<a href=www.hispanicbusiness.com>HISPANIC BUSINESS June 4, 2003 Susan T. Port

Things weren't so good in the first quarter of this year for television advertising. That is, unless your shows were in Spanish. According to ratings firm Nielsen Media Research, ad spending on Spanish-language TV was up 15 percent nationwide in the first quarter of 2003, the highest increase of all media forms. Network and cable television recorded overall declines of 5 percent in the quarter. Figures like that are spurring local broadcasters to cater to the exploding Hispanic population by launching weekly Spanish-language entertainment, political and news programs. "It's not just a niche market," said Jatni Blandon, a partner in Lake Worth's Extra Hispano Productions. "It's a big piece of the pie." The first such local show was launched this year by WPTV-Channel 5, the local NBC affiliate. Hablando con la Comunidad features a weekly news roundup, interviews with community leaders and politicians, and commercials -- all in Spanish. Even with a difficult time slot -- 5 a.m. Sundays -- the show, which debuted in January, has been able to garner a strong following, said Bill Peterson, WPTV's general manager. He admits it's not the best time for the show, but it is rebroadcast on the Palm Beach County and West Palm Beach government stations throughout the week. "We were approached by the Spanish community, saying there really was no outlet for them," Peterson said. "They asked us if we would produce a program. We really wanted to find a way to serve the audience, but we didn't know how to do it. "A Spanish-language program on an English-language station doesn't necessarily make a whole lot of sense. But this works." So well, it seems, that WPTV now finds itself with some company. Riviera Beach-based WBWP-Channel 57, an independent station that debuted May 19, inaugurated a Spanish-language program on May 24. La Vida en Florida is a two-hour show airing at 2 p.m. Saturdays that focuses on entertainment, style, religious, personal finance and other issues affecting the local Hispanic community, said Nicole Teufel, spokeswoman and account executive for the station. "They cover a little bit of everything," Teufel said. The show is hosted by Daisy Cedeno (a morning radio host on Radio Fiesta WWRF-AM 1380's Buena Onda) and Jose Uzal, editor of El Latino Semanal. And in April, WWHB-Channel 48 of Stuart began airing Que Pasa? Palm Beach, a weekly show hosted by Dayana Rooks that focuses on area cultural happenings. Rooks, whose father was a radio personality in her native Venezuela, has been doing a gossip show on WPSP-1190 AM for four years. "There was no Spanish television in Palm Beach County or the Treasure Coast," Rooks said. "And there is a growing community here." Later this month, WWHB, an affiliate of Azteca America, the U.S. division of Mexico's TV Azteca, will begin airing Recetas de Mi Tierra, a cooking, health and exercise program. Blandon, whose Extra Hispano Productions is producing the show, said a local news program also is in the works. WWHB station owner Bill Brothers said he is aiming to air 12 hours of original Spanish-language programming by the end of the year, which Adelphia Communications Corp., the major cable provider in the area, has said it plans to carry once it finds space. Experts say it shouldn't be a surprise that media outlets are adding more Spanish programming. "It's a recognition of the growing Hispanic marketplace," said Mark Fratrik, vice president of BIA Financial Network, a Chantilly, Va.-based media consulting firm. "Advertisers are particularly interested in it. Hispanic incomes are going up." Fratrik said the future of Spanish television is bright, citing as evidence NBC's buyout of Telemundo, and that Univision is the highest-rated TV station in the Miami market. Also, the 2000 Census numbers were a wake-up call for area broadcasters, who didn't realize the Hispanic community had grown so much, he said. The census showed 140,675 Hispanics in Palm Beach County, with Mexicans and Cubans at the top of the list. The tally was 9,506 and 15,733 Hispanics in Martin and St. Lucie counties, respectively. So far, WPTV's Hablando con la Comunidad hasn't been a big moneymaker, though it has gotten advertising from area heavyweights like Fidelity Federal Bank & Trust. "We don't have delusions of grandeur," Peterson said. "We're not offering 24 hours a day of Spanish-language programming. We are offering one half-hour a week.… For those involved, it's a labor of love. People who are involved do other things; they just made the time in their weekly schedules to make this program happen." WPTV's half-hour program has three community hosts, including Helman Ruiz, news director at Radio Fiesta; Ricardo Casas, editor of El Mambi; and Mirta Luaces of Florida Pennysaver. The Florida Pennysaver is owned by Palm Beach Newspapers Inc., the parent of The Palm Beach Post. At WPTV, Lourdes Carrera is producing the show, Tony Araujo is handling interviews and Tania Rogers is doing Spanish news roundups. WPTV News Director Peter Roghaar said the show focuses on issues from schools to health insurance to community integration. "It's a wide-ranging spectrum, and it's all done in Spanish," he said. "As the demographic continues to change here in Palm Beach County, we are trying to reach out to it." Roghaar said at some point down the road the station might reevaluate the show's time slot. Ruiz, a community host, said the show is a necessity. "We need more local programs on TV in Spanish," Ruiz said. "Nobody takes care of the local community like people involved in the community." Rogers, an anchor and reporter for WPTV, said her mother, Diana, a native of Panama, doesn't mind waking up early to watch the program and tells all her Spanish-speaking friends to do so, too. "She said she watched it and loved it," said Rogers, who is bilingual. "The Hispanic community is growing very quickly. (The show) is something positive. It's something that reaches out to them."

