’s disarray. The opposition aren’t weaker in the sense they can still mobilize a lot of people. But most agree mobilizations are not the way,” said Caracas-based political analyst Janet Kelly. “The debate is over what to do now.”

Resigned, scared and depressed are some of the words Chavez’s opponents use to describe their reaction to the fact that the president, whom they see as a power-hungry class warrior trying to turn Venezuela into a Cuba-style communist state, is still leading the country.

“Two months ago we were optimistic. Now it’s all just so uncertain,” said Tom Bokor, a systems auditor at the pvdsa state oil firm who was fired after he went on strike. He now supports his wife and three children with his savings.

Several million Venezuelans have participated in dozens of huge opposition marches over the last year. But polls show that the populist president could still win an election with around 30 percent support, if the opposition vote remained divided between anti-Chavez leaders.

Opponents fear a government counterattack. Chavez has fired more than 15,000 striking state oil workers, and authorities have arrested businessman Carlos Fernandez, a strike leader, on rebellion charges. Detention orders have also been issued for several other strike organizers.

Unexplained bombs at Colombia and Spanish diplomatic buildings on February 25 sparked fears of an upsurge in political violence. “Maybe the only way out is flying to Miami but now I can’t even buy dollars. I’m trapped,” Alonso added, referring to currency controls introduced in February by Chavez to curb what he called the “dolce vita” of the rich.

People must make a living

Caracas, a sprawling city nestled in lush mountains, is returning to the normalcy of chaotic Latin American capitals.

Streets empty during the strike have filled up again with snarling traffic. Once-closed restaurants are busy, surrounded by gleaming sports utility vehicles tended by security guards.

Demonstrations are smaller now. One recent Sunday, protesters on gleaming motorbikes and draped in flags rode through a wealthy business district, but they numbered only a few hundred. Only several thousand people protested Fernandez’s arrest.

“A lot of the opposition are shell-shocked. They fired their biggest artillery and missed. They underestimated Chavez and now they’re marched out,” said one European diplomat.

Private TV stations, some of Chavez’s most vocal opponents, still broadcast spots show flag-waving protesters calling for liberty and urging Venezuelans to keep up the fight against the president. But the images have little resonance on the streets.

Ice cream vendors outnumber visitors at the posh east Caracas Altamira square, a few months ago a hub of resistance to Chavez that teemed with students, office workers, military officers and housewives who gathered daily to protest.

“People have to make a living, you know, now the strike has ended,” said Leonora Acevedo, a university teacher who has been protesting in the square for four months. She sat alone.

The opposition umbrella group, Coordinadora Democratica, is an alliance of interest groups ranging from unions and civic groups to a business federation. Their divided aims range from throwing out Chavez with military help to having a referendum. “We need to refresh the movement,” said Miranda State governor Enrique Mendoza, an opposition leader.

Wait and see

Meanwhile Caracas is in wait-and-see mode. Its inhabitants still talk about latent class hatred between the poor western and posh eastern halves of a city that may explode in unrest.

Rich districts store arms and chains to mount barricades.

Chavez-loyal soldiers have confiscated the heavy weapons of the opposition-run Caracas metropolitan police. Soldiers stand guard outside police stations.

Downtown Caracas is a Chavez stronghold of street peddlers, run-down buildings, graffiti and garbage. The presidential palace is a heavily guarded mansion surrounded by troops and road blocks. But nearby his supporters seem confident.

“The people are with Chavez. They know he’s fighting the rich who are responsible for all this mess,” said Antonio Lopez, selling children’s toys on a street corner.

A few miles away to the east the atmosphere is different.

“Don’t Despair” reads one banner on the windows of an expensive dried flower shop in an upmarket Caracas mall. “We feel hemmed in now,” said Flor, a retired woman who said she was too worried about recriminations to give her full name. She strolled by the flower shop, her neck laden with jewelry. “But don’t count us out. We’ll be back.” -- Reuters

Story last updated at 5:02 a.m. Saturday, March 22, 2003 morningsun.net By Joe Noga Morning Sun Staff Writer

Gasoline is important to America. According to the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, personal vehicles gulp up 115 billion gallons of gas and diesel fuel each year. And, Americans drive more than 2.6 trillion miles each year, enough for 14,000 round trips to the sun.

