<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic NewsPosted: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: From the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) to the Asbal Saddam (Saddam Lions Cubs) and the Pioneros de la Revolucion Cubana (Pioneers of the Cuban Revolution). From Iran to Mao's China to militarized North Korea, all totalitarian States have raped the souls of their children to train them for military work, to spy on their own parents or, simply, to become robot-like followers of the tyrant.

Ideological indoctrination of children is the trade mark of dictatorships all over the world and over history.  In Cuba the slogan of the Communist Youth Union, the only organization of its type allowed to exist, is: Estudio, Trabajo, Fusil...... Study, Work and Rifle. (two out of three is not that bad).

Rolando Borges, one of the chief ideologues of the Cuban Revolution, has said: "The front line of political and ideological work with children is the school and the first soldiers are the teachers..."  Surprisingly, says journalist Damaris Ocana, "two sets of morality have developed."  Many Cuban children make their "teachers" believe that they follow their guidelines while in fact keeping faithful to their family values.

In Iraq, thousands of children between 10 and 18 years old were trained as child soldiers ... the training included some 14 hours a day of military activity and ideological indoctrination. Much of the training was violent, killing animals and beatings of children who did not "cut the mustard."

Only in Baghdad, there were over 10,000 of these child soldiers, trained to act as small scale ambushers, snipers and mini-terrorists. Fortunately, the sudden collapse of the regime prevented these children from killing or being killed.

In Mao's China children were not only politically indoctrinated but many served to Mao as sexual toys. Mao preferred children and adolescents of both sexes as partners. In Nazi Germany, children brought flowers to Hitler and, in payment, Hitler sent them to death by the thousands during the last weeks of the war.

In 1970, Cuba passed a 'Code of the Child' which stipulates that children will be educated within Marxist-Leninist guidelines and that all efforts will be made to "protect" them against anti-communist influences.

Cuba has been sending Venezuela ome indoctrinated children every time that Chavez organizes an event to celebrate the "revolution."  These children come to us to praise both the Cuban and the Venezuelan "revolutions."  They talk mechanically, like pre-programmed robots, about how happy Cubans are ... how nice is to live in that island and, of course, advise us to follow their example.

If we did not know about the food-rationing, about the desperation of Cubans to escape the island ... about the killings and the jailing of dissidents ... about the thousands of Cuban girls who have to practice prostitution for a living ... about the climate of terror which exists in the island, about the raping of children's souls ... if we did not know about all of these and other horrors, we could be tempted to believe these robot-like children.

One Cuban boy, who came here a couple of years ago denounced the Internet as a "diabolical" invention ... a sad girl, who came some days ago to plug the revolution, spoke like as if she had memorized her speech. We wonder if she has a family back home who will be punished if she happens to falter and say the wrong thing.

So far, Cuban attempts at contaminating Venezuelans with their pitiful preaching has not made a noticeable dent in our society. Even the Chavistas look upon these poor children with pity and contempt because, although chavistas, they have been bred in freedom, which has not been the case with Cubans.

This is why Castro is universally despised in Venezuela.

However, not every Venezuelan despises Castro ... Chavez loves him ... and he is determined to copy the indoctrination program followed by Cuba for the last 30 years.

This is why Venezuelan children are starting to sing songs, to recite poems and to give pre-programmed speeches in praise of the "Bolivarian" revolution and their idol Chavez.

The government TV station has been put in charge of disseminating these criminal attempts at converting out children in uneducated robots.

Venezuela is already too far into a democratic mold to be in real risk of this contamination ... but we are not complacent. The Venezuelan family, and the educational establishment, are alert against this criminal attempt at raping the souls of Venezuelan children.

What is intolerable is not the idea that Chavez might be successful, but the very act of trying.

This morning, as I drove to Caracas from Valencia, I passed about 20 buses on the road, full of children, waving red flags ... they were coming to a political event organized by one of Chavez' mini-parties, PODEMOS ... a splinter of MAS.

