Chavez Touts Oil Sector Rebound

Venezuelan Strikers Disagree as President Seeks Brazil's Help By Harold Olmos Associated Press Friday, January 3, 2003; Page A16

BRASILIA, Jan. 2 -- President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela said today that his country's oil industry, crippled by a month-long general strike, is recovering and will reach its pre-strike capacity in 45 days. Domestic opponents said the claim was false.

Chavez made the comments in Brazil, where he was attending the presidential inauguration, despite the turmoil of a strike led by opponents who seek to remove him from power.

Chavez met with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was sworn in as Brazil's president Wednesday, and asked him to send experts from Brazil's state-owned oil company to replace some of the 40,000 Venezuelan state oil company workers who have walked off the job.

After a breakfast with Silva, Chavez said the Brazilian president said he would consider the request and discuss it with the new head of Brazil's oil company, Petrobras.

Chavez has fired dozens of striking managers from the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, and sent troops to guard installations across the country. He insisted that replacement workers were slowly bringing refineries and oil wells back online.

Chavez said Venezuela is now producing 800,000 barrels a day, up from the 200,000 barrels at the country's lowest level of production.

In Venezuela, opposition leaders disputed Chavez's claim and said most of the industry's workers remain off the job. Strike leaders insist the government will not be able to restart operations without them.

Also, opposition estimates of current oil output were at odds with government assertions. There was no way to independently reconcile the figures.

Venezuela's Democratic Coordinator -- a coalition of opposition parties, business associations and labor unions -- insisted output was only 190,000 barrels per day and that natural gas production was down by 80 percent.

The strike, which began Dec. 2, has forced motorists to line up at service stations for hours. Store shelves were increasingly bare.

The oil industry represents 30 percent of Venezuela's $100 billion gross domestic product and 70 percent of exports. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a major provider to the United States. The strike has helped push international oil prices above $30 per barrel.

Negotiations sponsored by the Organization of American States were set to resume today after a brief break for New Year's. The main topic is the opposition's demand that Chavez submit to early elections or at least a nonbinding referendum on his presidency.

Chavez has vowed not to resign. He argues that Venezuela's constitution allows a binding referendum only in August 2003, halfway into his six-year term.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company