Source By Ikenna Emewu

Following the claim Wed-nesday by Information and National Orientation Mini-ster, Prof. Jerry Gana that the energy crisis that has been crippling the nation since February is the handiwork of saboteurs, the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) has accused Gana and President Olusegun Obasanjo of being the real sabotuers. According to a press statement issued by the Buhari-Okadigbo campaign organisation, "the only reason our people don't have fuel is because the nation's refineries are not working. The refineries have been left to rot because Obasanjo prefers to continue to service his government's famous corruption through the lucrative fuel importation business which has long become a scam". The statement signed by Deputy Director-General of the campaign organisation, Sam Nda-Isaiah accused Gana of "lying shamelessly and engaging in cheap and insensitive talks, even in the face of excruciating suffering of the masses of the nation". The group lamented that "today it takes N10,000 to fill the tank of a car that used to take about N1,500 previously, and the Nigerian people are going through this gnashing hardship because they have been saddled with a government that is incompetent, insensitive, irresponsible, mean and corrupt without apologies". ANPP further alleged that "fuel importation is a lucrative venture that keeps the Obasanjo's government's corruption machine alive and well. The refineries will not be repaired as long as Obasanjo remains in power. The statement lampooned the Obasanjo government for cashing in on flimpsy reasons to justify the crisis, sneering that "first they said it was as a result of strike in far away Venezuela, then another said it was a technical fault. The party Chairman later said it was because of the war in Iraq, and now the tale is about saboteurs". "Obasanjo, Gana and and other members of the PDP gang are the real saboteurs of Nigeria. They are the ones who have held Nigeria on the jugular in the last four years," ANPP further submitted.

<a href=www.zenit.org>ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome Archbishop Pietro Monni Addresses European Conference

ROME, APRIL 4, 2003 (Zenit.org).- A Vatican aide lamented the legal vacuum that exists in regards to sexual tourism, and he called for an appreciation of the efforts by religious institutions to combat pedophilia.

Archbishop Pietro Monni, permanent observer of the Vatican to the World Tourism Organization, highlighted the legal deficiency when he addressed the European Conference for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation. The two-day conference ended today in Rome.

The Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Kenya were the countries the archbishop mentioned as the principal objects of sexual tourism.

This "new form of slavery" is the result of an "apathetic policy, the economic greed of local privileged classes, the poverty of certain countries, and the struggle for survival of some sectors of the population," he stressed.

One of the causes of the "enormous increase in sexual tourism is the lack of appropriate laws" but also, even when there are severe penal norms, the absence of "effective measures directed to their application," or the existence of "police complicity," the archbishop lamented.

The Vatican representative spoke about the role of the Church in promoting healthy and responsible tourism, and of the constant efforts and concrete commitments of religious institutions worldwide in the struggle against all forms of exploitation of children.

"I have personally accompanied nuns who went out late at night in a jeep on the streets of Bangkok to collect the children being displayed in private premises and centers," the archbishop recalled.

They courageously challenged "dramatic situations and criminal groups, a memory "I carry always with me," he added.

Archbishop Monni also referred to John Paul II's repeated condemnation of this phenomenon. In October 1997 the Pope "described child prostitution as a 'world scourge.'"

The Vatican permanent observer concluded his address by saying that "not only in Europe and the United States, but in all the continents, the episcopal conferences are moving to address with more appropriate means the tentacles of this destabilizing monster of pedophilia."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, April 04, 2003 By: Gustavo Coronel

VHeadline.com commentarist Gustavo Coronel writes: 2003 looks like a very difficult year for Venezuela and Venezuelans. A workshop organized by VenAmCham (the Venezuelan American Chamber), brought together several experts on the financial, economic, political, labor and petroleum areas, who presented their views to over 100 businessmen and women as well as top managers from both the public and the private sectors.

The chief economist of VenAmCham, Jose Gregorio Pineda, presented the key financial indicators for the year, as follows:

1. An external debt payment of some $4 billion,
2. A government moratorium on the payment of the internal debt,
3. A decline of about 15 points in the GDP, some $15 billion,
4. An inflation rate at year's end of about 40%,
5. Devaluation of 100%,
6. A GDP per capita only comparable to the level of 1960,
7. Total Investments representing only 12% of the GDP, as compared to 30% in the 1970´s,
8. Exchange and price controls probably resulting in pronounced economic recession.

Economist Maxim Ross predicted a fiscal deficit of between $12 to $22 billion, depending on the performance of PDVSA during the year, most probably closer to the last figure. He made emphasis on the close relation between economic performance and the evolution f the political process. He claimed that, unless the government changes this year, the economy would collapse, leading to violent social upheaval.

