28 Apr 2003 20:23:21 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 28 (Reuters-Alertnet) - More than 1,000 family members of inmates have shut themselves in three Venezuelan prisons to demand better conditions and speedier trials for their relatives, officials said on Monday.

The protest by wives and children of prisoners in the already overcrowded Tocuyito, El Rodeo and Coro penitentiaries, all located west of Caracas, followed several weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations over prison conditions.

The family members entered the three jails during normal visiting hours Sunday. They remained inside the prisons and are refusing to leave until prison authorities, magistrates and journalists came to the jails to hear their complaints.

Prison officials said most of the relatives appeared to be taking part in the protests voluntarily, but some were being kept inside against their will.

"Everything's calm for the moment," said Ramon Torres, director of the El Rodeo jail in Miranda State, where 286 women and 50 children were occupying part of the prison.

More than 600 relatives staged a similar protest in Tocuyito prison in Carabobo state and several dozen more were inside the Coro jail in western Falcon state.

"We are trying to make sure the children get food and water. Otherwise everything is normal," Torres told local television.

Venezuela's jails have a reputation for poor conditions and frequent violence. An inefficient justice system keeps many inmates behind bars in overcrowded facilities for months, and sometimes years, before they are brought to trial.

At least 18 inmates have been killed and dozens injured in prison riots in the last three weeks. These include 12 inmates hacked and shot to death in an April 18 clash between rival gangs in Yare prison, one of the country's biggest.

More than 240 inmates were killed and 1,249 injured in prison violence between October 2001 and September 2002, according to Ministry of Interior and Justice statistics.

A recent U.S. State Department human rights report found 48 percent of all prisoners in Venezuela were in pretrial detention. The report said prison conditions were harsh with 22 of the country's 30 jails suffering from overcrowding.

Mon April 28, 2003 03:40 PM ET WASHINGTON (<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell lobbied on Monday for support for Cuban dissidents through the Organization of American States.

"We look to our friends in the OAS to live up to the ideals we share (and) take a principled stand for freedom, democracy and human rights in Cuba," Powell told the annual conference of the Council of the Americas, which includes politicians, business people and non-governmental organizations.

"We look to them to join us in developing a common hemispheric approach to supporting Cubans dedicated to building a democratic and free Cuba," he added.

Last week the United States and its allies in the Americas failed to win an OAS resolution condemning rights abuse in Cuba but said they would come back with a revised text soon.

Reflecting deep divisions within the Americas over President Fidel Castro's Cuba, many OAS members voiced skepticism over the resolution, including Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico.

The proposed text, presented before the OAS's Permanent Council by Nicaragua and co-sponsored by the U.S. and Costa Rica, called on Havana to "immediately free all unjustly arrested Cubans."

Earlier on Monday, Powell said the United States was reviewing all aspects of its policy on Cuba in response to the recent crackdown on Cuban dissidents.

In the last month, the Cuban authorities have rounded up 75 dissidents and imprisoned them for terms of up to 28 years. As part of the crackdown, Cuba also executed three men who hijacked a ferry in a failed bid to reach the United States.

The United States has condemned the sentences and Pope John Paul has written to Castro asking for clemency for the dissidents.

"We are reviewing all of our policies and our approach to Cuba in light of what I think is a deteriorating human rights situation within Cuba," Powell told reporters after talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher.

"I'm very pleased that His Holiness has also commented on the situation."

Powell gave no details of the review but a State Department official said it covered "all policy tools at our disposal." He added: "We are looking for those which best serve our interest in supporting democracy in Cuba."

Interest groups have given the Bush administration proposals for punitive measures such as bans on remittances and direct travel to Cuba, while others have recommended stepped-up efforts to promote democracy by providing items like fax machines to dissidents and beefing up U.S. broadcasts to Cuba.

The cash sent to families in Cuba by relatives in the United States is estimated to total as much as $1 billion a year and is vital source of income for many Cubans coping with economic hardship in Cuba since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Powell told the Council of the Americas that Castro had condemned himself by refusing to let a U.N. human rights envoy visit the island to investigate.

"Why would Castro reject scrutiny if he has nothing to hide? We know the reason. He has everything to hide," he said.

The usual suspects Apr 28th 2003 From <a href=www.economist.com>The Economist Global Agenda

CONSIDERING the mess that Argentina’s Peronists and Paraguay’s Colorados have made of their countries, and given the grinding poverty, high unemployment, endemic corruption and decrepit public services that each country has suffered under the misrule of its main political party, one might expect that voters would relish an opportunity to dump them and give a chance to someone new. Indeed, until recently, Argentina’s streets were resounding to the chants of protesters shouting “¡Que se vayan todos!” (“Kick out the lot of them!”) But in Sunday’s elections, Argentines and Paraguayans decided to stick with the devils they know. Argentina’s flamboyant ex-president Carlos Menem came top in his country’s first-round presidential vote, and will go into the second round with Néstor Kirchner, a rather colourless candidate from a rival faction of the Peronist party. In Paraguay, where there is only one round of voting, the Colorados’ candidate, Nicanor Duarte Frutos, was elected president, maintaining the party’s 56-year grip on power.

