www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

National Assembly (AN) president Francisco Ameliach admits that the government’s social programs have not been up to scratch and says funds will start rolling in once the effects of improved administration at Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) pay dividends in Q2.

Ameliach also forecasts a reactivation of the economy despite what he dismisses as “bad news mongering of so-called economic experts.” Attacking print & broadcast media, Ameliach criticizes lack of media coverage of AN events. “When I became AN president, I met the heads of the different parliamentary groups and agreed to turn the Assembly in Venezuela’s main forum for political debate … the opposition has returned to the AN after the stoppage and we have set up an appointments committee for the new National Electoral College (CNE). We've reached a House agreement condemning terrorism … the Energy & Mines (MEM) Minister has been invited to address the House on the Delta Platform natural gas program … that wouldn’t have happened last year.”

Primero Justicia (PJ) deputy, Liliana Hernandez receives praise for her well-thought out contribution to the foreign exchange rate debate but Ameliach has slammed critics of the Armed Force (FAN) for harping on its incapacity to keep tabs on Colombian guerrilla incursions. “A time will come when the FAN will dub those politicians as enemies, just as they did with Gente del Petroleo activists for sabotaging PDVSA.”

Ameliach says he spend 15 years as an officer in the FAN, 9 of which were spent in border areas.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Bank robbers made off with 75 million bolivares at Banesco in Puerto La Cruz (Anzoategui) after kidnapping the bank manager and his family the night before and forcing him to take them to the bank in his own car.

A Police Detective Branch (CICPC) spokesman says that, when the robbers entered the bank, they told manager Norman Perez to open the vault and then made off with the cash before other employees started turning up for work.

To prevent the manager from ringing any alarm bell, the robbers tied him up with a live hand grenade bobby taped to his body. State Political & Security (DISIP) police bomb disposal experts deactivated the device, after bank employees arrived only to discover a gagged and frightened manager.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

5th Aragua Courts Judge Attaway Marcano has resigned from the case of the Llaguno Bridge pro-government shooters. According to sources at the Attorney General’s Office, Marcano opted out alleging personal problems with defense lawyers’ team chief Antonio Molina, which (he claims) could place his impartiality into question.

Richard Penalver, Rafael Cabrices and Nicolas Rivera's lawyers have asked for the process to be put on hold until the Appeals Court decides whether to throw out a sentence ordering a trial ... it has been learned El Universal photographer, Fernando Sanchez has been summonsed to court as a witness during the public and oral trial.

The opposition has monitoring the case’s progress and is taking it as a watershed of the government’s wavering or firm purpose to let justice take its course independent of pressure from either side of the spectrum.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

President Chavez Frias says he will be open to allowing international observers monitor a recall referendum. Brazilian Foreign Minister, Celso Amorin broke the news after meeting Venezuelan Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel in Brasilia.

In a short comment, Amorin welcomes the idea, which, he says, would be accepted by the six-nation 'Group of Friends' set up to seek a definite solution to Venezuela’s political crisis. Rangel, who is on a tour of Latin American countries, confirms that normalcy has returned to Venezuela after the crippling national stoppage which he describes as a coup attempt by terrorists. “The efforts of the Group of Friends could determine settling concrete aspects that would allow for a negotiated settlement.”

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Auxiliary Bishop of Los Teques, Monsignor Eduardo Boza Masvidal has died at the age of 87. The Cuban prelate was expelled from his country a few years after the 1957 Revolution, accused of anti-revolutionary activities and creating a disturbance during a procession of Cuban religious patroness, Our Lady of Copper.

Boza Masvidal spent a year in Spain and Colombia before settling in Venezuela in 1962.

In Los Teques, he was appointed Vicar General of the diocese in 1969. Although the bishop was careful not to express political views openly, it is known that he helped to found the Cuban Union in Exile. He was known as a humble and devout person, free of bitterness and hatred and was able to return to Cuba twice for short visits.

According to the Bishop of Los Teques, Monsignor Ovidio Perez Morales, the prelate was concerned about the political situation in Venezuela and hoped that it would not turn into another Cuba. Maintaining strong links with Cuban exiles in Miami, Boza Masvidal had written frequently about the role of the Church in Venezuela's political crisis.