Posted on Mon, Mar. 31, 2003
INTERNATIONAL BY MARIKA LYNCH mlynch@herald.com

CARACAS - Jose Luis Rosal fell off a pick-up truck and needed 15 stitches in the crown of his head. But the hospital in his hometown, about an hour outside the capital, couldn't do an X-ray to see if he had a skull fracture because it didn't have the materials.

Three days later, 20-year-old Rosal waited seven hours outside a Caracas hospital for an X-ray.

Like many Venezuelan companies and institutions, the country's chronically strapped hospitals and their patients have been further pinched since the government stopped selling U.S. dollars needed to import supplies, medicine and other goods.

The government imposed the currency controls two months ago, after a national strike aimed at ousting President Hugo Chávez failed and all but shut down the oil industry -- the country's primary source of foreign exchange. With the bolívar, the nation's currency, plummeting and fears of capital flight increasing, the government imposed controls to keep dollars in the country.

But since Venezuela relies heavily on imports bought with U.S. currency, the dollar drought is creating ripples throughout the economy.

Pharmacists say they have a three-week stock of medicines and then ''the Venezuelan health system could collapse,'' said Edgar Salas Jimenez, president of the Venezuelan Pharmaceutical Association.

Manufacturers and distributors are running through inventories, and they warn that goods from toilet paper to electronics could become scarce. Meanwhile, farmers say their crops will be thinner this year without the proper imported fertilizers. Then they'll have to scrounge for packaging material to wrap what is produced.

Big business, shopkeepers, and even street vendors like Fortunata Humani, who sells bikinis and lace panties from a sidewalk stall, expect to feel the dollar crunch. Wholesalers already have warned Humani their imported inventory is sparse. Humani, 46, says she may have to start sewing her own clothes -- if she can find the material.

The Venezuelan economy, private analysts say, could shrink up to 30 percent this year, and currency controls will be a factor.

''They are destroying the entrepreneurial fervor of the Venezuelan people -- what little there is left,'' said economist Orlando Ochoa.

Venezuela's economic problems already are affecting Florida. Nearly $3 billion in Venezuela-bound exports -- from machinery to medicines -- passed through Florida's ports in 2001, according to Enterprise Florida, the state public/private economic development agency. Last year Florida's exports to Venezuela fell to $2.1 billion.

The currency controls also prohibit Venezuelans from using credit cards abroad, which could cut into their shopping in South Florida stores. Business travelers will be allowed to get dollars, but only $1,000 per trip. Trips are limited to three per year.

This week, the government said it started selling some of a $645 million monthly allotment of U.S. dollars to be used for purchasing goods such as food and medicine that are on a priority list.

A newly-created government agency will decide who gets the greenbacks, and only a fraction will actually be given to private importers, said Jose Piñeda, head economist for the Venezuelan American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The government will use some, he said, to import food and distribute it to the poor at markets.

Venezuela has imposed currency controls twice in the past two decades, and both periods ended with high inflation, Piñeda said. This time, though, the economy has already been weakened by the two-month strike, and the impact of currency controls could be worse.

Business leaders want a parallel dollar market, where they can buy currency at a higher rate than the established 1,600 bolívares to the dollar. So far the government has shunned the idea. Some businesses are already turning to the black market, where the rate is $1 to 2,800 bolívares.

There are also fears in business circles that the government currency agency will use its power to punish people who supported the national strike and oppose President Chávez.

Such concern isn't unwarranted. Chávez has said that ''not one dollar'' will go to the ''coup-plotters,'' his name for those who tried to force him out through the strike, which ended in February.

First elected in 1998, Chávez was briefly ousted by a coup last April. A coalition of union, oil and business leaders tried again via the strike route but failed to topple him or force new elections.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's newspaper owners fear that newsprint will not get on the import list, for political reasons. Their newspapers have been highly critical of Chávez. Newsprint first appeared on the list for a day, then was quickly removed. But officials have since said it will be restored.

On average, local newspapers have enough newsprint in stock to keep printing through April and into May.

But if newsprint doesn't appear on the priority import list, ''we're going to be the first country in the world without a newspaper,'' said Miguel Henrique Otero, publisher of the daily El Nacional.

By Joseph Kay 31 March 2003

The enormous opposition to the war against Iraq was evident again this weekend, as protests were held in numerous cities in the United States and internationally.

In Boston, Massachusetts, protestors on Saturday held the largest demonstration in that city since the Vietnam War. Between 30,000 and 50,000 people gathered, including many students as well as workers, farmers, elderly people and children. The crowd marched through one of Boston’s main shopping areas. Several thousand protesters participated in a “die-in,” lying down on Boylston Street to represent those being killed in the war.