Many Argentine voters seem to have bought Mr Menem’s proposition that they should forget all the various scandals of his ten years in power, in 1989-99, and overlook his spending-and-borrowing binge, which contributed to Argentina’s subsequent debt default and economic meltdown, and instead remember the economic boom that the country enjoyed while he was running it. With his playboy image and his glamorous new wife—a former Miss Universe—Mr Menem personifies those good times, which Argentines yearn to have back. Until their country’s economic collapse, they lorded it over their South American neighbours, revelling in their higher incomes and “European” lifestyles. But now, so far has the country fallen that almost 60% of Argentines live in poverty (defined as a monthly income of less than 750 pesos, or $242, for a family of four) and around a fifth of the workforce is unemployed.

While Mr Menem did not achieve his dream of sailing to a first-round victory (which would have required at least 45% of the vote, whereas he only got 24%), his showing in the polls is rather better than might have been expected in mid-2001, when he was briefly put under house arrest, accused of involvement in an alleged scheme to sell illegal arms to Croatia and Ecuador in the early years of his government (Argentina’s Supreme Court later freed him). In late 2001, Mr Menem’s incompetent successor, Fernando de la Rúa, resigned amid violent public unrest, after which Argentina defaulted on about $60 billion of foreign debt and the peso collapsed. Following various short-lived caretaker presidents, Mr Menem’s arch-rival within the Peronist movement, Eduardo Duhalde, was chosen as president by the Congress. Mr Duhalde put up Mr Kirchner, hitherto a little-known provincial governor, as his chosen successor, but could not unite the Peronist party around him. Other factions of the party, founded in the 1940s by Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Evita, backed either Mr Menem or a third Peronist candidate, Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, who had a brief stint as stand-in president in 2001.

In total, 19 candidates stood for president, including Ricardo López Murphy, a free-market economist who was briefly Mr de la Rua’s economy minister until his cabinet colleagues decided they lacked the stomach for his tough remedies (a pity, because they might have averted Argentina’s collapse and the suffering that resulted) and Elisa Carrió, a congresswoman standing on an anti-corruption ticket. Now Mr Menem and Mr Kirchner must scrabble for the unsuccessful contenders’ votes in the run-off on May 18th. Though Mr Menem got the most votes, he also suffers from a higher rejection rate than any of the other main candidates.

Argentina’s business leaders—who had given generous backing to Mr Menem’s campaign—will be relieved that Mr Rodríguez has been knocked out of the contest. He had called for the abandonment of the free-market reforms brought in by Mr Menem and a return to the traditional Peronist policy of heavy state intervention, including the renationalisation of Argentina’s utilities and railways. Mr Kirchner spouted some leftish-sounding rhetoric during the campaign but is believed at heart to be a centrist. His flagging campaign was lifted towards the end by gaining the backing of Roberto Lavagna, Mr Duhalde’s economy minister, who has begun restoring some signs of life to Argentina’s moribund economy.

Mr Menem insists his free-spending days are over, and pledges tough controls on the government’s finances. However he is also promising big cuts in tax rates—value-added tax would fall from 21% to 13%—which he says will be paid for through a crackdown on tax exemptions and evasion. He also pledges to honour all of Argentina’s debts, though he will ask lenders for more time to pay, and lower interest rates. Amid rising optimism about the prospects for an economic recovery and a market-friendly election winner, Argentine shares and bonds have risen sharply.

In Paraguay’s election, Mr Duarte, despite coming from a party that has misruled the country for half a century, has projected himself as a bringer of change, a firm leader who will clamp down on corruption and revive the long-stagnant economy. That he won, with about 37% (with more than nine-tenths of the votes counted), is more down to a divided and feeble opposition and the strength of the Colorado party machine. He will take over from President Luis González Macchi, who barely survived impeachment earlier this year over fraud accusations. Mr Duarte’s main opponent, Julio César Franco of the Liberals, had been ineffectual as Mr González’s vice-president, and got only 24% of the vote on Sunday, with Pedro Fadul, a pro-reform businessman, coming third with 22%.

In all, those hoping to see new faces and sweeping changes will have been disappointed by the outcomes of the Argentine and Paraguayan elections. But things could have been worse. Both elections were free and fair, despite each country having only a short democratic history and a past marred by military dictatorships. Following Brazil’s successful election last October, which led to a smooth transition from centre-right to centre-left administrations, it may safely be concluded that democracy has firm roots in South America, even though it faces challenges in some parts of the region, such as Venezuela. This should come as some comfort to America as it struggles to introduce the concept to the Middle East. Furthermore, despite much rhetoric critical of “neoliberal” reforms, there seems little sign of going back to the failed statist policies of the past.

By Michael Smith

Rio de Janeiro, April 28 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Brazil's currency surged after the country's central bank chief said it has more room to gain after this year's 19 percent rally.