At least three of these buses were from the University of Carabobo and one has to ask: What in the World are University buses doing in this type of partisan political event?

The answer is Corruption ... total impunity ... nobody is accountable anymore.

But the buses were full of children and adolescents ... this means that the raping of our Venezuelan children's souls is already in motion.

This will not be tolerated ... we will go to whatever lengths to make sure this will not happen.

By the way, I'm receiving many letters, both in favor and against my commentaries ... I welcome all of them. Exceptionally, I get some which are insulting and menacing, and these I will not answer. There are sick people all over the place. To those who ask me in good faith why I oppose Chavez, or if I am rich, or if I was part of the corrupt ruling elite of the last fifty years, let me say this:

1. I oppose Chavez because he represents the very opposite of my values. I came up from the lower middle class and have lived a wonderful life due to hard work and my efforts. I do not believe in the Welfare State and I don't believe that we have a "right" to obtain a house, a car, a job and economic security unless we work for it.

2. I oppose Chavez because I do not believe that a President can be a promoter of hate and discord but has to be a leader for all.

3. I oppose Chavez because I think that actions speak louder than words. Chavez is a charlatan.  He has done nothing to alleviate the plight of the poor. I consider him hypocritical and despicable because of his inaction against poverty while he tries to sound as the defender of the poor.

4. I oppose Chavez because he has aligned our country, and our country is not "his" country, with the most backward governments of our planet.

5. I oppose Chavez because he is trying to convert what once was a beautiful and free country into a a filthy, sad and chaotic totalitarian State.

6. I am not rich. I wish I were, because there is no sin in having money if you have acquired it honestly. In fact, I am not even well-off as of this moment ... but I can look at myself in the mirror every day without remorse.

7. For the last 40 years or so, I have been against all governments due to their ineptitude and corruption. I have been against the corrupt elites of all governments, including the very corrupt elite of the Chavez government ... one of the most corrupt I have ever seen.

I can document all of my assertions listed above. I only wish that those who oppose my views could say the same.

Then we would all be talking the same language.

Full disclosure anyone?

Gustavo Coronel is the founder and president of Agrupacion Pro Calidad de Vida (The Pro-Quality of Life Alliance), a Caracas-based organization devoted to fighting corruption and the promotion of civic education in Latin America, primarily Venezuela. A member of the first board of directors (1975-1979) of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), following nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry, Coronel has worked in the oil industry for 28 years in the United States, Holland, Indonesia, Algiers and in Venezuela. He is a Distinguished alumnus of the University of Tulsa (USA) where he was a Trustee from 1987 to 1999. Coronel led the Hydrocarbons Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in Washington DC for 5 years. The author of three books and many articles on Venezuela ("Curbing Corruption in Venezuela." Journal of Democracy, Vol. 7, No. 3, July, 1996, pp. 157-163), he is a fellow of Harvard University and a member of the Harvard faculty from 1981 to 1983.  In 1998, he was presidential election campaign manager for Henrique Salas Romer and now lives in retirement.  You may contact Gustavo Coronel at email gustavo@vheadline.com

<a href=www.agweb.com>AgWeb.com 4/23/2003 by Julianne Johnston

According to the latest World Trade Organization (WTO) figures, merchandise trade grew by 2.5% in 2002, up from a 1% decline in 2001. WTO says the increase is driven by strong demand in the United States and the big Asian economies.

But trade growth, which was significantly above the 1.5% increase in total world output, was uneven and masked the sluggish trade performance in many regions including Latin America and Western Europe, adds the group.

WTO says considerable uncertainty clouds trade growth prospects for 2003. Early indications suggest that at less than 3%, growth in trade volume for 2003 will be little or no better than 2002. This is well below half the average rate of trade growth achieved in the 1990s (6.7%). The downside risks on predictions for 2003 are large, bearing in mind continued sluggishness in the world economy, the conflict in Iraq, and the possibility of the continuing spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

“These trade figures reflect the growing economic and political uncertainty in the world today. This uncertainty is detrimental to economic growth and development and can give rise to greater instability across the globe. Governments must send a signal that they are prepared to address this problem. One very important contribution to this effort would be to accelerate work on the negotiations in the Doha Development Agenda,” said Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi.