Rana Abdul Aziz, a student at Tufts University, spoke at the rally. “I am the Iraqi whose vice has been denied,” she said. “It was only in their houses that Iraqis could find peace,” she continued, referring to the dictatorial policies of the regime of Saddam Hussein, and “now those refuges too have been violated” by American bombardment.

According to a report by Matthew Williams posted on Chicago Indymedia, many of those participating sought to draw a connection between the war and the increasing attack on social services and jobs in the United States. Chants during the course of the march included the demands, “Make jobs, not war” and “Money for jobs and education, not war and occupation.” Signs included, “Why not bomb Texas? They have oil too” and “Bush is killing our country.”

Phyllis Freeman, a professor of public health at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said, “Even if the president isn’t listening, we want people in other counties to know we don’t agree with what our president is doing.” Another protestor, 67-year-old Mary Delavalette, said, “I’m ashamed to be an American. This is an illegal, immoral war. It’s for evil, for empire.”

Eric Weltman, one of the protest organizers, said the die-in was a protest directed not only at the American-led war against Iraq. “We’re working now to stop the next invasion. We’ve invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. Who’s next? Iran? North Korea? Columbia?”

Thousands of people also participated in marches and rallies in other American cities, including New York and Patterson, New Jersey. Over 1,000 gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square to demand an end to war. One speaker also drew connections to the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people, and a moment of silence was held in remembrance of Rachel Corrie, the 23-year old American student murdered by Israeli forces on March 16 in southern Gaza.

The protestors in the US were joined by hundreds of thousands in other countries. In Germany, protests were held in Berlin and other cities, with over 100,000 participants. In Stuttgart and Frankfurt, hundreds gathered outside American military bases and the US military’s European Command, calling attention to the fact that the German government is cooperating with the war by allowing its airspace to be used by the US-British coalition troops.

Elsewhere in Europe, thousands gathered in Italy and Greece. In Rome, which has been home to massive protests over the course of the past several months, demonstrators hung black banners on bridges in several locations. One demonstrator said that the banners symbolized both the deaths being inflicted on the Iraqi people and oil, “which is the real reason for the war.”

In Spain, demonstrators picketed American military bases, and in Morocco thousands of marchers chanted, “We are all Iraqis,” as they walked through the city of Rabat.

Poland’s largest demonstration against the war also took place over the weekend, with 2,000 denouncing the war for oil supported by the Polish government. A similar number gathered in Budapest, Hungary, while an estimated 6,000 took part in protests in Moscow. Ten thousand marched in Paris and 8,000 in Dublin, Ireland. All these numbers are official estimates, which are generally substantially lower than the actual figures.

Protestors also gathered throughout the Middle East, including estimates of 10,000 in Egypt, 3,000 in Jordan and several hundred woman protestors in Yemen. In South America, thousands gathered in Venezuela and Chile.

In Asia, protestors faced down riot police outside the US embassy in Bangladesh. Police used tear gas against thousands protesting outside the Australian embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Howard government of Australia has fallen behind the Americans in supporting the war. Thousands of students marched in Seoul, South Korea and chanted, “Stop the bombing! Stop the killing!”

The Stalinist bureaucracy in China allowed a small protest at Beijijng University, undoubtedly a response to the enormous opposition in that country to the war. While any manifestation of popular discontent is generally suppressed, a few dozen students were allowed to demonstrate at the country’s premier university.

Some of the most significant protests were held on Sunday, particularly in Asia. In Jakarta, Indonesia, official estimates quoted 200,000 demonstrators, though organizers put the figure in the millions. These included both Muslims and Christians. Over 100,000 took part in demonstrations in Pakistan.

See Also: International protests continue against US war in Iraq [27 March 2003]

<a href=www.theglobalist.com>The Globalist By Pierre Pettigrew | Monday, March 31, 2003

Canada is usually presented as a smaller brother of the United States. This picture does not do justice to one of America’s biggest trading and strategic partners. Pierre Pettigrew, Canada’s Minister for International Trade, examines the U.S.-Canadian partnership and sheds new light on its importance for North America — and the globe.

Canada's trade and economic interests span the globe, so the cornerstone of our trade policy continues to be the multilateral trading system.

NAFTA success

However, North America — and in particular the United States — is by far our most important market and increasingly critical to our prosperity and security.

And I would argue the inverse as well — Canada increasingly matters to American prosperity and security.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a tremendous success. From 1993 to 2001, Canada's merchandise exports to its NAFTA partners increased almost 95%. Mexican exports increased by 221%. And U.S. exports increased by 86%.