Source: (c) 2003, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

Reuters, 06.04.03, 5:59 PM ET By Ana Isabel Martinez CARACAS, Venezuela, June 4 (Reuters) - A Venezuelan central bank director on Wednesday rebuked the state currency control board for its slow allocation of funds and warned the country's recession would worsen without a swift release of dollars. Armando Leon, one of the directors of the Venezuelan Central Bank, urged the foreign exchange board Cadivi to ease its stranglehold on access to hard currency, which the battered economy badly needs for growth. "We are getting into an extremely complicated and difficult situation, and we need to ease the currency control system," Leon told reporters. He insisted the Central Bank was not calling for an end to the curbs, established four months ago to halt capital flight and protect the local bolivar. But he urged Cadivi to speed up the flow of foreign currency to the economy, which relies on imports for 60 percent of its needs. The economy of the world's No. 5 oil exporter contracted around 29 percent in the first quarter of 2003 after a two-month opposition strike slashed crude production and the strict currency controls hampered growth. "The situation in the country is very complex, and I don't know who is going to be to blame if the economy keeps falling or unemployment keeps growing while public policies are so ineffective," he said. Leon forecast that gross domestic product (GDP) could fall around 10 percent this year even if the economy sees a recovery in the last few months of 2003. "There will be a very serious contraction but much less than what we saw in the first quarter," he said. The central bank director said that since February only about $18 million had been actually handed out by Cadivi to companies and importers compared with $40 million to $60 million traded daily in the foreign exchange market before the controls. Even in recession, the economy required about $30 million to $33 million daily, he said. Cadivi said on Tuesday that it had authorized about $469 million since March, but it did not give details on how much of that had been actually handed over to applicants. ECONOMY IN CURRENCY BOARD'S HANDS While Leon said improved flow of currency is essential for economic recovery, he said the oil sector -- one third of GDP -- had recovered from the strike in December and January, implying vital crude revenues had returned to normal levels. "The danger is that if the system for assigning dollars continues to be so inefficient, the economic slide could be repeated, but this time because of Cadivi," he said. The scarcity of dollars has spawned a black market where the U.S. dollar trades at 2,400 to 2,500 bolivars against the official fixed rate of 1,600 bolivars to the greenback. The government boasts the controls have allowed it to bolster international reserves, help bring down interest rates and improve investors' perception of the country's risk. But opposition leaders and private sector representatives say the controls have come at a cost: a suffocated economy, thousands of firms closed, unemployment approaching 20 percent and accumulated inflation at nearly 14 percent in May.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 By: Jose Gregorio Pineda & Jose Gabriel Angarita

VenAmCham's Jose Gregorio Pineda (chief economist) and Jose Gabriel Angarita (economist) write:  According to information published in official media, Finance Minister Tobias Nobrega is overseas negotiating for public credit to try to improve the condition of Venezuela's fiscal accounts.

The problems experienced in the early months of the year provoked a reduction of fiscal revenue equivalent to 5% of GDP. Today, unlike the first months of the year, the National Treasury is in better shape due to the recovery of oil production plus the spending of only 60% of budgeted outlays. The latter is due mainly to lengthy time lags in making transfers to the universities and the state and local governments.

However, the officials responsible for carrying out fiscal policy in Venezuela should act cautiously. It is necessary to recall that the foreign exchange restriction is choking private enterprise, resulting in a nominal reduction of non-oil tax collections in comparison with last year. On the other hand, there are strong pressures on the spending side, including a higher level of government purchases to import essential consumer goods, and debt service obligations that must be fulfilled in 2003.

