El Universal, Executive Daily news and Summary

"Customers of Venezuela's Pdvsa are reporting renewed difficulties securing crude from Pdvsa, stoking fears that the country's output figures are inflated," Petroleum Argus says this week.

According to the oil bulletin, term buyers have expressed growing frustration with the situation. "Even Pdvsa's affiliates in the US have been forced to look for an alternative supply."

It adds that buyers complain they have been unable to get straight answers on how much oil they can receive, and some say it is a challenge even contacting Pdvsa's traders. "A Latin American trader says it now takes weeks to do deals with Pdvsa, where it used to take days, asserting that politicization and bureaucracy at Pdvsa are out of control."

"Us refiners have asked Mexico if it can supply more crude to make up Venezuelan shortfalls. But Pemex says it has no crude to spare, and cannot help. Russian Urals is filling some of the gap. Citgo and its Lyondell-Citgo sister have bought large volumes of Urals arriving this month and next, and are also seeking heavy crude in the Americas."

Argus also says that speculation that Venezuelan crude output is well below the 3.1 mn b/d claimed last month by Pdvsa's president Alí Rodríguez are increasing. "One rival says that Venezuela's output is no higher than 2.6 mn-2.7 mn b/d, and some of this is coming from Caribbean storage rather than Venezuelan fields."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic news Posted: Monday, June 09, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Lt. Colonel Francisco Arias Cardenas continues to preach about the importance of the recall referendum and it would appear that he is fighting a losing battle.  During visits to the provinces, Union party leaders say they have not managed to convince many people about the advantages of the recall referendum. This fact must acknowledged, Arias Cardenas says, and the opposition must not be distracted by whatever President Chavez Frias threatens or throws at it. 

The recall referendum is checkmate for the government ... "it's impeccable and we have to give it top priority." 

The former Zulia State Governor insists that the opposition must be magnanimous to open the door to adversaries because what the country needs now is a national consensus with minimum conflict. 

Aware that the government is intent on widening its power base, Arias Cardenas warns that President Chavez Frias will attempt to divert the opposition towards partial objectives, which gives him the chance to re-group and counter-attack. " The opposition should stick to its guns and promote the recall referendum ... it will take will and conscience."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, June 09, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

National Electoral College (CNE) president Romulo Rangel has ruled out the Sumate organization as an electoral observer group, saying that in organizing the opposition signature campaign in January for anything going, it has taken on a political role and is clearly identified with one side of the political spectrum. 

Rangel says he has no problem with Sumate as one of the recall referendum political tendencies but rules out any "independent" role.  

Critics say the Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB) Observers Network is another organization that has lost its independent observer status because of the partisan stance of its leaders, even though it was on the CNE 2000 mega-elections roster, along with the Federation of Chambers of Industry & Commerce (Fedecamaras). The Bolivarian Workers Front (FBT) is another non-starter ... perhaps the only independent groups are PROVEA and Red de Apoyo.

Among the groups approved for the July 30 and November 8, 2000 elections were the following: Red de Veedores de la UCAB, Asamblea de Dios, A.C de Vecinos por Venezuela, Jovenes por Venezuela, Universidades Nacionales, Grupo social Cesap, Fedecamaras, Grupo Caruao, Federacion de Estudiantes Universitarios, Fundabeo, Frente Bolivariano de Trabajadores (FBT) , Fundacion Dale al Voto, Iniciativa Propia  and five other regional groups.

June 9 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Brazil's currency pared gains as investors and companies took advantage of last week's rally in the real to buy dollars to pay for imports and maturing debt.

Brazil's real rose 0.5 percent to 2.8625 per dollar in Sao Paulo at 3:44 p.m. New York time. Earlier, it gained 0.7 percent to 2.8550 after rising 3.2 percent last week, the best performance of the 16 most-traded currencies. Colombia's peso rose and Mexico's peso reversed declines to rise.

Brazilian banks and companies have sold almost $6 billion of bonds abroad this year, boosting the Brazilian real to a 24 percent gain, making it cheaper to buy dollars for debts and export payments right now. Brazilian banks this Thursday alone must pay $550 million of foreign bonds. Of that, $300 million is owed by Banco Garantia, the Brazilian unit of Credit Suisse Group, $100 million by the Brazilian unit of Madrid-based Banco Santander SA and $150 million by Sao Paulo's Banco Votorantim SA.

``I'm hearing people say that at current levels, it's a good time to buy dollars,'' said Carlos Gandolfo, a partner at Pioneer Corretora de Cambio Ltda., a Sao Paulo currency brokerage that handles about a third of all trades in Brazil's spot market.

Brazil's benchmark 8 percent bond maturing in 2014 gained 0.38 cent to 92 cents on the dollar, paring the yield to 9.95 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The bond closed at a record high of 91.63 on Friday after earlier rising as high as 92.63 in intraday trading in New York and London.

Debt Balance

Further declines may have been limited by investor expectations that the government will sell a foreign currency bond in the coming days.

There is a lot of maturing debt but beyond this, every week it seems we have someone else selling debt,'' said Marcel Peregrino, who helps manages about 25 million reais of bonds and stocks for Ativa SA, a Rio de Janeiro fund management company. The rumors of a Brazilian sovereign sale are also strong.''

Some of the banks paying maturing debt, such as Votorantim and Santander have already secured new finance to pay their maturing debt.