North American interdependence

But NAFTA has been more than a scorecard for trade. NAFTA has fundamentally changed the North American economic area. It has accelerated the pace of economic integration.

The new opportunities and competitive pressures created by NAFTA have contributed significantly to the reorientation of Canada's industrial structure, and of those of our U.S. and Mexican partners.

A North American economy

NAFTA has made all three partners more competitive. By strengthening the rules and procedures governing trade and investment on this continent, it has allowed trade and investment flows to skyrocket.

Magna, a Canadian auto supply company, has factories in Mexico. Bombardier has plants in Vermont and New York. And Hewlett Packard has major investments in Toronto.

More and more, we have a North American economy. Canadians realize that our bread is primarily buttered in the North American economic area — the world's toughest market place.

Disciplined acting

But we had to bulk up to compete in this marketplace. We put ourselves through a period of extreme fiscal restraint in the mid-1990s, with a goal of vigorously eliminating the deficit and reducing our national debt.

The crucial steps we took during those years are the reason that the Government of Canada has been able to balance budgets over the past six years and slash our debt-to-GDP ratio from 71% to 49%. This year, we are the only G7 country to have a balanced budget.

Reaping the benefits

We have brought in fair and competitive taxes. We are delivering on a $100-billion tax reduction package. Canada now has one of the most competitive business tax regimes in the world. In fact, by 2005, the corporate taxation rate in Canada will be five percentage points lower than the U.S. average.

Canada now leads the OECD in job creation. The IMF predicts our growth rate will be the highest of all Western countries.

And in May and August 2002, we received investment upgrades from Moody's and Standard & Poor's to “Triple A” status. These are all indicators of a dynamic, growing economy.

Consolidating success

So it is clear that Canada has cast its lot in with North American prosperity — and this strategy is paying off. We are a pivotal player in many sectors of the new economy — biotechnology, multimedia and fuel cell technologies, to name only a few.

Canada attracted $42.8 billion of new foreign direct investment in 2001, a new record high. That number is even more impressive in view of the marked decline in mergers and acquisitions worldwide from the year before.

Security and Prosperity

So, Canada has done well in North America, but so has the United States. We share the largest trading relationship in the world.

We buy as many goods from the United States as do all the EU countries combined, almost 19% of U.S. exports.

Thirty-seven U.S. states have Canada as their largest market. We are leading investors in each other's economies. Better yet, Canadians invest as much in the United States as Americans invest in Canada.

Security Partnership

In addition, Canada is a critical security partner of the United States. We share the defense of North American airspace through NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command).

Canada had the fourth-largest military contingent in the coalition against terrorism in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Canadian military forces fought in Afghanistan and our naval task force is still patrolling the Arabian Sea. All told, we committed more than 3,500 men and women.

Stepping up security

At home, Canada took immediate action to secure the safety of our continent. We provided $5 billion in new security spending. That is more, on a per capita basis, than in the United States. We tightened our legislation on refugee determination, immigration and terrorism financing.

We moved aggressively to guarantee the security of the border by a Smart Border Accord with the United States.

It includes measures to fast-track pre-screened goods and travelers, the assignment of customs personnel to each other's key ports and the sharing of information on high-risk travelers.

The Energy Connection

In the energy area, few realize that Canada is the largest supplier of petroleum products to the United States, providing more than Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

Canada supplies 17% of the imported crude and refined oil products imported by the United States. We also provide 100% of its electricity imports, 94% of its natural gas imports and 35% of its uranium.

U.S. market share and Canadian jobs

In addition, the oil sands of Alberta contain 2.5 trillion barrels of oil, of which 315 billion barrels are recoverable with current technology. This surpasses the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.

Some less confident people in Canada see our success in the U.S. market as a terrible predicament. I like it. In fact, I love it. I want more predicaments like this. In fact, I would be happy to double our market share in the United States. It would mean more jobs and prosperity for Canadians.

What more can we do to make that happen? One key area is regulation. We need to look at how our regulatory approaches fit the North American economic area.

Avoiding double work

Regulatory cooperation will facilitate intra-industry trade, reduce transaction costs for shippers and disincentives for cross-border investors — and restrict the scope for disputes over time.

Great strides have been made in NAFTA but there is scope for broadening and deepening regulatory cooperation between our two countries. We must further cut red tape and the regulatory hurdles to doing business with each other.

Beyond North America

Why not acknowledge the similarity of our systems — and agree that, once products are tested in either country, they are acceptable in the other? Can we not move toward the principles of mutual recognition and the elimination of duplication?

While our focus is understandably on North America, Canada is not ignoring the rest of the world. Our hemispheric agenda reaches beyond the United States.

