<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, June 05, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Former CICPC chiefs say they are against the closure of the Police Detective Branch CICPC press office, arguing that it is a sad day for the journalists who have lost their jobs. 

Former General Commissioner, Florencio Garci ... who was sub-director for more than 5 years ...  argues that communication with and treatment of media representatives was very important for the police force.  " There has always been a press office ever since the force was founded." 

Garcia adds that that the press office acted as liaison between the force and private media, as well as a tribune that was useful in helping solve difficult cases,  disappeared persons and tortures. 

Former CICPC director, Eliseo Guzman remembers when one-time CICPC director, Carlos Fermin tried to close the press office soon after President Chavez Frias came to power.  "When I took over from Fermin, I re-opened the office ... journalists, like police officers, are public servants and merit respect." 

• It is not certain why the press office has been closed but Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel had commented that the office has merely been transferred to another building. 

Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) deputy, Tarek William Saab has visited the CICPC to show his solidarity with the journalists ... "they are my friends ... I think the office could have been rescued ... many of the pieces written there have saved lives."  Saab says that the CICPC director has promised to relocate the press office at its Urdaneta Station.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, June 05, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Scuffles broke out among deputies at the National Assembly (AN) after some opposition groups refused to budge from the President's podium, objecting to Movimiento Quinta Republica's (MVR) motion to reform House internal and debate regulations, among which are proposals to hold AN plenary sessions outside the Capitolio and committee meetings, even when there is no quorum and to eliminate the Legislation Committee. 

MVR claims that the idea behind the proposal is to promote citizen participation but the opposition alleges that the move is to mobilize MVR " flying columns" of supporters to harass opponents. 

Opposition deputies also protested the presence of "flying columns" circulating outside parliament gates throwing insults and threats at deputies as they entered Parliament ... US Ambassador Charles Shapiro was heckled by the columns as he left the Capitolio yesterday.

Causa R deputy, Enrique Marquez, who lost his specks in the melee,  accuses MVR of wanting to manipulate Parliament. 

Primero Justicia (PJ)  deputy, Julio Borges argues that the opposition had to react the way it did because the incident is a prelude to the closing of Parliament. 

PJ colleague, Liliana Hernandez, who seems hell bent on winning the super rebel award, joined in the punching and shoving ... so did senior parliamentarian Juan Jose Caldera , who exchanged blows with a MVR deputy, after the latter insulted his family. 

Accion Democratica (AD) parliamentary leader, Henry Ramos Allup rejected a call from AN president, Francisco Ameliach (MVR) to hold a session in front of El Calvario on Friday.  "Such a move can only be approved by decision of the chamber and that didn't happen ... furthermore, the government bench wants to expose us to the aggressions of political criminals."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, June 05, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

According to Zulia State Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR)  deputy Rodrigo Cabezas,  more than 300 signatures have been collected demanding a recall referendum against State Governor Manuel Rosales. 

Speaking to Venpres government news agency, the deputy has announced that once the new National Electoral College (CNE) has been appointed, then the signatures will be presented. "The signatures are correct, no tricks,  no cloning with bank agencies or any other institution's databases." 

Cabezas insists that Zulia State Bolivarian forces will accept the verdict of the CNE and if necessary, will take to the streets again to secure signatures. 

MVR suggests that recall referendums against State Governors and Mayors should come before a recall referendum against the President. "We needed 270,000 signatures against Rosales and we got 300,000 ... I am certain the people of Zulia don't want these guys with Accion Democratica (AD) culture to rule them."

Thursday, June 5, 2003 01:52 PM ET     CARACAS -(<a href=www.quicken.com>Dow Jones)- Oil ministers of Venezuela, Mexico and Saudi Arabia will gather next Monday in Madrid to discuss current world oil markets and cooperation of non-OPEC oil producing nations, the state-run news agency Venpres said Thursday.

Venezuela's Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez was quoted as saying he would meet his Saudi Arabian counterpart Ali Naimi and Mexico's Ernesto Martens in the Spanish capital Monday. Ramirez is then also set to meet his Norwegian counterpart, although it isn't clear when and where that meeting would take place.

"This is a very important meeting because it allows us to study the world oil markets and the oil prices," Ramirez was quoted as saying. Ramirez couldn't be reached for additional comment. Oil ministers from the three countries have met on a regular basis during the past few years in an effort to coordinate oil output policy. Mexico, a major non-OPEC member, has been cooperating with OPEC.

The meeting of the three oil ministers comes just before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, meets in Doha, Qatar, June 11. OPEC has to decide whether to curb production in an effort to anticipate the return of Iraqi oil exports.

OPEC in April decided to hike the ceiling to 25.4 million barrels a day while at the same time, it pledged to remove 2 million b/d from the market.

