Oil flowing in Venezuela, says president

www.nzherald.co.nz 20.01.2003 4.58 pm

CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is "winning the oil war" against striking workers, restoring crude flows, restarting refineries and reopening ports crippled by a seven-week-old stoppage.

But the leftist leader said he faced resistance from "saboteurs," who cut off gasoline supplies to Caracas, hacked into computers controlling oil facilities and finances and persuaded some trading partners not to deal with the South American nation.

The oil industry is the focus of a power struggle between Chavez, who blames corrupt elites for trying to stop his "beautiful revolution," and opposition groups who see him leading the country to Cuban-style communism.

Crude oil output, which fell from three million barrels per day (bpd) to about half a million earlier this month, had recovered to almost 1.2 million bpd by Sunday (Venezuelan time), Chavez said.

"We are winning the oil war... We could reach two million barrels per day before the end of the month," he said during his weekly television and radio show "Hello President."

Striking employees of the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), who want to force Chavez to resign by cutting off his economic lifeline, estimated output was half the volume stated by Chavez at 650,000 bpd.

"Despite the figures given by Chavez, the oil industry is still paralyzed," said strike leader Juan Fernandez.

The government has sacked some 1,500 PDVSA employees, and is using retired staff, unemployed workers, the military and some foreigners to restore operations.