edition.cnn.com Friday, February 28, 2003 Posted: 1554 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- If you thought Venezuela's political crisis seemed to be dragging for an impossibly long time -- you were right.

In a bizarre mass-malfunction, Venezuela's clocks are ticking too slowly due to a power shortage weakening the electric current nationwide. By the end of each day, the sluggish time pieces still have another 150 seconds to tick before they catch up to midnight.

"Everything that has to do with time-keeping has slowed down. If it's an electric clock, it's running slow," said Miguel Lara, general manager of the national power grid.

"Your computer isn't affected. Your television isn't affected. No other devices ... just clocks," he added.

The meltdown has taken a total 14 hours and 36 minutes from Venezuela's clocks over 12 of the past 13 months, he said.

Pointing fingers If you're two minutes late to the office, and everybody else is too, there's no problem.

-- Rene Osurna, shipping company employee

In a country fiercely divided between friends and foes of its leader, President Hugo Chavez, it isn't surprising some opponents have jokingly blamed the clock chaos on the president.

But instead it appears to be Mother Nature that lashed out against Father Time. The river powering a major hydroelectric plant in southeast Venezuela lost force due to a severe drought in February 2001. To prevent blackouts, the country slightly lowered the frequency of the current.

At least one time expert was caught off guard.

"It's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard of," said Dan Nied, head of the U.S.-based School of Horology, or the science of time measurement. "But yes, clocks would slow down."

For common quartz clocks, the slight drop in frequency slows the vibration of the crystal that regulates time keeping, he said, adding, "People must be going nuts."

What's the problem?

Venezuelans have taken their time troubles in their stride. An air traffic controller casually said that his office corrected its clocks every few days or months, without incident so far.

"Yes, it's been happening here. But we correct the clocks every three months and there's no problem," he said.

Many people on the streets of Caracas were only vaguely aware that their clocks had been slowing down.

"I wake with the sun," said Rene Osurna, who works at a shipping company. "And if you're two minutes late to the office, and everybody else is too, there's no problem."

www.washingtonpost.com Saturday, March 1, 2003; Page A18 Editorial

U.S. OFFICIALS long sought to play down the danger that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez poses by pointing out that his acts rarely matched his words. Mr. Chavez, who was elected president after promising a socialist revolution for Venezuela's poor majority, might talk about confiscating property, supporting leftist guerrillas in neighboring Colombia or admiring Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein, but in practice he mostly remained within democratic boundaries.

Yet now the gap between Mr. Chavez's inflammatory rhetoric and his actions is narrowing. Having survived a strike by his opposition, Mr. Chavez has proclaimed 2003 the "year of the offensive"; so far he has taken steps to bring the economy under state control, eliminate independent media and decapitate the opposition. One of the strike's three top leaders has been arrested, while another has gone into hiding. Even more disturbing have been the unexplained murder of three dissident soldiers and an anti-Chavez protester and the explosion of bombs outside the Colombian and Spanish embassies. Government officials have denied responsibility, but these acts, too, followed Mr. Chavez's words: his labeling of dissident officers as "traitors" and his attacks on Colombia and Spain for "meddling."

Without more meddling, and soon, Venezuela will likely see the collapse of what was once one of Latin America's richest economies and strongest democracies. Mr. Chavez appears to have tired of his half-baked populism; now he seems prepared to destroy what remains of civil society and the private sector. He placed strict controls on foreign currency and has vowed to take away the licenses of private television stations that supported the opposition. He fired 16,000 employees of Venezuela's state oil company -- the country's economic lifeline -- and moved to bring an institution long known for its professionalism under his personal control. Independent economists are forecasting a catastrophic drop in Venezuela's economic output this year; some foresee the virtual disappearance of the private sector. That would bring Venezuela far closer to Cuba, which maybe shouldn't be a surprise: Mr. Castro, who is Mr. Chavez's closest ally, reportedly has dispatched thousands of officials to Venezuela.

