By Michael Smith

Rio de Janeiro, April 28 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Brazil's currency surged after the country's central bank chief said it has more room to gain after this year's 19 percent rally.

The real rose 1.5 percent to 2.9650 per dollar at 2:31 p.m. New York time, after Bank President Henrique Meirelles said ``we still have lots of room to see the currency appreciate.'' The real is the second-best performing currency among the 59 tracked by Bloomberg. The Argentine, Colombian and Chilean pesos rose.

The gains extended a rally that's boosted the value of the real 13 percent in April, threatening to curb exports by making Brazilian products more expensive abroad, some government officials have said. The gains, fueled by confidence President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will cut spending and make public debt payments, has divided the ruling coalition over mounting a bid to slow the currency's gains.

The real will keep gaining to reflect the flow of dollars from investment and exports,'' said Flavio Datz a trader with Agora DTVM, a Rio de Janeiro brokerage. Meirelles just made it clear the market will set the price, not the government.''

Meirelles, referring to analysts' concern about the rising currency, said in a speech to the Council of the Americas in Washington that there's no reason to worry.'' The real is still undervalued'' when compared with the average for a basket of 15 currencies since 1985, Meirelles said.

Exporters

The real gained earlier today after Meirelles and Brazilian Finance Minister Antonio Palocci last week said the government won't try to halt the currency's climb to boost exports.

I don't think there will be any intervention,'' Sergio Haberfeld, chairman of Dixie Toga SA, a Brazilian plastic container maker that gets 12 percent of revenue from exports. For an exporter, the higher the dollar the better.''

For Dixie Toga, a real at 3.10 per dollar would be ideal for boosting exports across Latin America, said Haberfeld.

If the currency strengthens beyond 2.8 per dollar, the government likely will try to reverse the trend to ensure exports remain competitive, said Sergio Machado, head of the Treasury desk at Banco Fator SA in Sao Paulo.

The Planning Ministry's chief economist Jose Carlos Miranda on April 25 said the stronger currency is curbing exports and the government plans to limit the real's rise by refusing to refinance securities linked to the dollar.

Brazil is enjoying record exports of soybeans, cars, iron ore and other goods and this year, and Lula has made boosting exports the lynchpin of efforts to boost economic growth.

Brazil's benchmark 8 percent bond maturing in 2014 rose for the fourth day in five, adding 0.19 cent on the dollar to 85.94, paring the yield to 11.55 percent, according to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

Regional Gains

Argentina's peso rose for the fifth day in eight to extend its 18 percent gain on the year after the country's presidential first-round vote yesterday.

The peso rose 0.7 percent to 2.8575 per dollar from 2.8780 last week.

Former President Carlos Menem won 24 percent of ballots, based on 78 percent of the vote counted in yesterday's presidential election. Nestor Kirchner, governor of Santa Cruz province, won 22 percent.

Both are Peronist Party members and will face off in a second round of voting on May 18.

Colombia's peso extended earlier gains to rise for the fourth day in six after the central bank raised the overnight lending rate 100 basis points to 7.25 percent.

The currency strengthened 0.9 percent to 2,885 per dollar, its strongest level since Jan. 7, after the bank's second rate increase this year in a bid to slow inflation.

Chile's peso rose for the first day in three, gaining 0.7 percent to 708.35 per dollar from 713.25 last week.

Mexico

Mexico's peso rose for a fourth day to it highest level since early January, pacing gains by U.S. stock markets amid optimism for renewed growth in the world's biggest economy and Mexico's largest export market.

The peso rose 0.3 percent to 10.3768 per dollar from 10.4117 last week, raising its gain in April to 3.8 percent.

The U.S. buys about 85 percent of Mexico's exports, which account for about a quarter of its $600 billion economy, and provides Mexico with about 70 percent of its foreign direct investment.

Peru's new sol strengthened 0.1 percent to 3.4636 per dollar, and has gained 1.5 percent in 2003. Venezuela's bolivar was fixed at 1,598 per dollar earlier this year. Last Updated: April 28, 2003 14:31 EDT

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, April 28, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuelan Confederation of Tourism Chambers (Conseturismo)  has criticized the National Tourist Board (Inatur)  for restricting a PR program promoting domestic tour deals to Venezolana de Television (VTV) and Las Ultimas Noticias tabloid . 

