Last Updated:  Tuesday, 1 April, 2003, 09:44 GMT 10:44 UK
Nick Higham BBC media correspondent

Imagine a world in which Tony Blair hosts a television programme called Hello, Prime Minister from locations around the country every Sunday on BBC One and on every BBC radio station.

Imagine this programme, in which he lambasts his political opponents and cries up the government's achievements for three or four hours at a time.

Imagine he also commandeers airtime on ITV and Channel 4 and Five at peaktime, sometimes two or three times a week.

And then imagine a world in which news coverage on those same commercial channels is routinely hostile to the government - while the BBC, of course, is a government mouthpiece, its programmes preceded by video vignettes in which Union Jack-waving workers and peasants march across the screen in slow motion to the accompaniment of stirring music.

It is of course unthinkable - in Britain, but not in Venezuela.

I have just returned from my first visit to Latin America, and I found it frankly staggering.

Venezuela is the most deeply polarised country I have ever been to.

Deposed

Since 1998 its president has been Hugo Chavez, a populist swept to power on a promise to do something, anything, for the two-thirds of Venezuelans living on or below the poverty line.

Last year he was briefly deposed in a coup (until the military switched sides to reinstate him).

Last December the middle classes, whose own standard of living has been plummeting, began a two-month general strike to try and unseat him.

They fear he is trying to "do a Castro" and turn Venezuela into a kind of Cuba, proudly independent and desperately poor.

The strike succeeded only in paralysing the economy, which enjoyed what the economists call "negative growth" of nine per cent last year and is predicted to shrink by a further 20% this year.

Throughout, the media have played a shamelessly partisan role.

Chavez thumps the tub every Sunday in his programme Ola! Presidente.

Economy

In the edition I saw (number 144) he was broadcasting from a new workers' housing development somewhere in the provinces, taking time out to attack the invasion of Iraq.

Venezuela, whose economy depends on oil exports, thinks America's purpose in the Gulf is to smash Opec and drive down the price of oil.

In 1998 Chavez was the first head of state to visit Saddam Hussein in Baghdad since the Gulf War.

Dr Marcel Granier, chief executive of RCTV, which along with its rival Venevision is one of Venezuela's two main commercial channels, maintains that TV coverage of the 1998 election was relatively impartial and that government spokesmen are still given airtime in his station's news programmes.

But in Granier's view the government are "a gang of felons" with little belief in democracy and the rule of law.

Given his shameless use of state TV and radio, Granier says Chavez has no right to complain if commercial TV channels are biased against him (Granier does not concede that they are, though other observers disagree).

Resents

RCTV's Todos Intimos, at 9pm each night, is currently one of the top-rating telenovelas or soap operas which dominate the ratings in Venezuela - which may be why Granier so resents what he calls Chavez's frequent "confiscation" of RCTV airtime during Todos Intimos's transmissions.

With the country's major newspapers all lined up against Chavez, the president himself feels beleaguered, railing against middle class "saboteurs" out to destroy his populist revolution.

The result: there is nowhere ordinary Venezuelans (or visiting foreign journalists, for that matter) can turn for reliable, impartial coverage of affairs.

Like most Latin American countries Venezuela's history is one of dictatorship: a lasting democracy was only established in 1958.

Civil society has had less than half a century to take root. Television's inability to stand back from the fray is a reflection of Venezuela's wider social failures: almost certainly, it is also making things worse.

To use a metaphor appropriate to a petroleum-based economy, Venezuela's broadcasters aren't pouring oil on troubled waters, they are fuelling the flames.

This column also appears in the BBC's publication Ariel.

By Mike Ceaser THE WASHINGTON TIMES

     PERIJA MOUNTAINS, Venezuela — Illegal drug cultivation is said to be increasing amid these dark green mountains since Venezuela's abandonment more than a year ago of its eradication program.      The Perija range, which straddles the Colombian border near the Caribbean coast, has long been a source of concern for drug-control officials because its steep, remote slopes offer prime conditions for cultivating and hiding illicit crops.      For more than a decade, the Venezuelan military with United States cooperation carried out annual eradication campaigns involving hundreds of soldiers who chopped down and yanked out clandestine fields of marijuana, opium poppies and coca, the raw material for cocaine.      But last year, as Venezuela experienced social and political upheaval including an aborted military-led coup in April, the country carried out no eradication.      "[The mountains] are full" of drug crops, said a national guardsman in the town of Machiques who participated in past eradications but requested anonymity. "The places we destroyed have regrown."      In fact, drug acreage in Venezuela is tiny compared with the numbers in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, long centers of illegal drug exports. In 2001, Venezuela eradicated 117 acres of coca and 96 acres of poppy crops, while the other three eliminated tens of thousands of acres. Still, nobody is certain how much illegal drug cultivation exists in Venezuela, since it has no monitoring program.      In 2002, Colombia's eradication program, part of the U.S.-funded $1.9 billion Plan Colombia, achieved its first-ever coca-acreage reduction, cutting coca cultivation there by 15 percent. But the advance was partially nullified by higher output in Peru and Bolivia.      For critics of drug eradication, the shift of cultivation to other countries is the inevitable "balloon effect," in which a reduction in one place encourages production elsewhere. Small coca plots have also been discovered in Ecuador.      "You can achieve a short-term reduction in a limited area ... but it pops up somewhere else," said Adam Isaacson, who directs the Colombia program at the Center for International Policy in Washington.      Though there are no numbers on illegal drug acreage in Venezuela, recent reports agree that plantings in the Perija range have increased.      The U.S. State Department's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2002, issued last month, said that during the 2001 eradication effort, coca fields as large as 20 acres were found in the Perija range for the first time. Also, the report said, "three cocaine base labs in this region were discovered for the first time ever in Venezuela, indicating what could be a troubling new trend."      Cesar Romero, a ranger in Perija Mountains National Park, said that in the last few years rangers have more frequently encountered drug cultivation during patrols. Last September, he stumbled onto a harvested poppy field covering about six acres.      "It is increasing," he said.      Like other areas where drug cultivation has flourished, the Perija mountains are lawless and impoverished. Except for occasional military patrols, the central government is nearly absent. The poor inhabitants have few saleable crops, since fruits and vegetables would spoil during the long mule trips to towns.      State lawmaker Javier Armata, who represents the Yupa tribe in the legislature of Zulia, which contains the Perija range, said Colombian guerrillas pay indigenous people with cash, food and medicine for planting drugs.      "[The guerrillas] say drug planting is the best way to earn money," said Mr. Armata. Still, according to military officers and news reports, most drug cultivation in the mountains is done by Colombian peasants.      While Colombia's eradication has sharply reduced drug acreage in its southwest, coca farming has surged in the east, bordering Venezuela. And Colombia's political violence has sent thousands of peasants, some of them drug farmers, fleeing to Venezuela seeking refuge. There are also reports of drug cultivation on Venezuela's flatlands south of the Perija range.      Gen. Alberto Jose Gutierrez, commander of an infantry division whose responsibility includes part of the Perija range, predicted that Plan Colombia would lead guerrilla groups to move to Venezuela.      "They will try to enter our territory," he said. "But we have taken measures. We have our frontier posts."      Gen. Gutierrez said the government's eradication program had ended before his transfer to the region and that he did not know the reason why. The military's central command in Caracas did not respond to requests for comment.      The eradication halt is not the first time Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has opted out of the U.S.-backed drug war. Shortly after becoming president in 1999, he banned U.S. anti-drug overflights, citing national sovereignty.      While border military regiments are short of fuel and other supplies necessary for carrying out eradication expeditions, some here suspect a political motivation in the drug-eradication halt.      The Chavez government faced great political turmoil over the past year. Last April, Mr. Chavez was kidnapped by military officers aligned with his political foes, and released after two days of international pressure. In December, leaders of the interests that Mr. Chavez unseated by a popular landslide in national elections four years earlier shut down Venezuela's oil industry — the country's main income-earner — in a crippling general strike that collapsed less than two months ago.      Fernando Villasmil, president of the Zulia state legislature, says the Chavez government has drastically reduced the military's presence along the frontier, leaving an opening for guerrillas.      "If [the government] doesn't take radical measures, [the drug crops] will expand in size," he said. "We will change from being a transit country for drugs into a producer country."

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2003  (CBS/AP)

(AP) The State Department criticized Israeli and Palestinian authorities Monday for widespread abuses in their conflict, and denounced China for what it said was a long list of rights violations.

In its annual human rights report, the State Department said many supporters of the U.S.-led war effort in Iraq had subpar rights records in 2002.

Uzbekistan earned a "very poor" rating although the study acknowledged some notable improvements. In Eritrea, the report said, "the government's poor human rights record worsened, and it continued to commit serious abuses."

Qatar and Kuwait, two of the countries most identified with the war against Iraq, were said to be generally respectful of the rights of citizens.

Introducing the report during a brief meeting with reporters, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq is liberating that country from a "ruthless tyranny that has shown utter contempt for human life." He vowed to help the Iraqi people create a "representative democracy that respects the rights of all of its citizens."

The report, covering almost 200 countries, said respect for human rights was generally good in Latin America but it listed six countries where rights conditions were listed as "poor" -- Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Venezuela.

On Israel, the report said the country's overall human rights record in the occupied territories remained poor, and worsened in several areas as it continued to commit "numerous, serious human rights abuses."

"Security forces killed at least 990 Palestinians and two foreign nationals and injured 4,382 Palestinians and other persons during the year, including innocent bystanders," the report said.

It said Israeli security forces targeted and killed at least 37 Palestinian terror suspects.

"Israeli forces undertook some of these targeted killings in crowded areas when civilian casualties were likely, killing 25 bystanders, including 13 children," the report said.

It noted that the Israeli government said that it made every effort to reduce civilian casualties during these operations.

The report also criticized the Palestinian Authority's rights record.

It said many members of Palestinian security services and the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization participated with civilians and terrorist groups in violent attacks against Israeli settlers, other civilians and soldiers.

"The PLO and PA have not complied with most of their commitments, notably those relating to the renunciation of violence and terrorism, taking responsibility for all PLO elements and disciplining violators," it said.

Although there was no conclusive evidence that the most senior PLO or PA leaders gave prior approval for these acts, the report said some leaders endorsed such acts in principle in speeches and interviews.

On China, the report said abuses included "instances of extrajudicial killings, torture and mistreatment of prisoners, forced confessions, arbitrary arrest and detention, lengthy incommunicado detention and denial of due process."

At the same time, the report credited the government with some positive steps, including the release of a number of prominent dissidents and the granting of permission for senior representatives of the Dalai Lama to visit the country.

The administration normally attempts to censure China on human rights grounds at the annual meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The meeting is now in its third week, and Powell declined on Monday to say whether Washington will introduce a China resolution at the commission meeting.

In Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terrorism, the report said the government's rights record remained poor. "In general police continued to commit serious abuses with impunity," it said.

APRIL 1, 2003 Business Week WAR IN IRAQ

If anything, says Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the producing nations' biggest fear is a post-war price collapse In the run-up to the war in Iraq, crude oil prices shot to levels not seen since the last Persian Gulf crisis. Since the war began, however, prices have dropped back to earth. Crude oil at the New York Mercantile Exchange is hovering close to $30 a barrel, a far cry from the nearly $40-a-barrel levels seen a few weeks ago. Indeed, according to Geneva-based energy consultancy Petrologistics, the cartel boosted production by 1.3 million barrels a day in March.
Still, with the war's course so uncertain, oil prices are likely to see volatile times in the days and weeks to come. What lies ahead? On Mar. 27, Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the president of OPEC and Qatar's Energy Minister, spoke to BusinessWeek's Laura Cohn in Doha, Qatar, about the adequacy of energy supplies, the mood at OPEC, and what will happen to oil prices after the war. Following are edited excerpts of their conversation: Q: What are you doing to ensure that there will be adequate energy supplies? A: More oil has been produced and brought to the market. That's why the price has dropped dramatically. If you ask yourself, why has the price dropped very dramatically -- almost more than $7 in 10 days? There's more oil in the market, and the world can absorb it. Also, don't forget Venezuela is coming back [into the market as a producer]. If you go back to December [with strikes and unrest in Venezuela], we saw 3 million barrels suddenly disappear...[but it's] coming back. Now, people are concerned about Nigeria, but this is only temporary. Q: Iraq has asked other Arab nations not to increase their production. What's your reaction to that? A: They had the right to ask. Iraq is a member of OPEC, and anyone as a member of OPEC has the right to discuss [anything] with other members. But OPEC and major oil producers are working together to stabilize the oil markets. We are not aiming to produce just to produce. We aim to stabilize the oil market. We aim to seek a balance between demand and supply. OPEC is an international organization. It is not a political organization. Q: How often are you in consultation with your OPEC colleagues? A: Not daily, but we are in consultation all the time. I do a lot of consultation with my OPEC colleagues, with non-OPEC colleagues. We try to see how to manage it. In reality, oil prices are always underestimated. From 1985-2000, the average price of a barrel of oil was only $18. Sometimes it's exaggerated. When oil prices go to $30, consumers start crying. But when you take the average of the last 15 years, [you see] you shouldn't blame oil producers. Q: Do you have any plans for an emergency OPEC meeting? A: Why should we meet? There is no shortage of oil. The price has dropped. So it's not [like] we have an agenda that would attract us to meet. If we have something to push us, yes. If there's a big shortage of oil, prices skyrocket, then we [will] have something to say. My main concern is that after the war, we will see the oil price collapse. Demand and economic growth now are not good. The world is in recession, and this is reflected in consumption. This is a story we have to be very careful about. Q: If the war drags on, won't oil prices rise again? A: I cannot predict what will happen. Some analysts said once the war starts, oil will reach $100. Do not believe analysts. When I went to America for school in 1970, there was a very famous song [by The Undisputed Truth] that said "Smiling faces sometimes they don't tell the truth." Analysts never give the truth. All scenarios are open. This is my concern. Q: In your view, why did the price of oil go up so much before the war started? A: It was because of the speculators. They hijacked the oil market. We always said there's a high war premium. It was more than $7. Now the market has become more pragmatic.

31 Mar 2003 23:55:00 GMT

LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Up to 50 Bolivians were believed missing on Monday when a landslide engulfed dozens of homes in a remote northern gold-prospecting town, officials said.

La Paz province security officials scaled back initial reports that as many as 700 people had been buried, saying they believed 40 to 50 people were missing as heavy rains washed away a mountainside. They refuted media reports four people had been confirmed dead.

A local radio journalist who reached a nearby town said he was told by inhabitants 150 people were unaccounted for.

The remote site of Chima, 360 miles (580 km) north of the capital, La Paz, by winding road, was expected to take rescuers 10 hours to reach, and officials said conflicting reports and poor communications meant the toll of the missing could change.

"The first reports we received were exaggerated," Oscar Nina, La Paz province security chief said, adding he had been told 150 houses had been buried and up to 50 people were missing.

About 1,200 families live in the town beneath Chima mountain, where mining cooperatives prospect for gold with rudimentary equipment, desperate to escape poverty that envelops 60 percent of the country's 8 million people.

Hundreds of people have been killed by landslides in the gold-rich north near the borders with Peru and Brazil over the past decade where miners in one of the Western Hemisphere's poorest countries pan for gold using century-old technology.

Sixty people were killed by a mudslide in the jungle gold-mining town of Mocotoro in 1998, while a mountain slide was estimated to have killed hundreds of people in 1992 in Llipi.

Thousands of people were killed by mudslides in Venezuela in 1999 on the mountainous northern coast near Caracas, following torrential rains.