Strike appears to be weaker in Venezuela

www.timesdispatch.com FROM WIRE REPORTS Jan 28, 2003

CARACAS, Venezuela - A two-month strike against President Hugo Chavez showed signs of waning yesterday as oil production rose and some businesses and schools prepared to reopen.

Crude oil output reached 966,000 barrels a day yesterday, according to striking executives at the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.

That's just under a third of Venezuela's prestrike production but well up from a low of 200,000 during the strike.

El Nacional newspaper reported that the Wendy's International Inc.'s chain of fast-food restaurants will open its 56 locations in Venezuela this week.

An end to the strike, which has curtailed oil shipments from what was the world's fifth-largest supplier, would help bring down oil prices that have climbed to two-year highs.

Trading resumed on the Caracas Stock Exchange for the first time since the strike began Dec. 2.

Shutters at the Centro Lido shopping mall in the nation's capital went up, and owners of many malls, franchises and retailers said they would meet tomorrow to decide whether to open.

As the strike entered its ninth week, Chavez was preparing to impose currency exchange controls this week to limit the amount of foreign currencies Venezuelans can buy and stem a run on the bolivar, which lost a quarter of its value this year.