Reuters, 05.19.03, 2:48 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - OPEC Secretary General Alvaro Silva said Monday he was satisfied with current oil prices and that the oil cartel was preparing to cut output in June in line with new quotas approved last month.

"Today we can say that the market has recuperated and is showing stable levels", Silva was quoted as telling Venezuela's official state news agency Venpres, adding prices were now in "good health".

The value of OPEC's basket of crude on Monday was around $26.24, within the cartel's preferred price band of $22 to $28 a barrel, after dipping as low as $23 a barrel after the war in Iraq, the ex-Venezuelan oil minister said.

The oil cartel is also preparing to implement production quotas -- agreed by OPEC in late April and which will take effect on June 1 -- aimed at wiping out a perceived two million barrel bpd oversupply in global crude markets, Silva said.

Oil prices spiked near $40 a barrel earlier this year ahead of the U.S. war in Iraq and following a crippling oil strike in Venezuela during December and January that temporarily shut down the OPEC nation's crude and product exports.

But prices have fallen nearly 30 percent in the last two months as Iraq's oil facilities escaped heavy damage from the war and OPEC raised output to compensate for the loss of Iraqi oil exports.

Silva said Venezuela's oil production had recovered from the oil strike, started Dec. 2 by foes of President Hugo Chavez, and that South American nation was pumping up to its OPEC quota.

Venezuela has an official OPEC ceiling of 2.923 million barrels per day (bpd), but government officials say production is closer to 3.1 million bpd.

19 May 2003 18:17:04 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia, May 19 (Reuters) - An emergency war zone declared in eastern Colombia to crack down on Marxist rebels has failed to restore order or stop political killings, Colombian human rights and legal officials said on Monday.

Selective assasinations continue, and violence has flared in towns adjacent to the Arauca region where military reinforcements were sent in by President Alvaro Uribe last year, Colombia's ombudsman Eduardo Cifuentes and inspector general Edgardo Maya said at a news conference.

The presence of military reinforcements has reduced the death rate in the area, they said, but added that municipal officials live in fear for their lives and death threats have forced journalists to flee the oil-rich area on the border with Venezuela.

"Today the civilian population lives in fear and the authorities themselves have no security," said Cifuentes, Colombia's top human rights official.

Shortly after he took office in August Uribe decreed the "rehabilitation zone" in an area long under seige from Marxist rebels and sent extra troops and police armed with broad emergency powers to detain suspects.

Until the reinforcements arrived, police in the Arauca town of Saravena had lived as virtual prisoners in their sandbagged barracks, under constant threat of bomb or mortar attack.

Colombia's constitutional court has recently declared most the emergency powers illegal, although the rehabilitation zone in Arauca, and another created in Bolivar and Sucre provinces, were due to expire anyway.

The continued presence of the military and police reinforcements has become the highest profile test of Uribe's promises to crack down on illegal armed groups fighting in a four-decade-old war.

Cifuentes and Maya said Arauca needed more public investment as well as troops and better protection for officials working to build institutions in the long almost lawless province.

A group of U.S. Special Forces are stationed near Arauca training Colombian troops to protect the Cano Limon oil pipeline from rebel bombing.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Special United Nations (UN) delegate for Colombia, James Lemoyne has set the cat among the pigeons, announcing that the 30+ year old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) should be NOT be considered a terrorist group. 

"Despite the methods the group uses, it's is an error to think that FARC are just terrorists as the Colombian government calls them or narco-traffickers because the backbone of the guerrilla movement consists of persons ideologically committed." 

Lemoyne says he is in favor of a dialog between the government and guerillas and hasnot ruled out a UN role as a Good Officer because he says the UN's job is to facilitate dialog and communication. "The FARC has a political project and so does the Colombian government. ... the Self-Defense Units of Colombia lays no claim against the State that legitimizes them as a political force."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has not yet defined his position towards the conflict and has fallen short of accepting the FARC as a belligerent group, while recognizing that Colombia is in a state of civil war. 

During the presidency of Andres Pastrana, Chavez Frias said Venezuela was prepared to act as facilitator in peace talks.

Venezuelan governments since Carlos Andres Perez (second administration) have allowed FARC to set up an office in Venezuela also based on the belief that Colombia was in civil war ... since 9/11 the tide has turned against the Colombian guerrillas as regards their generally recognized status among Latin American States as semi-belligerent. 

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and George Bush have initiated a campaign to have FARC declared as a terrorist organization and therefore to be treated as such with an influx of massive USA military aid.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuelan Human rights group, Red de Apoyo says it has received 13 complaints this year involving the police forces. 

In breakdown figures, Red de Apoyo general coordinator, Alfredo Ruiz reports that Police Detective Branch (CICPC) agents are responsible for 5 of the abuse cases, 5 the National Guard (GN), the Army 2 and municipal police forces 1. 

Last year, the group dealt with 25 cases: 44% allegedly perpetrated bthe Metropolitan Police (PM), 32% municipal police forces, 8% CICPC, 12% State Police and GN and Army 4%.