Spain recently joined with the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Portugal to support a negotiated political solution to the crisis through the mediation of Cesar Gaviria, the secretary general of the Organization of American States and a former president of Colombia. The opposition, which at times has supported anti-democratic means of ousting Mr. Chavez, now endorses Mr. Gaviria's proposal for a new presidential election or a referendum on Mr. Chavez's recall. The current constitution would allow for a referendum to be held as early as August; that may be the easiest and best way out. But Mr. Chavez knows he would very likely lose a fair vote, and he will likely do everything possible to prevent it. That's why it is essential that the Bush administration join with the "group of friends" to insist that Mr. Chavez release his political prisoners, stop his revolutionary "offensive" and commit to a decisive vote. It may be democracy's last chance.

ogj.pennnet.com   Maureen Lorenzetti Washington Editor Venezuela is a reliable US oil supplier, the head of state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA said Thursday in an exclusive interview with Oil & Gas Journal. "Of course we are," said PDVSA Pres. Alí Rodríguez Araque, when asked to respond to concerns by some Bush administration officials that the country is now an unreliable supplier to the US because of its internal political problems. "For many, many years, through war and peace and through different types of governments, we have maintained a good relationship with the US," he said. "We maintain that same position, and the US needs supplies from Venezuela," he said. Rodriguez and Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's minister of energy and mines, sought to deliver that message in Washington Wednesday. They met members of the Bush administration and Congress and said that, despite the firing of thousands of striking PDVSA workers, production is recovering to prestrike levels.

The trip to Washington comes as heating and motor fuel prices become a growing worry for policymakers who are under pressure from consumers to take corrective action. In Congress, lawmakers have spared little time calling for various measures, most of which are too expensive for a fiscally conservative White House. These have included: Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases, federal gasoline tax suspensions, and new tax initiatives that encourage domestic production. Meanwhile, analysts testifying before Congress have cited Venezuelan's labor woes as a contributing factor for recent price runups, although market jitters over Iraq, and basic supply and demand market fundamentals are also factors.

Meetings and assurances Venezuela's top energy officials met with House members of the Venezuela Caucus and the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee and Energy and Commerce Committee. They also met with senior officials from the departments of State and Energy. Sources present at the meetings said the Venezuelans stressed that both crude and gasoline exports from their country were expected to be on the rise next month, helping ease price pressures in US markets. But their reassurances were not sufficient for some Bush administration officials, according to government sources. Department of State officials said the Venezuelan delegation was told that the US still has "serious concerns" over the Venezuelan supply disruptions and that the only way to restore confidence and attract foreign capital is to negotiate with strike leaders, many of whom are former PDVSA managers. In an interview in New York City the next day, Rodríguez insisted that the conversations over oil supply reliability were not "official" US policy, and he claimed that, in fact, Bush administration officials at the meeting pledged to support a "democratic, peaceful and constitutional end" to the strike.

Political impasse Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez as recently as Feb. 25 rejected calls by the US and the Organization of American States to negotiate with opposition leaders. Chavez's stance has now led the White House to openly wonder if oil exports may again be put in jeopardy because of escalating civil strife. Opposition leaders say the economy continues to spiral downward, and basic needs such as food and fuel are getting scarce. For the oil sector, the financial impact of the strike, now in its third month, is not in dispute: $4 billion has been lost in oil revenue and another $2 billion in tax-generated income. And both sides acknowledge there is a credibility issue that the state oil company must overcome. "There has been damage done that is both tangible and intangible," Rodríguez said. "How can you estimate it?"

Opposition leaders have accused Chávez of using PDVSA as a cash cow to finance a corrupt government that is not serving the needs of its people. Responding to those criticisms, Rodríguez said that opposition leaders do not have the interests of Venezuelan citizens at heart, because they are politicizing oil supplies for their own means and hurting the country's relationship with key allies in oil-producing and consuming countries. "OPECcountries have the commitment not to use oil as a political weapon. But in our country some have used oil as a way to impose their will on society and the state," he said.

Prior to the strike, Venezuela exported about 2.3 million b/d of crude and products, with about 1.5 million marketed to the US. In December and January exports dropped dramatically but now appear to be recovering slowly, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Sec. of Energy Spencer Abraham told a US Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing earlier this week that he expected levels of imports from Venezuela to return to normal within 3 months. Rodriguez said that DOE's estimate was "accurate," although he did not speculate on whether Venezuela—as a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries—will be allowed to make up oil exports it didn't ship in December and January, when the full impact of the strike severely limited exports. "At this point, nobody know what will happen," he said, referring to possible US military action against Iraq that may start before the Mar. 11 OPEC meeting.

