<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The traditional May Day march is set become an opposition march, as all opposition parties have announced that they have ordered their activists to turn up in protest against unemployment, hunger, public insecurity and erosion of political rights, such as democracy and in favor of the recall referendum. 

Accion Democratica (AD), Christian Socialists (COPEI), Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), Alianza Bravo Pueblo (ABP), Luis Miquilena's  Solidaridad and Union have announced they will be joining the march. 

Lt. Colonel (ret.) Francisco Arias Cardenas says his Union Party will protest against food scarcity ... "the government exchange control office (Cadivi) is inefficient and unable to authorize dollars for imports." 

The newly created National Workers' Union (UNTV) will be the butt of opposition protest because according to AD leader Jesus Mendez, "it is a creature in the image and likeness of Chavez Frias."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 By: Francisco Rivero

Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 13:04:45 -0400 From: Francisco Rivero riverofjr@hotmail.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Dear Yasmin and Federico

Dear Yasmin and Federico: There is no need to tell my father what the crowd you reported did on your street ... I'm afraid that will only prove his point ... "nothing good has ever come from hate and resentment?"

On the other hand it will be very difficult for me to do so ... he passed away long time ago! So take it easy and try to ponder words of wisdom. I hope our Elio Cequea also takes stoke on his reckless theory!

You are right on the surging of urban slums and shantytowns ... you are wrong when use the fact to disprove the economic and social facts of robust economic growth and improving well-being from the 50s thru the 70s.

You might try to read some of the excellent UN reports about it ... that will more than disprove the theory put forward by Elio.

I do not know how old are, you guys, and whether you have children or not ... let me ask you a couple of questions you only need to ponder about ... What future would you think a humble Venezuelan couple could foresee for their children in the early 60s? What future do you think a humble Venezuelan couple foresees for their children today?

Francisco Rivero riverofjr@hotmail.com Caracas, Venezuela

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuelan Foreign Minister (MRE) Roy Chaderton Matos is on a two-day visit to neighboring Guyana where bilateral relations have been less spectacular than relations with Brazil and certainly less dramatic and controversial than those with Colombia. 

During the visit Chaderton Matos says he will meet up with Guyanese Foreign Minster, Samuel Rudolph to discuss topics of common interest and to study concrete proposals of bilateral cooperation. 

Measures already agreed to in earlier bilateral meetings seem to have been placed on a backburner, such as opening a direct commercial flight between eastern Venezuela (Puerto Ordaz) and Georgetown to encourage trade and cultural exchanges. 

The Foreign Minister recalls the friendly atmosphere surrounding  the visit of his predecessor, Colonel (ret.) Luis Alfonso Davila in November 2001 and a high level two-nation commission (COBAN) meeting in Georgetown in February 2002. 

The last time the two countries formally met was in Caracas in October 2002 for another COBAN meeting. Both governments have expressed their will to seek friendly solutions to common problems. 

However, there have been moments of tension over the last few years regarding the alleged presence of Venezuelan National Guard soldiers accused of crossing into Guyana allegedly in hot pursuit of narco-traffickers and secondly, the delicate matter of offshore maritime limits.

30 Apr 2003 17:11:32 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 30 (alertnet.org-Reuters) - Two Venezuelan army officers have sought diplomatic asylum in Uruguay, the latest in a string of military dissidents to seek refuge abroad a year after President Hugo Chavez survived a brief coup, an opposition source said Wednesday.

Army captains Otto Gebauer and Carlos Jose Blondell, who helped guard Chavez during the April 2002 rebellion, asked for refuge at the Uruguayan embassy in Caracas.

"They are asking for asylum in Uruguay," the source close to the case told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

An official at the embassy would not comment.

Chavez, elected in 1998 on promises to ease poverty, has sought to bring to trial dissident military officers and some opposition leaders on rebellion and treason charges.

The Venezuelan leader has been locked in a bitter political struggle for more than a year with his opponents who accuse him of ruling the world's No. 5 oil exporter like a dictator.

More than 100 dissidents army officers, some who participated directly in the April coup, have staged a campaign of disobedience based in a Caracas square since October 2002.

Peru's Foreign Ministry said last week it had granted refuge to two other army officers. The Dominican Republic is reviewing an asylum request from two army captains who also guarded Chavez while he was held during the April 2002 coup.

The recent spate of applications by military officers came a month after Costa Rica granted asylum to the Venezuelan union chief who spearheaded an opposition strike in December and January to try to force Chavez to resign.

The businessman who briefly replaced Chavez in the coup also fled to the Colombian embassy 2002 along with a navy rear admiral under investigation for his coup role who asked for refuge in El Salvador.