Press Release Source: InvestorCanada.com

Today on InvestorCanada.com... A potential oil crisis in America? Wednesday April 2, 7:32 am ET

TORONTO, April 2 /PRNewswire/ - Oil production in Venezuela is only about 35% of its normal level, Saudi Arabia is maxed out, and demand for oil is poised to increase as the driving season kicks into high gear; all these factors could contribute to an oil crisis in America in the short term according to Bill Wood, President of Sovereign Chief Ventures.

On today's edition of www.InvestorCanada.com host Donna Guzik speaks to Wood about the state of the oil market. Wood says we can't rely on OPEC to produce enough oil to cover any shortfalls. He says, "Even though OPEC has promised that they would, we also know that presently, they are producing at max. The question is if our demand gets much higher, who's going to supply the difference?"

InvestorCanada.com offers daily, independent in-depth interviews with financial newsmakers and leading business thinkers to provide investors with the perspective they need to make informed financial decisions. Interviews can be heard on real audio format, with complete transcripts available. Sign up for the free subscription service that offers 8 daily market updates, and a daily newsletter. InvestorCanada.com is a division of Canada NewsWire.

The Miami Herald Posted on Wed, Apr. 02, 2003 BY MARIKA LYNCH Knight Ridder Newspapers

MIAMI - (KRT) - As bombs drop around journalists in Iraq, the following statistic may be of little comfort: 19 journalists died last year on the job, the lowest number since the Committee to Protect Journalists began counting in 1985.

The group, which issues its annual report on press attacks this week, believes a brief respite in global conflicts was the main cause for the decrease.

Most reporters were targeted directly for their work, such as Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped in Pakistan, accused by his captors of being an Israeli spy and later beheaded. His death made newsrooms reevaluate safety, and send reporters to more training, the report says.

Reporters also began to see themselves differently in hostile environments, where they increasingly understand that they may not always be perceived as neutral observers, said Joel Simon, CPJ's acting director.

As global politics changed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, so did the threats to journalists, the group said. In Israel and Russia, the governments used the cover of national security'' to keep reporters from covering stories. Also, leaders in Eritrea, Russia and Zimbabwe have in instances labeled journalists critical of the regimes as terrorists,'' the group said.

One of the greatest threats in 2002 was prison time. Over the past two years, the number of jailed journalists rose 68 percent, to include 136 people. China was the world's worst offender, with 39 behind bars, trailed by Eritrea and Nepal. But using the law to attack journalists is also a potent force in Panama, where nearly half of the media's workforce is under criminal libel or slander charges.

In the Americas, the roughest places for journalists continued to be Cuba and Colombia.

Independent Cuban journalists continued to be harassed and jailed, and the country's most important independent journalists association was forced to suspend classes after its offices were blocked by the government. Cubans passed around Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana, an increasingly popular but banned quarterly magazine produced by exiles in Spain, even though the government has branded it a ``political operation of the U.S. government.''

In Colombia, where reporters are harassed by both leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries, the violence inhibited reporters from providing the analysis and context needed to characterize the changing war, the committee found. Three journalists died there in 2002 alone.

In Venezuela, as the country grew more deeply divided after a brief, failed coup to oust President Hugo Chavez and an extended general strike, the media played a more activist role. In fact, the committee found that the ``press abandoned any show of neutrality and became a full-fledged political opposition.''

That ``put a lot of journalists in the middle of the battle, and made it risky for journalists and press freedom,'' said Carlos Lauria, the Americas program coordinator for CPJ.

The report is available on the group's Internet site, www.cpj.org.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Venezuela's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by only 0.8% in March, compared with 5.5% in February, the lowest rise since 2001.

The small increase was largely due to maximum price controls imposed by the government on a wide variety of basic goods, as officials sought to fight off the effects of spiraling inflation brought about by serious economic woes and the two month long opposition work stoppage which cost the nation's economy over $6 billion.

According to Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) figures, the price of goods coming under maximum price controls actually fell by an average of 1.5%, compared to February's rise of 3.4%, while goods not covered by the controls rose by an average of 3.9%, well below February climb of 8.1%. March's increase takes the cumulative total for the year up to 9.4%.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Business sector leaders have again criticized the Confederation of Trade Unions' (CTV) call for 30% pay rises, stressing that in the current economic environment preserving jobs was significantly more important than looking for pay increases.

Industrial Confederation (Conindustria) president Lope Mendoza pointed to the fact that unemployment in the industrial sector currently stands at around 16%, and warned that this figure may increase over the remainder of this year.

Mendoza warned against heaping any additional pressures on employers' shoulders, as well as on the government, which due to the opposition work stoppage is also short on funds needed for any possible salary hike. Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Fedecamaras) vice president Albis Munoz echoed the sentiment.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Former Argentine President Raul Alfonsin has held meetings with several Venezuelan officials including Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel during a visit to Venezuela to discuss the current political situation in the country.

Foreign (MRE) Minister Roy Chaderton Matos was also present at the meeting, and stressed that the former President was in Venezuela to see for himself what was going on.

Chaderton told reporters that Alfonsin "is a friend of Venezuela and has a broad knowledge of Venezuelan democracy.

The talks are also thought to have involved the sharing of political management experiences between the Venezuelans and Argentineans.

The visit comes just days after Rangel visited Buenos Aires as part of a whistle stop tour of many Latin American countries to inform then on the Venezuelan situation.