05 May 2003 20:59:42 GMT By Patrick White

MONTREAL, May 5 (Reuter-Alertnets) - Cesar Gaviria, head of the Organization of American States, said on Monday he was concerned about Cuba's crack-down on dissidents and the OAS was working on a statement about the Latin American country.

"I am personally concerned about the situation of human rights and public liberties in Cuba, and I am waiting for the OAS permanent council to express (this) politically," Gaviria told reporters in Montreal.

He would not say when the statement would be issued and stressed some countries did not only want to deal with the human rights issue in Cuba.

"Many countries do not just want to talk about human rights. They want a statement (on Cuba) that is more comprehensive of the current situation," Gaviria said.

President Fidel Castro's government has come under heavy international criticism after sentencing 75 dissidents to long prison terms last month, and executing three men who hijacked a ferry in a failed bid to reach the United States.

Havana has said the crackdown is in response to what it says is a U.S. plot to topple the Castro government.

Gaviria, a former president of Colombia, also said he was expecting an agreement "in a few weeks" on a referendum on the rule of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

The OAS last month brokered a deal on a referendum after talks between Venezuelan opposition leaders and government negotiators. But a week later the government backed away from signing the accord.

Gaviria is scrambling to patch up the agreement and said he hoped the deal would not lead to confrontations like those last year, when Chavez survived a brief military coup which was followed by months of protests and street clashes.

"Politics in Venezuela today is very very confrontational. We may have risks of violence as we have seen in the last few months," Gaviria told a news conference.

Chavez, elected in 1998 on promises to ease poverty, and his foes have been locked in a political struggle since last year's failed coup.

Mon May 5, 2003 05:17 PM ET CARACAS, Venezuela, May 5 (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Venezuela's largest private energy generator and distributor, Electricidad de Caracas (EDC) EDC.CR , on Monday reported a narrower first-quarter net loss of 25.6 billion bolivars and said it had reduced its costs compared with a year earlier.

EDC, an affiliate of U.S. power firm AES Corp. AES.N , said the quarterly result represented a 25 percent improvement over the net loss it posted a year earlier.

Since February, the fixed exchange rate has been 1,600 bolivars to the U.S. dollar. The company did not immediately provide its dollar results.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 05, 2003 By: Jose Gabriel Angarita

VenAmCham's Jose Gabriel Angarita (economist) writes: More than 100 days since January 21, 2003, when the Venezuelan foreign exchange market closed its doors and the supply restriction became absolute, the chief executive explained that "the State has no intention of monopolizing foreign exchange, but rather, of competing with the private sector" and confirmed that exchange controls will continue to be very strict. He also acknowledged the shortages of some regulated products and announced a massive import plan to counteract them.

About 6,200 tons of chicken will be imported from Brazil, by land and by sea; 80,000 bags of wheat flour will come from Italy, and a reserve of 12 million eggs will be built up to cover demand. The Venezuelan government made clear its intention of continuing with its food import plan to cope with shortages.

It is very important to stop and analyze the implications and consequences of the government's good intention to relieve the Venezuelan consumer's plight, only in the short run.

In the first place, under the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) rules, imports from Brazil must meet the Andean Community requirements and the health requirements spelled out in Resolution 449 on Trade with Third Countries, and are subject to a tariff in accordance with the prescribed variable rates.

In the second place, we should not forget the negative effect of imports of these products on Venezuelan producers, for whom the exchange controls and price regulations have imposed inefficiencies in productive processes, generating unemployment and leading to company failures. Foreign competition will intensify the critical situation in the food sector.

Neither should we neglect the potential macroeconomic implications of the massive import policy the government plans to apply when the main goal of the exchange controls --rebuilding the foreign reserves -- is threatened by the outlays made for external purchases. There may also be distortions in the current account of the balance of payments, since the tradable goods sector is deeply depressed.

Obviously, this situation will be sustainable only in the short term; in the medium term, national private enterprise will continue weakening even more, and if the current policy remains in force the smaller companies will tend to disappear, adding large numbers of employees to the ranks of the unemployed. Reversing the process will require an industrial policy designed to strengthen national capital for transfer to all the sectors of the economy, stimulus for an efficient allocation of resources, and creation of new jobs.

Mon May 5, 2003 04:11 PM ET (Releads, adds details and background)

NEW YORK, May 5 (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Venezuela's recession-bound economy got more bad news on Monday, when the country was dropped from the FTSE All-World Index as tight foreign exchange controls hampered international investors.

The FTSE Group, which manages the global index of 49 developed and emerging countries, said that, since foreign exchange is not available to international investors wishing to sell on the Caracas stock exchange .IBC , Venezuela is in breach of ground rules written for the management of the index.

Venezuela, the No. 5 oil exporter, will be removed at the close of business on June 20 and the change will be effective Monday, June 23. The Latin American country will be removed at nil value.