As of the end of the first quarter the outstanding balance of internal public debt came to 13.3 trillion bolivares (not including Treasury Bills). This figure reflects a 6.9% nominal growth vs. the end of 2002. When Treasury Bills are included, the domestic public debt reaches 15.1 trillion bolivares, far higher than the 2.2 trillion figure in 1998.

Note that in spite of the exchange controls, the authorities have found it very difficult to make new short-term debt placements on the internal market through public offerings. The Treasury offered 2.4 trillion bolivares of such debt in the first quarter and could only place 39.7% of it (981.6 billion). The same is true of its attempt to place 560 billion bolivares of National Public Bonds (NPB); only 67.4% of that volume (377.6 billion) could actually be placed.

Will the country be in a position to increase its overseas debt in view of all these considerations? Clearly, any external debt placement would have a very high cost given Venezuela's country-risk rating, because the economic agents predict a deep contraction of the economy, high inflation, and rising unemployment, all of which will make it harder for the government to generate more fiscal revenue from internal sources. Moreover, it is facing strong pressure to increase spending, because debt service represents a high proportion of the total budget.

Finally, it is important to note that this external borrowing policy could be implemented under circumstances in which one of the chief sources of "stable" funding, the internal tax base (made up of private-sector taxpayers) is being strangled by the control policies.

PR Newswire

1.2 Tonne in-situ pit sample yields 1.98 carats of diamonds

PAYSON, AZ, June 4 /CNW/ - Kansai Mining Corporation ((TSX-VEN:KAN) is

pleased to announce the results of the test sample commissioned at the extreme south-western end of the Belmudez Zone at Natal in the Guaniamo Diamond Field in Venezuela. A random pit, measuring 1m x 1m x 0.5m depth was hand-dug by the company on one of the proposed drill-lines at the south-western extremity of the Belmudez Zone, characterised by shallow artisanal workings and a large south- easterly trending co-incident magnetic and radiometric anomaly. The zone has a known strike length of more than 900 meters from the extensive trials which are rarely more than one meter in depth and the anomalous zone extends for at least 1.4km along strike. The pit was dug more than 500 meters south of the last observed shallow pits and trials of the local artisans. The sample was estimated to weigh approximately 1.2.tonnes. It was concentrated with the aid of local diamond- pans and jigs, following sluicing of the coarser material. Recoveries in such equipment are known to be somewhat inaccurate and lower than when treated with more sophisticated plant. The concentrate, nevertheless contained 10 macrodiamonds, varying in size from 0.02 carats to 0.61 carats for a total weight of 1.98 carats. The five smaller diamonds comprise a total weight of 0.17.carats, with the larger goods at 0.17, 0.29, 0.29, 0.45 and 0.61 carats respectively; 4 of the 5 larger stones are of gem quality as are 2 of the small fraction. The company views this sample as stemming from in-situ outcrop in a location previously unexploited and undiscovered by local workers. It is therefore encouraged by a grade of 1.65 carats per tonne but until more work can be undertaken in the forthcoming dry season recognises that this limited test is not representative. The drilling programme is nearing completion and results from that work will be reported as soon as practicable following analysis and logging which customarily takes several weeks.

Kansai Mining Corporation is a mining and exploration company with

interests in Kenya and Venezuela trading on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol KAN.

The Toronto Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept

responsibility for the accuracy of this news release which has been prepared by management.

"B.T.Walsham."
Chief Executive Officer

-30-

For further information: please contact: B.T. Walsham on

• 44 1548 843 844; By facsimile on + 44 1548 842 378 or by e.mail on bandcwalsham@btclick.com

June 4 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Mexico's peso was headed for its biggest decline in five years after a deputy governor of the central bank suggested the bank may be ready to reduce interest rates as growth slows and inflation remains under control.

The peso fell 2.7 percent to 10.5710 per dollar in Mexico City and U.S. trading at 4:15 p.m. New York time. The peso last had a bigger one-day decline on Jan. 13, 1999, when it fell 3.9 percent. Brazil's real rose on the central bank's offer to sell interest rate swaps.

Jesus Marcos Yacaman, one of Mexico's four deputy central bank governors, last night told Bloomberg in an interview in Buenos Aires the national economy may grow less than the bank's forecast. Similar suggestions by bank officials have many investors expecting the bank to reduce interest rates by raising lending to banks, said Guillermo Estebanez, a currency strategist at Banc of America Securities Inc. in San Francisco.