The rough balance of maturing debt and new bond sales should keep the real in the 2.85 reais to the dollar to 2.95 reais to the dollar range for the next few weeks, Peregrino said.

Colombia

Colombia's peso rose for the sixth day in seven after Finance Minister Roberto Junguito's resignation Friday led to the designation of his deputy to assume the post, allaying investor concern about continuity of the country's economic policy.

The peso gained 0.4 percent to 2,815.00 per dollar in Bogota, and the benchmark 10 percent bond due January 2012 rose for a sixth day, adding 0.15 cent on the dollar to 114.40, paring its yield to 7.68 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The yield has declined from a high of 14.46 percent on Sept. 19.

President Alvaro Uribe moved quickly Friday to fill the ministry post, naming 44-year-old Deputy Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla, a former technical vice director at the central bank, as Junguito's successor. Carrasquilla, who said he would continue the economic policies undertaken by Junguito, will be sworn in June 20.

``It's clear the economic program is going to continue on the same track and at the same pace without skipping a beat,'' said Jose Cerritelli, an analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co. in New York.

Growth Course

Junguito, a former Colombian representative to the International Monetary Fund, was instrumental in signing a $2.1 billion, two-year standby loan accord with the IMF. He also helped push key pension, tax and labor bills through Congress aimed at cutting deficit spending and boosting growth.

Junguito felt he'd completed his mission,'' said Alvaro Camaro, head of research at Acciones y Valores SA brokerage. He got the accord with the IMF and he pushed through the key reforms.''

The government on Friday announced that industrial output, excluding coffee processing, rose 15.3 percent in March from the year-earlier month, the national statistics agency said in Bogota. Industrial sales rose 14.8 percent.

Accelerating industrial output may help the economy maintain its momentum after growing 3.8 percent in the first quarter, the biggest gain in the gross domestic product in five years.

Interest rates near historic lows have helped boost the construction industry, raising demand for metal products and other items used in building and helping create jobs.

Regional Currencies

Chile's peso fell for the fourth day in five, sliding 0.4 percent to 717.05 per dollar, paring its gain in 2003 to 0.5 percent.

Mexico's peso reversed declines to rise for the second day in three, adding 0.7 percent to 10.6550 per dollar, paring its decline in 2003 to 2.7 percent, the worst performance among the 16 most widely trade currencies.

Argentina's peso rose 0.6 percent to 2.8125 per dollar, boosting its gains in 2003 to 19 percent, the second-best performance among 59 currencies tracked by Bloomberg worldwide.

Peru's new sol was little changed at 3.4825 per dollar from 3.4818 on Friday. Venezuela this year fixed its bolivar at 1,598 per dollar.

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOANews David Gollust Santiago 09 Jun 2003, 17:54 UTC 

Secretary of State Colin Powell, in the Chilean capital Santiago, has appealed to regional foreign ministers to take a stand against Cuba's crackdown against dissidents. There is resistance within the Organization of American States to taking up the issue, without also dealing with the U.S. economic embargo against the Fidel Castro government.

Mr. Powell's policy address to the OAS General Assembly included some of the Bush administration's strongest criticism of the Cuban crackdown, and an appeal to OAS member countries to stand together against the "depredations of the hemisphere's only dictatorship."

Seventy-five prominent Cuban dissidents were given long prison terms in April on subversion and treason charges, and three men were executed after a summary trial for trying to hijack a ferry boat to the United States.

Deploring the crackdown by the Castro government, the Secretary of State said the Cuban people "increasingly look" to the OAS for help in defending their fundamental freedoms, and reminded delegates of their commitments under the group's 2001 declaration of support for hemisphere-wide democratization.

"The Inter-American Democratic Charter declares that the peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy. It does not say that the peoples of the Americas, except Cuba, have a right to democracy. I commend the OAS members who stood by their principles and the Cuban people in supporting the recent declaration on human rights in Cuba on the floor of the [OAS] Permanent Council. My government looks forward to working with our partners in the OAS to find ways to hasten the inevitable democratic transition in Cuba," Mr. Powell said.

The declaration condemning Cuba, sponsored by Canada, Chile and Uruguay, was presented in the OAS Permanent Council last month, but it has been signed by only half the organization's 34-member countries.

Most Caribbean member states have not signed the measure, arguing among other things, that Cuba's human rights record should not be debated, as long as the Castro government is suspended from the OAS, which it has been for 40 years.

A senior OAS official told reporters many members of the organization are ready to debate the issue of Cuba, but in a balanced way that includes the U.S. economic embargo and efforts to isolate the communist government in Havana.

In his policy speech, Mr. Powell also welcomed the agreement late last month for an August 19 referendum on the political future of controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He congratulated OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria for his months of work in mediating the accord, and said the United States is committed to working with the OAS and the so-called "group of friends" of Venezuela to bolster implementation of the agreement.

Mr. Powell announced a million dollar U.S. special grant, on top of $70 million in U.S. humanitarian aid to Haiti this year, to assist a special OAS mission trying to improve security conditions for long-delayed elections there.

He said the government of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has failed to fulfill OAS resolutions for an electoral solution to the Caribbean country's political impasse. He said if it has not laid the necessary groundwork for elections by September, then the OAS should "re-evaluate" its role in that country.

The OAS ministers have agreed to call a special summit-level meeting of the organization, to be held in Mexico in November, to deal with threats to the region's democratic institutions posed by the protracted economic slump and financial crises in key member states including Argentina.