"Many fund managers have marked the value of Caracas-listed shares held to zero," said Peter Leahy, Co-Chairman of of the FTSE Americas Regional Committee, in a release.

The FTSE Group, which is co-owned by the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times, is a leading index manager -- most notably of the FTSE 100 at the London Stock Exchange.

Venezuela, which will attract fewer investors as a result of the FTSE action, is struggling with one of the worst downturns in its history after a two-month opposition strike in December and January slashed its vital crude production and shipments.

The government in February introduced strict currency and price controls to halt capital flight and stem inflation. But the curbs have left the private sector starved of essential hard currency for more than three months.

Business leaders have warned the controls will further curtail economic growth, batter the private sector and prevent importers paying debts with external suppliers.

"These exchange controls make Venezuela effectively uninvestable," Leahy said.

The Caracas stock market's leading player, No. 1 telephone firm CANTV VNT.N TDVd.CR , an affiliate of Verizon Communications VZ.N , is traded in the United States in ADR form. But the Venezuelan firm recently issued an investor warning saying it might not be able to pay its dividends in dollars due to the forex controls. (Additional reporting by Patrick Markey)

By: J. Daniel Cloud, <a href=www.zwire.com>The Daily Citizen May 05, 2003

Ivette Martinez-Moncus, a probation officer with Georgia Probation Services, became an American citizen on Aug. 29 after eight years of living here. Now she encourages others to do the same.

"I still speak with an accent, but I'm an American now," Moncus said. "I believe the only way you can be successful as an immigrant in this country is to make a difference, and being a citizen helps with that.

"When you speak with an accent people are going to question you. Now I have a guarantee that I have exactly the same rights as everyone else."

Moncus, who holds a law degree from Zulia University in Maracaibo, Venezuela, was working as an attorney in the banking industry "when about eight of the banks in Venezuela went out of business," prompting her to accept a friend's urging to move to the United States, she said.

In recent years a new Venezuelan constitution allowed citizens of that country to have dual citizenship there and in the United States, so Moncus didn't have to give up her position as a Venezuelan citizen to become an American.

This distinction is very important because she still has very strong ties to the nation of her birth.

"I have my parents there. My college was there. My classmates are there," Moncus said.

One of the biggest influences in her life - her 6-year-old son, Jerry Joseph "J.J." Moncus - is here, and he keeps her busy in her non-working hours.

"J.J. Moncus is my life," she said. "He's a great son. He's a red belt in Tae Kwon Do. He's in the kindergarten at Brookwood School. He plays the piano. I love bragging about him."

Her work, her son and other connections to Dalton are very important to Moncus.

"This is my place now. This is my home. But I can't stop thinking about that place, about Venezuela."

Two things she misses about life in Maracaibo, aside from her family, are the food and the social connections she had made at school and in business.

"Maracaibo is a big city, about three million people. It's not like Dalton, and that has been hard to get used to," Moncus said. The differences aside, Moncus prefers being in Dalton to Venezuela, and she's not planning to go back for anything more than a short visit.

If for no other reason, the current political situation under President Hugo Chavez is so restrictive - and it's getting more so - that going back isn't an attractive option.

"I won't go back until he is not in power," Moncus said. The rear window of Moncus's SUV has the slogan "Freedom for Venezuela" painted on it, reflecting her beliefs.

Chavez was deposed for a few days last year by the Venezuelan military, but he quickly resumed his position.

"He's a Communist," Moncus said. "He's a good friend of Fidel Castro and he visited Saddam Hussein in 2000."

When people ask what she thinks of Chavez, she usually says she is "praying for someone to kill him, or for him to get out somehow." Because of the trouble there, some of Moncus' family is considering moving to the United States. Her parents were here in Dalton this month and returned to Maracaibo, which was "very disappointing" for her.

When Moncus came to the United States to work, she moved initially to Fort Oglethorpe, then worked in the legal system for several years in Whitfield County before moving to Georgia Probation Services two and a half years ago.

"I enjoy my job because I can help people at the same time I supervise them," she said. Probation "is usually viewed as a very tough job, and it is tough. But I can make a difference by helping people be better citizens.

"Of course you're going to have people who are in the system over and over again, but I do my best. The only way you can get your goals is to be challenged and keep working."

"Doing her best" also includes volunteering with the First Steps program of the Family Support Council, which "helps new moms learn to deal with depression" and other stresses that face them, she said.

Moncus has won state and national awards for her work in the prevention of child abuse with First Steps. Through her job and her volunteering, Moncus said, she continues to "encourage people, especially women," to finish school and go on to college.

This is especially needed for immigrants to this country, and it's a continuation of her encouragement that they pursue citizenship here, she said, noting that "the idea of coming to the United States is to get a better life, and the education provides that forever."

Moncus would like to go back to law school here, to get a license to practice law. In the meantime, she enjoys working in the legal field even though she can't actually practice.

"I keep saying I want to get my law degree here, but the years keep going by and I haven't done it. But I don't have to pay taxes on my dreams."