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

<a href=news.ncmonline.com>El Norte Digest NCM, Compiled and edited by Marcelo Ballve, Jun 05, 2003 Traducción al español

Creating an Al-Jazeera for Latin America?

Al-Jazeera has carved a place for itself in the global media landscape by broadcasting news shaped by the vision of Arabs and Muslims. Why can?t Latin America, endlessly sensationalized by European and U.S. media as a chaotic region of violence and dictators, create a similar broadcast network upholding its unique view of the world?

That was the provocative question posed by media expert Octavio Isaac Rojas Orduña in the Mexican on-line monthly magazine Sala de Prensa. He noted that several countries ? including Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil ? have sophisticated and financially strong media groups that currently are only focused on broadcasting within their borders, but would be capable of collaborating on such a project.

?The initiative of creating a united Latin American television with a global reach should begin with the support of governments and multinational institutions, who should be committed not solely for economic reasons, but for political ones,? he wrote.

He pointed out that a news channel advancing balanced views of Latin American reality and showing how democracy -- despite many remaining obstacles -- has become rooted in the region, would improve stability. He said regional integration efforts, such as the South American trading bloc Mercosur, would be helped along as citizens would become more aware of what was occurring in neighboring countries. Currently, he noted, many Latin Americans receive their news on other countries in the region through U.S. cable news.

New York Reverses ?Sanctuary? Policy for Undocumented

The unexpected news that New York City will drop its longstanding ?sanctuary policy? ? which prohibits local law enforcement from inquiring about immigration status ? is rippling through the city?s Latino media.

New York City Spanish-language daily El Diario/La Prensa reported in its June 3 edition that Mayor Mike Bloomberg, despite his support for a federal immigration amnesty for undocumented immigrants, had not upheld portions of the sanctuary policy created by a mayoral order dating to the 1980s.

Other city employees are still barred from inquiring about immigration status but are not prevented from reporting immigration information to federal authorities, said the paper, which estimated the city?s undocumented at 500,000 people.

Although city council members said they will now make the sanctuary policy a permanent law, immigrant rights groups said the city?s undocumented were now vulnerable to raids and may feel too frightened to report crimes. The Spanish-language daily Hoy had this headline June 4: ?Don?t Leave Home Without Your Papers!?

Several cities, including San Francisco and Houston, also have sanctuary policies that are being challenged through legal actions funded by groups that say the policies violate federal law. In a June 3 newsletter, Washington DC-based Project USA, a group that seeks to restrict immigration, said Bloomberg?s decision was a result of its legal pressure on New York City.

Have Matrícula Consular, Will Travel

A Mexican airline announced it will offer a discount to ticket-buyers who hold a matrícula consular, as the identification card issued by Mexican consulates to its citizens living in the United States is known. The announcement marks the first move by private businesses not only to accept the controversial card, but also to provide incentives to its use.

Mexicana de Aviación in Mexico City, which owns Mexicana Airlines, will offer a 5 percent discount on air travel to customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico who purchase tickets with the card, according to a story by Notimex, the Mexican news agency, published June 2 in the web edition of Mexico City daily El Universal.

?The constant increase in the use of this legal document... and its increasing acceptance in the United States, demonstrates the appreciation and recognition that is enjoyed by the Hispanic community,? the airline was quoted as saying.

Many U.S. municipal and county governments, hospitals and major banks, such as Wells Fargo, already accept matriculas, often used by undocumented immigrants who lack any other identification. Immigrant rights groups and the Mexican government argue the cards protect Mexicans from abuse and allow them to access to services.

Groups that seek to restrict immigration into the United States oppose the acceptance of the cards, arguing that it tends to encourage and legitimize illegal immigration.

U.S. Salvadorans: Not So Distant Anymore

Brother, Welcome Home. That will be the new name for a prominent monument in El Salvador honoring the large proportion of Salvadorans who live abroad, mostly in the United States, reports Departamento 15. The large arch was built on the approach to San Salvador?s international airport.

The old name ? Monument to the Distant Brother (Monumento Al Hermano Lejano) ? was deemed inappropriate by associations of U.S. Salvadorans.

They said they were not distant, since they were in constant contact and that the money ? nearly $2 billion annually ? they sent back home fueled the local economy, Departamento15 said. An estimated 1 million Salvadorans reside in the United States, with concentrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Florida and New York. Some 6.4 million live in El Salvador.

Miami Salvadoran Eva María Silver, won a renaming contest launched in mid-2002 by the city of San Salvador and U.S. Salvadoran groups. Silver will receive a $1,000 cash prize and a free roundtrip ticket.

?I thought of the name quickly because that is exactly what my parents said when they received me back home,? the winner was quoted as saying June 1 in Departamento 15, which is a section of the La Prensa daily in El Salvador that focuses on U.S. Salvadoran communities.