We are working multilaterally at the WTO to achieve greater trade liberalization — and better rules governing global trade. For Canada, a key objective in the Doha Round will be discipline in the area of agricultural subsidies.

Implementing Doha

In fact, without real progress in this area, the new trade round cannot succeed. Failure would deny enhanced market access to both U.S. and Canadian exporters. But, even more importantly, it would risk leaving the developing world even further behind.

There are many aspects to the Doha Development Agenda — as it is called — that are designed to help developing countries grow. It is imperative that we succeed.

FTAA potential

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations are another example of Canada's broader agenda. These negotiations hold the potential to create the world's largest free trade area in the world.

The area covered by the FTAA will encompass more than one third of the world's economic activity, with a GDP greater than that of the European Union.

In this time of international global security problems, it is worthwhile to focus on one of the most positive examples of managed change. That is the story of North America. It is a story of how Canada and the United States are continuing their efforts to build a partnership for economic prosperity and security.

By Al Kamen Monday, March 31, 2003; Page A11

Moving On

Career diplomat John F. Maisto, former ambassador to Venezuela and to Nicaragua and now senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council, has been tapped to be ambassador to the Organization of American States. Word is another career foreign service officer, Thomas A. Shannon, currently deputy assistant secretary of state for Latin America, is the leading candidate to replace him.

Reuters, 03.30.03, 11:28 PM ET By Tanya Pang

SINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - Oil prices ticked higher on Monday as missiles pounded Baghdad for the 12th day and renewed violence at the weekend continued to keep about 40 percent of Nigeria's crude production off the market.

U.S. light crude climbed 30 cents to $30.46 a barrel, while London's Brent crude rose one cent to $26.36 a barrel.

Dealers said prices were expected to head higher in the near term as uncertainty remained on how long the U.S. campaign to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would last and when Iraq would be able to resume exporting crude oil.

Also clouding the picture was a new bout of political violence at the weekend in the oil city of Port Harcourt in Nigeria's Niger Delta, where clashes between tribal factions has shut in more than 800,000 barrels of the country's daily output of a little over two million barrels per day.

"We are expecting a range of $33 to $36 for U.S. crude for this week and next week. War is looking like it will take one to two months, maybe even longer, and there's the Nigerian problem," said Tetsu Emori at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.

"I don't see any bearish factors right now, we cannot be bearish in this market," he said.

Sydney-based oil analyst Simon Games-Thomas said U.S. crude was likely to test $34 a barrel.

"The market is trying to stabilise as the war unfolds. On balance, I remain tentatively bullish at this stage... I think that we should again test $34," Games-Thomas said in a note.

Oil has been rising since December when an anti-government strike disrupted supplies from the world's fifth-biggest exporter, Venezuela, and Washington stepped up a campaign to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, threatening to use force if necessary.

U.S. crude, which hit a 12-year peak at $39.99 in late February, has averaged $33.79 in the first three months this year, more than $12 or 56 percent higher than in the first quarter of 2002 and 29 percent above the 2002 average of $26.15.

A fresh wave of missiles hit Baghdad on Monday as U.S. and British forces intensified the air war on the Iraqi capital and mounted a sustained series of bombings on the city's outskirts where Republic Guard units are believed to be dug in.

Early expectations of a quick and easy war in Iraq, which denies that it possesses illegal weapons, have faded as U.S. and British forces have met firm Iraqi resistance leading to a rise in the casualty tally.

Washington last week ordered another 100,000 troops to move to the Gulf region.

NIGERIA UNION SHORTENS STRIKE

The OPEC producers' cartel has ramped up production to counter shortfalls in supplies from Venezuela earlier this year and more recently Iraq.

Baghdad's exports of about 1.7 million bpd ground to a halt in the run up to the U.S.-led war on March 20. It continues to send small volumes of oil via pipeline from its northern fields to the Turkey's Mediterranean port Ceyhan, but no tankers are loading the crude.

Nigeria's main trade union, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), said on Saturday it had modified a previous call for an indefinite strike beginning on Tuesday and would limit the walkout to three days.

Output in Africa's biggest producer has already been cut by almost 40 percent as foreign companies shut operations in the Niger Delta because of bloody clashes between rival tribes.

An indefinite strike by the NLC over pay would have likely reduced production further as many public sector workers from the blue-collar oil union NUPENG would be included in the action.

John Odah, NLC secretary-general, said the strike would run for three days, Tuesday until Thursday, and also be limited to public sector workers.

He said the strike might resume after presidential and local elections scheduled to be held from April 12 to May 13 if the government did not implement a promised 12.5 percent pay increase for civil servants.