Reuters, 05.08.03, 6:12 PM ET By Manuel Jimenez

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (Reuters) Venezuela has held back deliveries of three tankers of oil to the Dominican Republic, officials said Thursday, but no reason was made public in the Caribbean nation.

Some sources in Dominican President Hipolito Mejia's government speculated however that the move could be a protest by Caracas at the granting of asylum last month by the Dominican authorities to two military officers opposed to Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.

Amaury Justo Duarte, president of the Dominican Oil Refinery, REFIDOMSA, confirmed to Reuters the sailing of the tankers had been halted, but added he did not know the reason.

"I cannot say that this decision was caused by political reasons," Justo Duarte said in a telephone interview. "We found out on Wednesday that the vessels had not been authorized to leave, but we do not know the reason for the decision."

Other Dominican government sources said the reason was not financial, adding the country was up-to-date on payments.

Justo Duarte did not give a figure for how much oil was to be brought in on the three tankers but said it was not a large quantity. He added the move by Venezuela would have no impact on local fuel supplies, as the refinery had been obtaining crude and derivatives on the spot market.

The two Venezuelan army captains sought asylum in the Dominican Embassy April 24. The Dominican Foreign Ministry said a week later the government had decided to grant asylum to brothers Alfredo and Ricardo Salazar Bohorquez.

Both said they were politically persecuted by Chavez's government, which survived a brief coup a year ago and is locked in a bitter battle with opponents that included a crippling two-month strike that lasted until February.

The Dominican Republic has asked Venezuela to quickly grant passage to the two men to travel to the Dominican Republic. Justo Duarte said the Dominican Republic took delivery three weeks ago of the first tanker -- of 650,000 barrels of crude and liquid petroleum gas -- from Venezuela since a halt in deliveries last December amid the strike.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, May 08, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Controversial Argentinean sociologist, Norberto Ceresole, has died in Argentina after suffering a heart attack. Born in 1943, Ceresole studied in Germany, France and Italy and has written 30 books on geo-political strategy and military sociology. His work led him to be appointed to the Soviet Union's (USSR) Science Academy at the Latin American Institute and professor at the USSR High School of War. 

In Argentina,  Ceresole joined the Montoneros' breakaway urban guerrilla group ERP, which was virtually wiped out by the military dictatorship in the 70s ... Norberto sought exile in Spain. 

Before that he acted as an adviser to Peruvian nationalist President, General Juan Velazco Alvarado towards the end of 60s and is said to have been close to President Salvador Allende in the early 70s even though his political ideology at the time would have placed him closer to the revolutionary left (MIR) . 

The sociologist met Hugo Chavez Frias in 1994 and is believed to have influenced his political thought as regarding making the army the spearhead of change in Venezuela. It is thought that the Peronist experience in Argentina forged Ceresole's now famous political triangle: warlord (caudillo), the military and the People (pueblo). 

Ceresole suggested that in Latin America and Venezuela only a military political party could overcome the fierce opposition from international and domestic reactionary forces. However, his consultancy work in Venezuela was cut short by rivalries inside Chavez Frias' Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) . Civilian MVR kingpins, Luis Miquilena and Jose Vicente Rangel maneuvered Ceresole out of the country. 

Ceresole became a dedicated supporter of the Palestine cause and became an avid anti-Zionist causing scandal for his position on the Holocaust. Before he died, Ceresole returned to Argentina to act as political adviser to presidential candidate, Adolfo Rodriguez Saa and to former military rebel, Lt. Colonel Aldo Rico running for the State Governorship of Buenos Aires.

Whatever can be said about Ceresole, his thinking on Latin America has a touch of originality and will not cease with his physical demise.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

El Universal journalist Roberto Giusti says Napoleon Bravo's TV program has proved that Patria Para Todos (PPT) accusations against him are false. "Jorge Nieves' death in Guasdualito was a territorial and booty dispute and between kidnapping and extortion mafia operating in the zone.  According to Giusti, a video showed "24-hours" program reporter reading Nieves a communique from an alleged group of institutional military officers condemning him to death and in the background graffiti against his life on village walls.

Giusti, who has received support from the International Federation of Journalists' regional office, has been spearheading a campaign highlighting the presence of left-wing Colombian guerrillas in Venezuelan border badlands and attempting to link President Hugo Chavez Frias to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The journalist now claims that mountains regions of Tachira in SW Venezuela and Perija in NW Venezuela have become "zones of distension" similar to the one that existed in Caguan (Colombia) during negotiations between the FARC and former Colombian President, Andres Pastrana.

From his latest piece replying to PPT, it seems clear that Giusti was responsible for publishing an unsigned piece in El Universal about guerrillas, paramilitaries, narco-traffickers and common criminals swamping border areas while the Venezuelan military turn a blind eye or are accomplices. "Neither the President nor the Vice President, nor the Defense Minister has batted an eyelid, hoping it will blow away ... they can't deny it."

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Chinese Embassy in Caracas has reacted to Venezuelan newspaper allegations about illegal entry of Chinese nationals into Venezuela to help President Hugo Chavez Frias win the recall referendum.

Embassy press attache Zhang Tao says it's a lie that President Hugo Chavez Frias has ordered the entry of 200 Chinese nationals on a daily basis carrying illegally obtained Venezuelan passports.

"Such calumnies involving China in Venezuela's political panorama are damaging the excellent relations between our two nations ... we are convinced that the malicious presumptions will fail to achieve their objective."

The Embassy blames some Venezuelan newspapers that have been gone OTT highlighting cases of alleged corruption at the Caracas (Simon Bolivar) international airport at Maiquetia and Passport & Identification offices (Oni-Dex) throughout Venezuela, speculating political motives for the sudden surge of foreigners.  Tabloids have also played havoc with the legitimate fear of SARS entering Venezuela through illegal people trafficking, which has thrived since the 90s.

Lamenting the manipulation of the disease for political gains, the Embassy has confirmed its policy of rejecting illegal migration of its citizens. The majority of legal and illegal Chinese nationals in Venezuela are from Hong Kong and cases of granting legal documents for high cash payments to Venezuelan immigration officials have been amply uncovered and substantiated by the media.

<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters Sun April 27, 2003 11:57 AM ET

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Peru has granted political asylum to two Venezuelan military officers who have opposed the leftist rule of President Hugo Chavez, the government said.

Peru said retired officers Wismerck Martinez Medina and Gilberto Landaeta Vielma, who requested asylum on Thursday in Peru's embassy in Caracas, would travel to Lima "as soon as the Venezuelan government authorizes the journeys," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement released late on Saturday.

The two officials' asylum request comes after two other officers who took part in an April 2002 short-lived coup against Chavez, army captains Ricardo and Alfredo Salazar, asked for asylum from the Dominican Republic last week.

The brothers forcibly escorted Chavez to an island off the Venezuelan coast during the coup before he returned to power 48 hours later

Chavez was elected in 1998 on a populist platform but has faced lengthy strikes and widespread protests. Political foes accuse him of dictatorial rule and of driving the world's fifth largest oil exporter into political and economic ruin.