VENEZUELA Gasoline lines miles long in wake of national strike

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CARACAS -- Venezuelan motorists waited for hours to fill up at gasoline stations Friday -- a sign life has been slow to return to normal after a two-month strike that failed to oust President Hugo Chavez and left the economy in shambles. 
Thousands of employees at the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., are still on strike or have been fired by Chavez. The government has raised crude oil production to about a third of normal, but refineries are largely idle. 
Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez said Friday that gasoline production was 150,000 barrels a day, compared to 250,000 before the strike. He said Venezuela would import 12 million barrels of gasoline this month to make up for shortages. 
Venezuela -- the world's fifth-largest oil exporter -- has spent more than $500 million a day on fuel imports since the strike began Dec. 2. 
Hundreds of drivers joined lines stretching for several miles at Caracas service stations, most of which were dry and waiting for deliveries. Earlier this week, it took 20 minutes at most to fill up in Caracas, though huge lines had persisted in the rest of the country.