Ruiz says the breakdown of 70 cases in 1999-2001 is State police forces (24 cases), PM (17) and CICPC (9), municipal police forces (8), GN (4), Army (4) State Political & Security (DISIP) Police (2) and prison wardens (2). 

The most frequent forms of torture are death threats, verbal aggressions, beatings, being thrown down stairs, handcuffed, blindfolded, deprived of food and stripped naked. Most of the victims are male between the ages of 14-24 and 25-34.

• Red de Apoyo calls on the State and especially the Attorney General's Office to end the absolute impunity enjoyed by the security forces. 

Ruiz says he is concerned that there is no legal framework to penalize the perpetrators and accuses the National Assembly of failing in its duty because a law project should have been included in the House agenda in 2002.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 19, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: I am perplexed by a most peculiar phenomenon related to my published letters. <a href=www.vheadline.com>No matter to whom I write, I get an answer from ... what the Heck.

A Canadian gentleman who travels incessantly throughout Venezuela, apparently observes, makes notes, writes about his experiences ... like a modern De Toqueville, although not with the same clarity of vision. This is great. It's also great that he loves Hugo Chavez ... he does not have many rivals left ... he's most welcome to take him back home, after the referendum, so he can advise the Canadian government on, say, economic development.

I wrote President Chavez a public letter regarding PDVSA, but the President apparently delegated upwards to Mr. Heck to answer it. I must say that the letter reads like written by Hugo Chavez himself ... the opening statement about the opposition being "without conscience, illegal, unethical, immoral and criminal" sounds like vintage Chavez, who thinks that, by using five offensive adjectives in a row, his point will be valid. On the contrary, it becomes weaker due to its lack of restraint, which suggests a fragile state of mind.

Now the nation knows why Chavez does not answer letters. A few days ago, at a public meeting, Chavez scolded a young woman for trying to present him with a letter about her problem. He rebuked her: "Muchacha," he said  over the microphone, " I'm talking about important problems here and you bring me your personal problem ... let me talk ... I have a room full of little pieces of paper like yours."

And he added, using geologic language: "The tectonic fault of my government is the poor information..." looking at his helpless Minister of Information Nora Uribe.

Chavez' outburst illustrates his true personality ... the term "Muchacha" is used in a condescending manner, as "boy" would be used in the US south. Talking about a room full of papers shows poor social sensitivity ... browbeating his ministers in public reveals his dictatorial tendencies.

But, let us go back to Heck ... as in wreck. He claims that Chavez did not fire the PDVSA employees ... he said that was "crock" because "I was in Venezuela while most of this happened." This is a non sequitur, just as if he had said "I was scratching my left foot when most of this happened" because there is no logical connection between the two events. He realized this and went bravely on: "Chavez himself did not fire the employees ... he just read the list of names on TV..."

Apart from the fact that he did not read 18,000 names on TV (since that would have taken him about 17 hours), Heck badly insults our intelligence. According to his reasoning SAddam Hussein did not kill thousands of Iraqis because he did not personally pulled the trigger ... or Hitler did not murdered millions of Jews because he did not operate Treblinka ... or Chavez is not responsible for the deaths in 1992 because all he did was to lead the failed coup.

Heck is risking a diagnosis of infantilism. His other arguments are pitiful. They could not be fired personally. Heck says, because "they were partying in Miami or Aruba." This is a clear case of "foot-and- mouth" disease. Any decent corporation has to fire an employee personally, giving the reasons for the dismissal. What took place in PDVSA was a purge, in the worst sense of the word, as in the Soviet Union of Stalin.

Heck insists ... as does Chavez ... in calling PDVSA rebel employees "saboteurs and criminals."  In doing so, he does not produce a shred of evidence to support the libelous accusation. Heck is breaking our laws by doing this ... his charges are not only lacking in grace, but potentially subject to penal action. It is unacceptable to call 18,000 Venezuelans saboteurs and criminals in the indiscriminate manner he has done. In the name of my countrymen and women I protest this fascist attitude.

As if to leave no doubt of his intentions he added "They will never work in any other petroleum company again and deserve to be selling cakes in the streets." Blackballing, Mr. Heck, is not a mechanism utilized in democracies... In fact, it does not work as some of these people are already working in Saudi Arabia and ... possibly ... Canada.

Start your witch hunt...

If you really want to help our country use your self-claimed expertise in fraud investigation to fight corruption in the Venezuelan government, I am sure you will find plenty of work.

You mix some of the paragraphs of my article to give the impression that I advocate sabotage as a "value" of real managers. This is a childish maneuver, because anyone who read my editorial knows that I defined "Meritocracy," "apoliticism" and "professional management" as the values which guided the real PDVSA. Meritocracy, by the way, has to do with performance and personal behavior, not directly connected with academic excellence.

Although I always welcome a dignified and civilized discussion, Mr. Heck's piece fell short of these standards. I suggest that he reads <a href=www.vheadline.com>commentaries by Burnett or the <a href=www.vheadline.com classy Dauphin-Gloire to inspire him ... he seemed to be improving but suddenly had a regression...

Keep trying ... do not give up hope.

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 on the Caribbean island of Margarita where he runs a leading Hotel-Resort.  You may contact Gustavo Coronel at email gustavo@vheadline.com