They're basically saying that they'll tolerate lower rates,'' said Estebanez. All the factors that were supporting the peso, like the sales of reserve dollars, have worn out.''

Mexico's Central Bank Governor, Guillermo Ortiz, in April cut the forecast for economic growth this year to 2.4 percent from 3 percent, after raising interest rates five times since September. Economists expect the central bank to meet its target for inflation of 2 percent to 4 percent. Slow growth in the U.S., which buys 85 percent of Mexico's exports and accounts for 70 percent of the investment flowing into Mexico, has spurred investor concern South America's largest economy may sputter.

Yields

Lower inflation expectations have driven down yields on the country's benchmark 28-day Treasury note to an all-time low of 4.72 percent at yesterday's central bank auction, below the trailing 12-month inflation rate, making Mexican assets less attractive to overseas investors.

``Foreign banks have been the most active today buying dollars,'' said Omar Martin del Campo, a currency trader at Arka Casa de Bolsa SA in Mexico City. Martin del Campo said Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. have both been selling pesos.

Estebanez said he expected the peso market to focus on U.S. economic indicators such as Friday's payroll numbers and next Thursday's retail sales figures. He said indications of slower growth in the world's largest economy could accelerate the peso's decline.

Adding to the peso's decline, Mexico last month reported its trade deficit widened in April from a year ago on declining exports, which account for a quarter of its $600 billion economy.

Exports fell 5.7 percent from the same year-ago period, increasing concerns expressed by some investors that rising production costs and a stronger currency may hold Mexico's share of the U.S. export market at about 10 percent.

The peso future contract for June delivery, the most-traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, fell for a second day, losing 2.9 percent to 9.4300 cents per peso from 9.7125 yesterday.

Brazil

Brazil's real gained for a second day after the government said it would sell investors more insurance against exchange-rate losses, reducing the chance companies will buy dollars to guard against a weaker real.

The real climbed 1 percent to 2.9160 per dollar, a three-week high, in Sao Paulo, boosting its gains in 2003 to 21 percent, the best performer of the world's 16 most widely traded currencies. Earlier, it rose to a three-week high of 2.8920.

The central bank sold $260.25 million nominal value of interest-rate swaps, known locally as cupom cambial, of $330 million it offered at an auction today. The government Monday refinanced 77.8 percent of the $1.4 billion of swaps due June 12.

Clearly the move is going to help the real, some may even interpret it as creating an anchor for the currency,'' said Flavio Farah head of the Treasury desk at the Sao Paulo unit of Dusseldorf, German-based Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale. Still, I don't know why they're doing it, with all the money coming in there was no need.''

2002

Brazilian banks and companies have sold almost $6 billion of bonds abroad on increased investor expectations that South America's largest economy can pay its roughly $400 billion debt, helping the real strengthen. At the same time, a stronger real makes it more expensive for companies and investors to buy swaps, reducing the demand for the contracts, said Daniel Vairo, a trader at Opportunity Asset Management Ltda., which manages about 7 billion reais of stocks and bonds in Rio de Janeiro.

The swaps, along with dollar-indexed bonds, were sold in the past several years to protect the real from declines as investors pulled money from the country on concern Argentina would default or Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, elected Brazil's president last year, would adopt policies that might bankrupt the country.

Bank Tally

All told, the central bank promised investors it would pay any currency exchange losses on $58 billion of investments. While the real's rally this year has turned central bank losses on the contracts into profits, the government says it wants to reduce the amount of the swaps held by investors.

``It seems to me it would be better to have the $300 million it could sell today available for later,'' Farah said.

Any such event might cause the dollar to surge against Brazil's real and require swap sales to limit declines, he added.

Brazil's benchmark 8 percent bond maturing in 2014 gained for the fourth day in six, adding 0.81 cent to 90.44 cents on the dollar, paring the yield to 10.35 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Regional Currencies

Argentina's peso rose for a fourth day, gaining 0.5 percent to 2.8225 per dollar, raising the currency's gains in 2003 against the dollar to 19 percent, the second-best performance among 59 currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

Colombia's peso rose for the third day in four, adding 0.2 percent to 2,844.00 per dollar, while Chile's peso fell for a second day, declining 0.3 percent to 715.05 per dollar.

Peru's new sol rose for a second day in three, adding 0.3 percent to 3.4820 per dollar. Venezuela's bolivar was fixed at 1,598 per dollar this year.