Manuel Diaz and Arelis Diaz predicted an unemployment rate of about 27%. This would be the largest ever recorded in the country. Minimum salary would remain at about $120 per month, lower than in Colombia and Ecuador, the other Andean countries.

I, myself, participated in the event giving the petroleum outlook ... I forecast a daily average production of some 2.3 million barrels for the year, about one million barrels less than during a normal year. The exports of hydrocarbons would be at around 1.5 million barrels per day, of which one million barrels would be crude oils and the rest products. These export volumes would be about one million barrels per day lower than normal. As a result, fiscal participation of the government would only be of about $6 to $7 billion, as compared to the $12 billion obtained last year.

Worse still, the reliability of Venezuela as a reliable oil supplier to international clients has been severely eroded. Our main client, the US, no longer considers us reliable and has had to resort to Mexico and Saudi Arabia to fill the temporary gaps of supply from PDVSA.

These predictions could, of course, be off the mark ... they represent the educated guesses of the speakers concerned. It's interesting to note, however, that a survey taken among the participants did not show significant variations. At any rate this information should be compared to that obtained from other sources.

This outlook is closely dependent on the political process. If Chavez leaves the Presidency before the end of the year, there will be a transition period, with a new government in charge, which would last until 2006. This government would find the country in social, economic and spiritual ruin and would face a very hard task of national reconstruction, one for which very few people will give them credit. The new government can only offer Venezuelans "blood, sweat and tears," giving the sorry conditions existing in the country. An immediate program of reconstruction would have to put in place including, among other items:

The immediate return of the professional managers and technicians to PDVSA ... an opening to private investment ... the end of the romance with Cuba and the Colombian guerrillas ... the end of the hostile attitude towards the US ... the implementation of a large construction program in the public sector ... intensive tourism promotion ... the disarmament of the Bolivarian circles and the dismantling of the corrupt bureaucracy installed by Chavez ... the rapid shift from "buhonerismo" to organized employment ... a deep cleaning of Venezuelan cities ... in short, a major shift of direction in the life of the Nation, which has been in a tragic course for disaster.

Yes, 2003 is going to be a very difficult year for us.

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

<a href=www.sfgate.com>SFGate.com Friday, April 4, 2003
(04-04) 11:07 PST CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --

Venezuela's Central Bank rejected President Hugo Chavez's demand that it impose fixed interest rates for private banks.

The Central Bank won't accept "pressure from anyone" to impose rates, director Domingo Maza Zavala said in comments published in Friday's El Universal newspaper.

On Wednesday, Chavez demanded the Central Bank force private banks to lower their borrowing rates, which range from 25 percent to 40 percent. Chavez argued the high rates were hurting small businesses and the government, which faces $4.6 billion in domestic debt payments this year. Venezuela's domestic debt totals $9 billion.

The Central Bank "has the legal right to set a ceiling for interests rates when it considers it convenient, not because of pressure," Maza Zavala said.

Venezuela hasn't had fixed interests rates since 1992.

Maza Zavala said the Central Bank would issue short-term loans to lower interests rates.

Private economists expect Venezuela's economy to shrink more than 20 percent this year, partly because of an unsuccessful strike to demand early elections. The two-month strike, which fizzled in February, paralyzed the world's fifth largest oil exporting industry and cost Venezuela $6 billion.

<a href=smartmoney.com>Dow jones April 4, 2003

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuela will have to ration electricity from about the end of May because a severe drought has reduced hydroelectric reservoir levels to a 53-year low, the government's Venpres news agency reported Friday.

"If this one-year-old drought continues, we'll be forced to ration electricity by the end of May," Miguel Lara, the National Grid's managing director was quoted as saying.

The government hopes to make up for some of the likely hydroelectric power shortfall with extra thermoelectric power, according to Lara.

State-run hydroelectric electricity provider Edelca usually serves about 70% of Venezuela's power needs. Thermoelectric power accounts for most of the remainder, with about 18% coming from government-owned facilities and around 12% from AES Corp.(AES) subsidiary CA La Electricidad de Caracas, which supplies Caracas and its suburbs.

Power cuts in Venezuela's industrial belt could affect the oil, iron, steel, and aluminum industries - which make up around 50% of gross domestic product - even as the country fights an enduring recession highlighted by an 8.9% economic contraction last year.

Electricity demand last year was 89,562 GWh, 2.8% higher than in 2001.

• By Jehan Senaratna, Dow Jones Newswires;58212 564 1339 jehan.senaratna@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires