<a href=www.canada.com>Canadian Press Monday, March 31, 2003

VANCOUVER (CP) - Crystallex International Corp. says there are 9.5 million ounces of potential gold reserves at the Las Cristinas deposit, a Venezuelan property the company is developing but which a rival company is also claiming.

Crystallex said Monday that potential yield from the Las Cristinas deposit in Bolivar State, Venezuela - which Vancouver miner Vanessa Ventures Ltd. is also claiming - is higher than original estimates of proved and probable reserves. However, news of the higher estimates failed to ignite interest in Crystallex's stock, which fell three cents to $1.54 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Vancouver-based Crystallex announced in September that it had taken possession of the Las Cristinas property, which is considered one of the world's largest undeveloped gold deposits. The announcement came after Vanessa Ventures said the Venezuelan Supreme Court will examine two legal actions in a dispute over ownership of Las Cristinas.

A Vanessa subsidiary in the South American country has alleged that a contract between Crystallex and state-owned Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana violates Venezuela's constitution and its mining law on details of foreign ownership.

In mid-March, Vanessa said it was preparing a comprehensive update on the Las Cristinas legal issues for its shareholders. The company also criticized Crystallex for its claims on the property, saying that Crystallex's "statements either contain the facts veiled in misleading language or omit the facts altogether and present false information."

Crystallex said Monday that the latest estimates on the Las Cristinas mine were conducted by Mine Development Associates of Reno, Nev.

"The data confirms that Las Cristinas is one of the world's largest undeveloped gold deposits with excellent potential to grow in size," Crystallex CEO Marc Oppenheimer said in a release.

Crystallex said Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., one of the world's biggest engineering companies, has already begun work on a feasibility study for the development and construction of the mine and a processing mill.

The first phase of development at Las Cristinas is expected to cost $150 million US. Over time, all three development phases will cost $430 million US.

From: voluntario@sumate.org

Recibe un cordial saludo en la oportunidad de retomar nuestro contacto y agradecerte, una vez más, tu apoyo a las iniciativas emprendidas por Súmate.

En referencia a los Programas en marcha, te informamos que luego de EL FIRMAZO, hemos continuado avanzando en la clasificación, digitación, encuadernación y custodia de todos los instrumentos que los venezolanos firmamos durante EL FIRMAZO, a la espera de ser introducidos al Consejo Nacional Electoral, en el momento que lo decidan las fuerzas opositoras al Gobierno.

Continuando en la misma línea de acción, estamos diseñando un mecanismo para preservar y mejorar la integridad del Registro Electoral Permanente, y pensamos nos podrías ayudar en esta primera fase de la siguiente manera:

Investiga en tu entorno familiar y de amistades sobre aquellos allegados fallecidos de nacionalidad venezolana, los números de cédulas de identidad, nombres y apellidos, fecha de nacimiento y año de defunción. Accede a la página www.cne.gov.ve, en la sección de “Búsquedas”. Introduce cada cédula de identidad y el producto de esta información transcríbelo al formulario (application/msword, 29 KB)

que acompaña este mensaje, luego reenvíanoslo.

Gracias por tu colaboración, Súmate.

NOTA: Es importante nos envíes la información de cada persona que hayas buscado en la base de datos, indistintamente si esas personas aparecen o no en el Registro Electoral Permanente. Igualmente es importante resaltar que en caso que no cuentes con datos como la fecha de nacimiento o el año de defunción, no dejes de verificar con el número de la cédula de identidad si la persona aparece o no con el resto de los datos que poseas.

Reuters, 03.31.03, 12:09 PM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, March 31 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. (nyse: GM - news - people)'s Venezuelan unit, the largest vehicle assembler in the South American country, has temporarily halted production because of tight foreign exchange controls that are squeezing the local car industry, a spokesman said on Monday.

General Motors Venezolana, C.A. suspended work late last week at its plant in Valencia, west of Caracas, and the stoppage would last until April 21 while the company attempted to resolve the problems caused by the currency curbs.

Since President Hugo Chavez's government halted foreign currency trading in January, foreign-owned vehicle assemblers have been unable to import essential parts due to the restrictions and a two-month delay in the allocation of dollars.

"We have really been hurt by this delay," General Motors Venezolana's Marketing and Sales director Peter Friedrich told Reuters. As a result, the company had lost exports for March and April and had suspended investment plans for 2003 until the situation in the Venezuelan market became clearer.

Another important local assembler, Ford Motor de Venezuela, S.A., a unit of Ford Motor Co. (nyse: F - news - people), said it was also concerned about the restrictive currency control environment.

"It's tight," said Ford Venezuela's Public Relations manager Ricardo Tinoco.

Ford's assembly plant, which has scaled back operations to only three days a week, could continue to run through April. But if the government does not release dollars "very, very shortly," Tinoco said Ford might also have to consider alternative measures for the necessary auto parts imports.

The shortage of hard currency only worsens an already bleak sales outlook for Venezuela's vehicle producers following more than a year of political turmoil and a two-month opposition strike that pushed the struggling economy even deeper into recession.

Car sales in January and February totaled 8,212 units, a drop of 77.4 percent from the same period last year.

The Venezuelan Automobile Chamber (CAVENEZ) is predicting a 30 percent decline in sales this year, which plummeted about 41 percent in 2002. Some Caracas car dealers are only selling a handful of cars a month compared to sales of 100-120 units a month in 2001, a year that saw an all-time sales record for the local market of 217,000 units.

NO "LUXURY" IMPORTS

But after 65 days during which not a single dollar was made available for business in Venezuela, the government currency control board Cadivi announced Friday it had started releasing foreign currency for essential imports like food and medicine.

Companies in this oil-dependent economy that relies on imports for 60 percent of its goods and products have been forced to survive on their fast-dwindling inventories.

But vehicle makers complain that the government, in its application of the currency controls, has only posted dollar import authorizations so far for a so-called family car program, covering cheaper vehicles sold at fixed prices.

Dollars for the parts imports for high-priced vehicles have not been authorized, let alone released.

Chavez, a left-wing populist first elected in 1998, has made clear he will use the currency controls to curb what he calls "luxury" consumption, concentrating instead on importing basic necessities for poorer sectors of the population.

But Friedrich said the dollar import restrictions meant General Motors in Venezuela had been unable to export its Chevrolet Trail Blazer and Astra models to markets in Ecuador and Colombia, and this was bad news for the local economy.

"The government hasn't done its homework," Friedrich said.

His company had also experienced bureaucratic problems in formally registering on the list of importers and exporters requiring dollars to conduct business.

Private sector business leaders have pilloried the currency controls as restrictive and unworkable, warning the dollar drought will put many companies out of business and swell Venezuela's jobless rate, which the government estimates at 16 percent. Private economists say the real figure is far higher.

Product shortages could also arise in sensitive areas like food and pharmaceutical sectors, critics of the controls say.

Businessmen and economists have severely questioned the technical ability of the currency board Cadivi, which is headed by retired army officer Edgar Hernandez, a political ally of former paratrooper Chavez who took part with him in a botched coup attempt in 1992.

Opponents of Chavez, still bitter over the failure of the recent strike to dislodge him from office, accuse the president of using the curbs to starve his foes of dollars in a political vendetta.

But in a television broadcast Sunday, Chavez brushed aside the heavy criticism of the currency controls and said the commission administering them was doing a "tremendous job."

"These measures are here to stay," he said.

Source Monday March 31, 10:50 PM

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Despite staunch opposition against the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Venezuela won't use oil as a weapon and will continue to be a secure supplier of crude oil and refined products to the U.S., the nation's Oil Minister said Sunday.

"The position that we have always maintained within OPEC, and that is the policy of our government, is that oil should not be used as a political weapon," Rafael Ramirez said in a televised interview.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has sharply criticized the attack of U.S. and British forces on the regime of Saddam Hussein. Venezuela is one of the top four suppliers of crude oil and products to the U.S. and supplies a bit more than 13% of all U.S. imports.

Venezuela has made efforts to improve its image as a secure supplier after a devastating strike hit the nation's oil company from December last year until February this year.

About 35,000 employees walked off their jobs in early December, crippling oil production and exports. Only during the past few weeks has the oil sector shown signs of significant recovery. Production is estimated at somewhere between 2.4 million and 2.8 million barrels per day by secondary sources, while oil exports are seen slightly above 2 million b/d. Venezuela's pre-strike production level was 3 million b/d.

By Fred Pals, Dow Jones Newswires; 58212-5641339; fred.pals@dowjones.com;

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela´s Electronic News Posted: Monday, March 31, 2003 By: Roy S. Carson

Following the signing of an agreement with the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) in September 2002 to control and develop the Las Cristinas 4, 5, 6 and 7 goldmines, Crystallex closed a private placement the same month to raise US$11.9 million to pay a total $15 million for use of mine data, feasibility and other studies and infrastructure held by CVG.