The WTO says trade recovery occurred amidst the weakness of the global economy, greatly reduced investment flows, major movements in exchange rates, dented business confidence, increased restrictions on international trade transactions to reduce risks from terrorism and rising geopolitical tensions.

Some details of developments in specific countries or groups of countries:

• Developing Asia’s merchandise trade grew by about 12.5% in volume terms, driving the entire continent’s exports and imports to grow by double digits. The region also saw diverging growth paths between Japan, still Asia’s largest economy, and China and India, the two most populous nations in the world. In value terms, China’s merchandise exports and imports increased by more than 20% while India’s also grew at double-digit rates. China has overtaken the UK to become the fifth largest trader in the world. Japan’s merchandise export growth was only 3% while imports contracted.

• Transition economies’ trade continued to show strong growth with merchandise trade expanding by about 10% lifted by strong domestic demand growth and by rising foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the region.

• Imports into the US grew by 3% driven by continuing consumer spending and an increasingly expansionary fiscal stance. But exports declined by nearly 4% partly reflecting reduced demand from some key trading partners whose economies were either hardly growing, such as Western Europe and Japan, or in outright contraction, as in Latin America. Lack of price competitiveness might have also played a major role as US exports decreased even to those regions whose imports grew strongly.

• Western Europe’s trade stagnated in volume terms with merchandise exports increasing by just 0.6% and imports declining by 0.5%.

• Latin America saw one of its worst years with the crises in Argentina, Venezuela and difficulties in Brazil in the run-up to the national elections. Latin America’s merchandise imports declined by over 5% in 2002 although merchandise exports rose by about 2% with the decline in intra-regional trade (especially intra-MERCOSUR trade) being balanced by increased shipment to other regions.

• LDC exports and imports rose last year although it does not change their overall situation as marginal participants in world trade.

• Oil exporting LDCs saw a strong increase in the dollar value of their shipments as they increased their production and volume of trade. Exports of the non-fuel commodity exporting countries continued to rise after marked gains in 2001. However, exporters of manufactured goods experienced stagnation.

Link to full WTO report www.wto.org

Story last updated at 7:11 a.m. Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Charleston.net-Chicago Tribune

HAVANA--Hoping to defuse a potentially dangerous confrontation, the leaders of Colombia and Venezuela are scheduled to meet today after weeks of bickering and the allegation that the Venezuelan air force bombed a Colombian border town last month.

The incident, which is being investigated by both governments, is only the latest in a series of actions that has angered officials from the two nations and threatens to widen Colombia's internal conflict.

Colombian officials accuse Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of not doing enough to prevent Colombian rebels from carrying out hit-and-run attacks using bases inside Venezuela.

They also are angered by the recent bombing of the Colombian consulate in Venezuela and the sharp drop in bilateral trade during Venezuela's prolonged political crisis, a further blow to Colombia's fragile economy.

"It's a very difficult situation," said one top Colombian official. "We've tried to work things out. There has been lots of talk (from the Venezuelans) but no action."

Chavez and other officials deny that the air force attacked targets in Colombia or that Venezuela is supporting Colombia's largest rebel group, the 18,000-member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

While Chavez has expressed hopes that his meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will ease tensions, Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel has criticized Colombian officials for suggesting that his country is providing a haven to the rebels.

"If Colombian delinquents have come into this country, then this is more the result of negligence and complicity by the Colombian authorities, rather than by us Venezuelans," Rangel said.

Experts say the outcome of the presidential summit in the southeast Venezuelan city of Puerto Ordaz could have repercussions for the United States. Venezuela and to a lesser extent Colombia are major oil suppliers.

