<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, April 03, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

President Hugo Chavez Frias is set to meet his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe on April 23 in the Venezuelan town of San Cristobal, according to a statement from the Colombian Foreign Ministry.

During the meeting the two leaders will discuss border security and in particular the activities of Colombian guerilla groups in the area.

Colombian officials have complained that Venezuela is not doing enough to prevent these groups from setting up bases in Venezuela, but efforts to prevent this appear to have been stepped up recently with Venezuela's army being called into action several times over the past few weeks.

Also tabled for discussion will be bilateral trade issues, which have become more worrying since the two month long opposition work stoppage and the seven week old foreign currency trading suspensions.

Colombian exports to Venezuela have fallen significantly over the past few months due to the Venezuelan economic and political crisis.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, April 03, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

President Hugo Chavez Frias has once again slammed the nation's high interest rates and called on the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) to impose maximum rate limits to make borrowing more accessible.

The President said that charging over 50% is excessive and that rates need to be reduced ... "I demand it with due respect for the Central Bank's autonomy, and I demand it because I respect its autonomy, otherwise I would impose it."

The President went on to claim that the BCV had been infiltrated by neo-liberals and urged the bank's directors to occasionally make a decision on political considerations and not just based on theory.

The Venezuelan leader says that state owned banks would set a precedent and will be reducing their interest rates soon in the hope that the BCV and other banks would follow their lead.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, April 03, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Officials from the US State Department's Office for International Energy, Matthew McManus and Pedro Gustavo Erviti have held discussions with Venezuelan Minister Counselor of Energy Affairs Fadi Kabboul and embassy Energy Affairs Attache Ramon Key to enquire about the current situation of Venezuela's petroleum industry ... in particular its ability to export gasoline.

The two Venezuelans officials presented a detailed analysis of the current state of play at Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and its production levels of 2.95 million barrels per day, as well as the company's restructuring plans, which they said would bring it for flexibility and make it more competitive than it currently is.

The US energy officials were told that Venezuela is currently exporting 843,000 barrels of crude per day to the US, along with 247,000 barrels of associated products.  As for gasoline, the Venezuelans said they would provide the State Department with their export forecasts over the coming few days.

<a href=miva.jacksonsun.com>Jacksonsun.com By KARY BOOHER kbooher@jacksonsun.com Apr 3 2003

MESA, Ariz. - Four years ago, right-hander Angel Guzman, all of 17 years old back then in Venezuela, got dumped from professional baseball.

The Kansas City Royals voided his contract and sent him on his way.

"I think they believed that I was afraid to play pro baseball," Guzman said. "They were wrong, as you see. That's made me hungry to get better. I think I've changed their minds."

He talks about this with a smile, even rubbing his tummy to show that he in deed is hungry to prove his doubters wrong.

It appears he is.

Guzman, along with lefty closer Felix Sanchez, are quickly rising through the Chicago Cubs' farm system and will start the season with their Double-A club, the Diamond Jaxx. They are the big names on the staff, accompanied somewhat with the rhetoric that followed rookie sensation Mark Prior, the big kahuna of the Jaxx's rotation at this time last season.

Guzman is coming off a year in which he was 11-4 with a 2.19 ERA at both of the Cubs' Single-A clubs. Sanchez, armed with mid-90s fastball, struck out 101 batters in 119 innings at Low-A Lansing.

And while Prior got everybody talking at big-league camp last year, Guzman and Sanchez did so this spring. Guzman had a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings as a non-roster invitee, and Sanchez, who is on the 40-man roster, had a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings.

Few expected such results.

"Those guys have been great. You are really going to like those guys," new Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "They have good arms, they have good poise. For young players, probably the most difficult thing to develop is the poise and quiet confidence in your ability. These guys are pitching like they have been here a while."

Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild also said he was impressed with their poise and wouldn't rule out a promotion for the pair to the big leagues at some point this season.

He called Guzman, "One of the most impressive youngsters I've seen in spring training."

"I don't think you could look for any more poise in a young pitcher," Rothschild said. "He's already got command of three pitches. And he has tremendous command of his fastball. I think you are going to have fun watching him."

Guzman is 21-6 with a 2.17 ERA in 265 minor-league innings since he signed with the Cubs organization in November 1999.

His fastball is sharp, but Guzman's curveball is most impressive. Rothschild said it needs to be tightened a little more, but not much more.

"I'm going to try to do the same thing I've been doing, keep working hard and throw my pitches," Guzman said.

His potential is interesting because now in Double-A he'll work with Jaxx pitching coach Alan Dunn, considered invaluable in the organization. Two Jaxx pitchers have won the Southern League's ERA title in the past five years under Dunn's guidance, and another, Matt Bruback, came close to doing so last season.

Sanchez is expected to take over the role that Francis Beltran had last season. Beltran made 23 saves for the Jaxx and was promoted to Chicago three different times. Sanchez showed Rothschild good arm strength. He'll need to develop second and third pitches, especially the curve.

He has a 90-plus fastball.

"He's got a good arm," Dunn said. "You'll see (the curve), but it's just a matter of using it. It's a matter of getting the confidence in it to throw it. It's just a maturing process. He's definitely got the potential."

• Kary Booher, 425-9637

TCPalm.com By Ike Crumpler staff writer April 3, 2003

Well before he ever heard a drill instructor yell, Stuart resident Eugenio Caceres exhibited the sprit of the Marine Corps motto sempre fi. His "always faithful" attitude was evident in his eager determination to serve.

"He graduated (from high school) on a Thursday night and he left for the Marines in the morning," says his mother, Livia. "He said he didn't want to lose the momentum."

A 2002 graduate of South Fork High School, Lance Cpl. Eugenio Caceres grew up in Stuart after his family immigrated from Venezuela in 1987. Now the 19-year-old is in the infantry in Iraq, fighting with the 2nd Division.

An avid follower of history who also loves to dance, he has two brothers, Samuel, 16, and Israel, 14. Though he stands over 6 feet tall, he's known as "Little Eugenio" to family. His father's name is Eugenio as well.

The Caceres practice a timeless Venezuelan ritual. Children -- regardless of age -- request a blessing or benediction from their parents each time they greet and before exchanging good-byes. Livia Caceres bestowed the honor on her son -- when he called from half a world away, two days before the invasion.

"He said, 'Mom, would you bless me? We are being given the ammunition and we are going in. Would please pray for me? 'Cause this is different,' " she recalls. "That was the last time I heard from him."

The Marine Corps made all the difference in transforming Eugenio Caceres from an aimless teen to an admirable man, his mother says.

"We'd say, 'Pick up your room'; 'Pick up your shoes'; 'Do your homework,'" she says. "Now he's the one who keeps us in shape."

Recognizing how rudderless he was, Eugenio Caceres knew the military would provide his life with a strong foundation. Even more, he saw an opportunity to express his gratitude to America for allowing him a better life. His mother is certain that realization is the result of the principles he was taught in his youth taking root.

"When we first came to this country, we always tried to instill in him good values, the ones that respect the American people," she says. "He chose the Marines, that's what we've been standing for all these years. He has seen the way this country has blessed us. That is why he joined the Marines, as an act of love. Many love by birth. We love by choice."