The real rose 1.5 percent to 2.9650 per dollar at 2:31 p.m. New York time, after Bank President Henrique Meirelles said ``we still have lots of room to see the currency appreciate.'' The real is the second-best performing currency among the 59 tracked by Bloomberg. The Argentine, Colombian and Chilean pesos rose.

The gains extended a rally that's boosted the value of the real 13 percent in April, threatening to curb exports by making Brazilian products more expensive abroad, some government officials have said. The gains, fueled by confidence President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will cut spending and make public debt payments, has divided the ruling coalition over mounting a bid to slow the currency's gains.

The real will keep gaining to reflect the flow of dollars from investment and exports,'' said Flavio Datz a trader with Agora DTVM, a Rio de Janeiro brokerage. Meirelles just made it clear the market will set the price, not the government.''

Meirelles, referring to analysts' concern about the rising currency, said in a speech to the Council of the Americas in Washington that there's no reason to worry.'' The real is still undervalued'' when compared with the average for a basket of 15 currencies since 1985, Meirelles said.

Exporters

The real gained earlier today after Meirelles and Brazilian Finance Minister Antonio Palocci last week said the government won't try to halt the currency's climb to boost exports.

I don't think there will be any intervention,'' Sergio Haberfeld, chairman of Dixie Toga SA, a Brazilian plastic container maker that gets 12 percent of revenue from exports. For an exporter, the higher the dollar the better.''

For Dixie Toga, a real at 3.10 per dollar would be ideal for boosting exports across Latin America, said Haberfeld.

If the currency strengthens beyond 2.8 per dollar, the government likely will try to reverse the trend to ensure exports remain competitive, said Sergio Machado, head of the Treasury desk at Banco Fator SA in Sao Paulo.

The Planning Ministry's chief economist Jose Carlos Miranda on April 25 said the stronger currency is curbing exports and the government plans to limit the real's rise by refusing to refinance securities linked to the dollar.

Brazil is enjoying record exports of soybeans, cars, iron ore and other goods and this year, and Lula has made boosting exports the lynchpin of efforts to boost economic growth.

Brazil's benchmark 8 percent bond maturing in 2014 rose for the fourth day in five, adding 0.19 cent on the dollar to 85.94, paring the yield to 11.55 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Regional Gains

Argentina's peso rose for the fifth day in eight to extend its 18 percent gain on the year after the country's presidential first-round vote yesterday.

The peso rose 0.7 percent to 2.8575 per dollar from 2.8780 last week.

Former President Carlos Menem won 24 percent of ballots, based on 78 percent of the vote counted in yesterday's presidential election. Nestor Kirchner, governor of Santa Cruz province, won 22 percent.

Both are Peronist Party members and will face off in a second round of voting on May 18.

Colombia's peso extended earlier gains to rise for the fourth day in six after the central bank raised the overnight lending rate 100 basis points to 7.25 percent.

The currency strengthened 0.9 percent to 2,885 per dollar, its strongest level since Jan. 7, after the bank's second rate increase this year in a bid to slow inflation.

Chile's peso rose for the first day in three, gaining 0.7 percent to 708.35 per dollar from 713.25 last week.

Mexico

Mexico's peso rose for a fourth day to it highest level since early January, pacing gains by U.S. stock markets amid optimism for renewed growth in the world's biggest economy and Mexico's largest export market.

The peso rose 0.3 percent to 10.3768 per dollar from 10.4117 last week, raising its gain in April to 3.8 percent.

The U.S. buys about 85 percent of Mexico's exports, which account for about a quarter of its $600 billion economy, and provides Mexico with about 70 percent of its foreign direct investment.

Peru's new sol strengthened 0.1 percent to 3.4636 per dollar, and has gained 1.5 percent in 2003. Venezuela's bolivar was fixed at 1,598 per dollar earlier this year. Last Updated: April 28, 2003 14:31 EDT

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, April 28, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuelan Confederation of Tourism Chambers (Conseturismo)  has criticized the National Tourist Board (Inatur)  for restricting a PR program promoting domestic tour deals to Venezolana de Television (VTV) and Las Ultimas Noticias tabloid . 

Conseturismo president, Alvaro Montenegro says he agrees with the government proposal to offer off-season deals to boost the domestic market but disagrees with the PR campaign worth 3.2 billion bolivares. 

"Only 2% of inhabitants watch State VTV ... other television channels should be allowed to place TV ads as well, based on the percentage of viewers ... and the same goes for print media."

The initiative to boost domestic tourism and lift the sector out of the doldrums is an initiative coming from Tourist Minister,General Wilmer Castro Soteldo.  

Inatur director, Silvia Arteaga says the board is considering the private sector's objectives and will reach a decision soon. 

Consecomercio also objects to the approval under the last Minisiter of $106,000 to be spent on salaries of Cuban tourism coaches and teachers saying it is a waste of time since no concrete project has been presented on the matter.