The United States also has poured more than $2 billion into an extensive antinarcotics and counterinsurgency program in Colombia, a close American ally and one of a handful of Latin American countries that supported the war in Iraq.

A broader conflict between Venezuela and Colombia could destabilize the region, experts say.

"The situation is very dangerous," said Michael Shifter, a senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C. "There is an enormous amount at stake."

Relations between the two nations have been up and down almost since Venezuela broke away from its neighbor more than a century ago. But the tension increased after Chavez was elected president in 1998 and began his self-styled populist revolution.

Some Colombian officials say the Chavez government has failed to act firmly against the FARC, a powerful rebel force that moves frequently across the sparsely populated 1,270-mile frontier of mountain, savanna and jungle.

When peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government collapsed last year, Colombia's military began battling the rebels for control of the border region along with a third group, the powerful right-wing paramilitary force known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AUC.

Experts say that FARC has used the Venezuelan side of the frontier as a rear base and for arms trafficking and other logistical support.

Rafael Nieto, a Colombian military analyst, said many captured FARC soldiers have been found with Venezuelan military-issue weapons, though it is unclear how the rebels acquired them.

The AUC, which often operates alongside the Colombian military, has moved across the frontier to pursue FARC rebels and fighters with a smaller Colombian leftist insurgency, the National Liberation Army, or ELN. Some Venezuelan ranchers reportedly are bankrolling paramilitary forces.

What is uncertain, experts say, is the extent to which the Venezuelan and Colombian governments can prevent either leftist or rightist insurgencies from crossing the border.

CNN Wednesday, April 23, 2003 Posted: 7:43 AM EDT (1143 GMT)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's president said he will sign an agreement with Colombia to build a gas pipeline connecting the two nations, part of efforts to reinforce ties at a time of tense bilateral relations.

President Hugo Chavez is to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday in the southeastern Venezuelan city of Puerto Ordaz, located 310 miles from Caracas.

Chavez said Tuesday that he's committed to improving relations with Colombia despite allegations by authorities from the neighboring country that Venezuela has sheltered Colombian rebels.

"We sent our affection and our best intention to continue improving relations with the sister republic of Colombia," said Chavez.

The two leaders will also discuss trade issues sign an agreement in which Venezuela would supply border towns in rural Colombia with electricity.

Trade between the two nations topped $2 billion over the last two years but has suffered severely since January 22, when Venezuela halted foreign currency purchases to protect foreign reserves and guard against a slide in the bolivar.

Colombian businesses haven't been able to collect an estimated $350 million in debts from Venezuelan importers due to delays in establishing a new foreign exchange system.

According to the Colombian Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce and Integration, bilateral trade could fall by as much as 60 percent this year if such problems persist.

Border security will also be discussed at the meeting, which follows several weeks of tensions fueled by allegations in Colombia that Venezuela has provided a safe haven for Colombian rebel groups.

Chavez denies his government has ever aided Colombia's leftist insurgent groups, and he said groups in both countries are trying ruin the two neighbors' relationship. He expressed optimism the meeting would be a success despite efforts by his adversaries aimed at "sabotaging" it.

The presidential summit will be the second that Chavez and Uribe have held in less than six months. The last meeting took place on November 14 in Colombia's coastal city of Santa Marta.

Vienna (<a href=www.bluebull.com>Bluebull) - Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi warned in Vienna that excess oil supplies are increasing and may hurt prices in some two months. He commented the process as the strongest sign yet the OPEC, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree to cut production. Saudi Arabia, is OPEC's biggest oil producer.

An OPEC meeting tomorrow is to assure that they keep the price where it is. OPEC ministers are concerned that if they don't take some steps, an oil surplus may occur. The concerns of the organisation are understandable as London oil prices have slid from USD 34 a barrel in early March to around USD 25 now after OPEC boosted output to compensate for outages in Venezuela and Nigeria and the war in Iraq.

Meanwhile, US military forces said production may start from Iraq's northern fields next month, while the recovery of exports depend on determining who will export and sell the oil. /pz