But, gas prices have always been a sore spot for consumers. Over a period of a month, the cost of a gallon of gas can fluctuate by as much as 15 cents or more. Some believed the war in Iraq would have a negative effect on gas prices for consumers, but, surprisingly, prices have actually gone down locally since the war began.

On Friday afternoon, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline was $1.59 in Pittsburg, down about three cents since Monday.

Mike Horton, owner of Horton's Pizza Plus, which has locations in Arma and at 1601 E. Fourth St. in Pittsburg, said he has no idea why gas prices are going down.

"I was just as shocked as anybody," he said. "We don't really know any more about it than anybody, we just happen to sell it. We were under the same impression that it was going to keep edging up a little more but then it went down a few cents this week."

Kristie Shepard, manager of Short Stop, 4002 N. Broadway, said she wasn't expecting prices to go down either.

"We are owned by a corporation. Our prices are set by what our corporation says," Shepard said. "I pretty much thought they were going to go up."

Shepard said customers were just as confused as she was when they saw the prices inching down.

"I think most of them expected prices to go up," she said.

Horton said he did not know whether or not the downward trend will continue, but added he sure hopes it does.

"I really don't know if they'll keep going down," he said. "Your guess is as good as mine. I would like to see the trend continue. People are happier when it is going down instead of going up. There is no way of knowing."

Horton said the price of gasoline fluctuates throughout the day but he tries not to get to involved in studying what prices will do.

"Whenever we get to a certain point in gallons we buy more fuel. I don't speculate. I don't look to try and buy it when it is less. When I get down to a certain point I buy fuel and whatever it is, it is. I wish there was some magical thing I could do but it doesn't work like that. I hope it keeps going down but I wouldn't count on it," Horton said.

Dan Shapiro, director of retail operations with Crescent Oil, sells gasoline to many local convenience stores.

Although a 30-year veteran in the business, Shapiro said he is no expert. However, he does understand why gas price fluctuate so much from week to week.

"We buy fuel on want is called a terminal rack price. Terminals buy gas at spot market prices. It's almost like the stock market in a way because the future prices are very important to the spot and rack prices," Shapiro said. "So, for instance, if there is a fear of something happening, the futures prices will go up, followed by the spot market, followed by the rack. The rack price, which is the price you pay at the pump ultimately, could go up on the fear of something happening, not on it actually happening."

Shapiro said that things like an oil strike in Venezuela and a refinery blowing up on the east coast will effect gas prices because supply is diminished.

However, he said events like this also effect the futures market because the futures market gets worried something might happen.

Shapiro said there are additional problems, but they don't always include how much oil is coming out of the ground.

"It isn't so much that there is a lack of oil coming out of the ground but that we don't have enough refining capacity," he said. "The refineries are operating at 95 percent, I'm told. That would be like running your engine at 95 percent for a very long time. So, any time there is a hiccup such as a fire at a refinery, it generates these ripples that go throughout the entire system."

But does this explain why gas can go from $1.55 to $1.65 overnight? Sort of, Shapiro said.

He explained that what typically happens is that the price gas stations pay for gas creeps up over time. Once the price reaches a certain point, one station will lead the way and raise the price, then others follow suit.

"You and all your competition are looking at each other, waiting for who will be the first guy to go up and who will follow," he said. "Everybody is trying to get gallons from each other."

Shapiro said that the opposite is also true.

"Let's say they are sitting at $1.55 and the rack price goes down to $1.47. Then the rack price goes down to $1.43 and all of a sudden they are making 12 cents per gallon, which makes up for the three cents per gallon they made last week. But then, because there is such high competition, someone will lead down," he said.

Shapiro said that the worst thing to happen in the gasoline industry are the big price signs which are displayed out front of gas stations.

"Think about it, do supermarkets put up giant milk price signs?" he said. "If you did then the price of milk would be as sensitive as fuel and people would drive another mile for a few pennies. If you can get the perception of being priced, then you have a leg up on the competition."