Production, exports increasing Meanwhile, production is "increasing every day", Rodríguez said, now standing at about 2 million b/d; it should increase "more or less" to 2.5 million b/d next week. And by the end of March, he expects levels to be at about 2.7 million b/d. On Feb. 25, the company lifted force majeure on three crude export contracts in the eastern region; foreign companies started to lift supplies for the first time since the strike started Dec. 2. Downstream, PDVSA's 635,000 b/d Amuay refinery, a major source of product exports to the US, is expected to be repaired and at full capacity in mid-March, the PDVSA chief and former OPEC secretary general said.

Upstream issues Rodríguez declined to speculate on how much production may have been permanently lost from the strike because of poor field management or what he characterized as possible acts of sabotage by some PDVSA workers, now dismissed. The International Energy Agency estimates that about 400,000 b/d of crude output capacity may have been permanently lost. "It is possible there has been damage to some wells," Rodriguez said.

Opposition leaders dispute both PDVSA's estimates of current production levels and its estimates for the future. They say production is now only at 1.6 million b/d, and that billions of barrels of reserves may have been lost because of poor field management. Opposition leaders have also warned that the wave of what they see as politically-motivated firings that have taken place in the past month may damage the company's ability to keep up with technical challenges, such as making low-sulfur fuels.

Rodríguez said that at least 7,000 of the 12,300 dismissals were justified as cost-cutting measures to trim back a 33,000 member workforce; in many cases, employees were fired because they did not show up for work, he said. More technical people, in the refining sector and elsewhere may be needed in the long term, he acknowledged. Later this year PDVSA will receive a management consultant's report on ways to improve performance and may take further action then. In the meantime, PDVSA has had success recruiting retired employees to assist in technical areas, Rodriguez said. "Our plans are not conditioned by these people," he said, referring to fired PDVSA managers "There are many different factors involved in these firings. These are the new realities of the oil market. We continually need to increase productivity and obtain better revenues."

While there is evidence to suggest Venezuelan oil exports may be increasing enough to bring in some much-needed cash to the country's coffers, there may be longer-term investment implications from the strike, opposition leaders suggest. Opposition leaders say that PDVSA is looking to sell its US downstream subsidiary Citgo Petroleum Corp. Opposition groups allege oil interests in Nigerian were unsuccessfully approached; an offer to Petronas, the Malaysian state petroleum country, is now on the table, they say.

Rodríguez said that any talk of a Citgo sale is "speculative." He said that the company will look at the consultant's recommendations and then move forward. "If necessary, we will sell some assets, maybe we'll buy some assets." He also expressed hope that foreign investment will continue to be robust. "I am sure, in the next round of bidding, we will have many, many companies tender offers.," he said. Rodríguez sees an opportunity for companies as soon as this summer. The fate of Citgo is of special concern to US policymakers because of the amount of refinery capacity it controls. Selling Citgo also creates potential problems for PDVSA, because that subsidiary's refineries provide a special outlet for heavier crudes that are difficult to market. And in the mid to long-term future, a rebuilt Iraq could be a formidable challenge to PDSVA's future success, analysts say.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, February 28, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Human rights groups congregated yesterday at Candelaria Church for a religious service presided by Jesuit theologian, Pedro Trigo.

Cofavic HR group organized the annual commemoration and this year invited people, who are still waitingfor the State to clarify three “forced disappearances” during the Vargas State disaster and the families of April 11, 2002 victims.

Those attending the religious ceremony have condemned government or opposition attempt to make political capital out of 27F.

• 276 people officially died in the 27F massacre of civilians by the Armed Forces (FAN).

Father Trigo admits that it might be difficult to stop acts of injustice from being committed but the State must ensure that a rule of law does indeed exist.

PROVEA general coordinator Carlos Correa says the memory and tenacity shown by victims’ families attending the annual event are an important sigh for justice vis-a-vis a non-compliant State.

reuters.com Fri February 28, 2003 09:30 AM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - If you thought Venezuela's political crisis seemed to be dragging for an impossibly long time -- you were right.

In a bizarre mass-malfunction, Venezuela's clocks are ticking too slowly due to a power shortage weakening the electric current nationwide. By the end of each day, the sluggish time pieces still have another 150 seconds to tick before they catch up to midnight.

"Everything that has to do with time-keeping has slowed down. If it's an electric clock, it's running slow," said Miguel Lara, general manager of the national power grid.

"Your computer isn't affected. Your television isn't affected. No other devices ... just clocks," he added.

The meltdown has taken a total 14 hours and 36 minutes from Venezuela's clocks over 12 of the past 13 months, he said.