Conseturismo president, Alvaro Montenegro says he agrees with the government proposal to offer off-season deals to boost the domestic market but disagrees with the PR campaign worth 3.2 billion bolivares. 

"Only 2% of inhabitants watch State VTV ... other television channels should be allowed to place TV ads as well, based on the percentage of viewers ... and the same goes for print media."

The initiative to boost domestic tourism and lift the sector out of the doldrums is an initiative coming from Tourist Minister,General Wilmer Castro Soteldo.  

Inatur director, Silvia Arteaga says the board is considering the private sector's objectives and will reach a decision soon. 

Consecomercio also objects to the approval under the last Minisiter of $106,000 to be spent on salaries of Cuban tourism coaches and teachers saying it is a waste of time since no concrete project has been presented on the matter.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, April 28, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

National Assembly deputy Tarek William Saab has once again become the butt of lunatic opposition supporters, as he went for a coffee in a store on Avenida Francisco de Miranda. A group of women from the Parque Canaima apartments encircled him, calling him an assassin and shouting anti-Chavez slogans. 

"Since I didn't leave, they became even angrier and mustered supporters via cell phones ... I was surrounded by employees from neighboring offices." 

The deputy's wife and children were insulted and a group of men threatened to give him a sound beating ... "it was not just an example of intolerance but bestiality." 

Saab has thanked the Chacao Police  for rescuing him but adds that he was annoyed that one police agent took a photo when he was being led away circled by police cordon. 

The Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) deputy was manhandled and physically threatened when arrested during the April 12 coup last year ... himself and his children have been subject to jibes and fear several times ... one such incident took place in a Caracas restaurant.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, April 28, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Rebel Army General (ret.) Enrique Medina Gomez has called on the opposition to form a single block again to bring down the government of Hugo Chavez Frias. 

The Plaza Altamira military rebels have been celebrating six months since they jumped the gun in November 2002 and took over the plaza as the military opposition HQ. 

From forcing the pace of opposition action against Chavez Frias in December, the rebels have become the pariah of the opposition ... nobody wants to touch them with a barge pole, least of all the main opposition group Coordinadora Democratica (CD).

The media reported poor attendance at the anniversary rally but indicate that emotions ran high despite a heavy downpour of rain. 

Medina Gomez insists that Venezuela is fast becoming a totalitarian state and that the only answer is a popular insurrection and stronger civil disobedience. 

"We should not fall into the trap of asking the Armed Force  ( FAN)  to intervene ... the FAN knows what it has to do in the circumstances ... if the FAN has not understood its role in preserving the security of society, it runs the risk of being overrun by society." 

The rebels also condemned the arrest of dismissed National Guard (GN) General Carlos Alfonzo Martinez and the political persecution against officers, who have been forced to seek asylum in Embassies.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic news Posted: Monday, April 28, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Breaking down the situation of the Catholic Church in Venezuela, Monsignor Baltazar Porras counters arguments that most of the clergy are foreigners and that there are few native Venezuelan priests. 

The prelate admits that the Independence War saw the demise of the Church, which was also hard hit by President Guzman Blanco's expulsion of bishops and closure of seminaries at the end of the 19th century. 

During the twentieth century the situation was saved by an influx of foreign born clergy and religious giving the impression that the Church had a foreign image, which Porras claims is untrue because many of foreign-born clergy made a sucessful effort to fit in with local mentality. 'The situation has changed ... over the past forty years the Church has consolidated it position in Venezuelan society and has its own native face." 

• In 1964 there were 19 Church dioceses and departments  ... now there are 38
• In 1973, there were 100 major seminarians distributed in 3 seminaries: 2 in Caracas and 1 in San Cristobal
• Today there are 1,096 seminarians: 714 for the diocesan clergy in 17 seminaries and 382 candidates for religious orders in 20 houses of development
• In 2002, there were 83 new priests and the same number is scheduled for this year.

Porras ends his bird's eye view of the Church saying it is a "sign of grace that despite attacks on the Church and disqualifications, young people are ready to become God's servants and help their fellow men."