www.kron4.com Sunday,March9,2003,8:09 PM

Caracas, Venezuela-AP -- Venezuelan soldiers have made a dent in the war on drugs. They seized more than five tons of cocaine and 220 pounds of marijuana at two beach houses under armed guard on the Caribbean coast.

A state prosecutor says nine Venezuelans were arrested in a coastal town, 250 miles east of Caracas. The value of the drugs is unknown at this time.

A Venezuelan newspaper (El Nacional) reports the drugs came from neighboring Colombia and ultimately were destined for the United States and Europe.

reuters.com Fri March 7, 2003 11:41 AM ET By Robin Emmott

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Vultures circle overhead at Panama City's putrid refuse mountain on the edge of town as droves of half-naked men, women and children roam the garbage dump looking for anything they can eat, drink, use or sell.

As Panama's economy suffers its worst downturn in more than a decade and with unemployment around 18 percent, more penniless people arrive every day to join the hundreds of scavengers who already live and work at the rubbish mountain.

"It's humiliating, but it's a way to survive," says one rubbish collector, who gave his name only as Euclides.

After 3-1/2 years in office, Panama's populist President Mireya Moscoso of the Arnulfista Party, who was voted in on a platform of poverty reduction, is seen as another Latin American leader who failed to live up to promises to help the destitute.

Many Panamanians are disillusioned with the inability of successive governments to reduce the nation's gulf between rich and poor, one of the most pronounced in Latin America.

With campaigning for the next president already under way a full 15 months before elections, Panama's voters are apparently moving to the left, inspired by the recent victory of Brazil's socialist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, newly elected Lucio Gutierrez of Ecuador and Chile's left-leaning Ricardo Lagos.

"People want change and so the election race has begun very early this time around. There is a real disenchantment with the parties that have run Panama for the past 50 years," said Raul Leis, analyst at political consultancy Ceaspa.

ENTERING THE FRAY

Enter Guillermo Endara of the Liberal Party, a lawyer and former president who is rapidly gaining support among Panama's blue-collar voters.

Coming to the fray as an alternative to the traditional Arnulfista and Partido Revolutionario Democratico (PRD) parties, Endara is promising a Lula-style mix of socialism and wealth redistribution, while still keeping international financial markets happy.

"I've got nothing against prudent fiscal management of the economy. But it is also time we did something for Panama's poor," Endara said at his sea-front apartment in Panama City.

Many voters say the free-market PRD policies of privatizing state-owned companies in the 1990s, when the party was last in power, pushed up the cost of living in Panama and failed to improve the lot of the poor.

The populist Arnulfista Party, formed in the 1940s by former president Arnulfo Arias, is seen as lacking any clear ideology, and is perennially criticized for tailoring its policies for the benefit of Panama's oligarchy.

That point is not lost on Endara.

"The role of the state is to protect the weak. Why in Panama are we always protecting those who are already so strong?," the 66-year-old candidate told Reuters.

WEALTH GAP

More than 1 million Panamanians or 40 percent of the population live in poverty with 25 percent living in extreme poverty and surviving on around $50 a month.

The proportion has barely changed since 1970 despite successful endeavors to make Panama an international transport and financial hub with economic growth as high as 9 percent a year during the 1990s.

Although Panama is classed as a middle-income country, the richest 20 percent of the population earn 60 percent of the country's annual income while the poorest fifth earn just 2 percent, according to United Nations and World Bank studies.

University of Panama professors Ivan Quintero and William Hughes calculate a group of about 80 people, many linked by business and family ties, control around half of the country's annual gross domestic product, some $5.5 billion.

"This means the economically powerful will always be in power no matter who is in government," Quintero and Hughes wrote in their recent study "Who owns Panama?"

Endara, whose support in opinion polls has risen to about 30 percent since announcing his candidacy in January, says he wants to try to break down Panama's oligarchy.

He aims to channel government revenues into education, housing for the poor and support for the agricultural sector, which employs a quarter of Panama's working population.

In line with Lula of Brazil, he is also skeptical about the benefits of an Americas-wide free trade area slated for 2005.

"We've got to protect our industries and the people who work in them,," Endara said

"PANAMA NEEDS A REVOLUTION"

Endara's closest challenger is likely to be Martin Torrijos of the PRD who trails him slightly in opinion polls. Torrijos is son of Omar Torrijos who ruled Panama from 1968 to 1981.

Three Arnulfista contenders including former Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Aleman are expected to compete in a primary to select the party's candidate, and minor parties are also likely to field candidates.

Endara is seen as a credible figure because as president in 1989 to 1994 he rebuilt Panama's trampled economy after the dictatorship of Gen. Manuel Noriega in the 1980s.

Endara won the May 1989 election but was kept from the presidency as the results were annulled by Noriega. Endara was installed as president by the United States in December 1989 after the U.S military invasion to oust Noriega.

Endara aims to revitalize the economy once again if elected. The economy under Moscoso's Arnulfista Party averaged just 1.6 percent growth a year since 1999, compared with 5 percent during the 1990s, according to Finance Ministry data.

But his critics say he will struggle to bring about real change in Panama, where the sight of new sports cars flashing past one-legged beggars is all too familiar.

"Panama needs a revolution to bring change. But the poor are ultimately too disorganized to challenge the oligarchy," says sociologist and political analyst Danilo Toro at the University of Panama.

"I wouldn't vote for any president. They are all crooks that do nothing for the people," says 33-year-old Gabriel as he fills up bags of discarded laundry detergent on Panama City's garbage mountain, which he later hopes to sell.

edition.cnn.com Sunday, March 9, 2003 Posted: 1641 GMT (12:41 AM HKT)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan soldiers seized more than 5 metric tons (5.5 short tons) of cocaine and 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of marijuana in a remote fishing town, El Nacional newspaper reported Sunday.

Nine people, all Venezuelans, were arrested in the drugs haul in the coastal town of Carupano, Sucre state, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Caracas, said state prosecutor Jose Guerrero. Guerrero was not available for further comment.

The seizure was the culmination of more than a month's intelligence work by the National Guard's anti-narcotics unit, the Venezuelan government and international agencies.

The cocaine, in 5,020 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) packets, was being stored in sacks inside two beach front houses under armed guard. The marijuana was found in the same place.

The drugs were believed to have come from neighboring Colombia and were destined for the Caribbean island of Trinidad before being dispatched to the United States and Europe, El Nacional reported.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 07, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Venezuelan Energy & Mines (MEM) Minister Rafael Ramirez says that Venezuela will support any Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decision regarding oil output in the event of a US-led war on Iraq.

This includes the possibility of a temporary suspension of output quotas to increase supply in order to balancer out the loss of Iraqi production.

"We will back any decision the group may take ... that also means a temporary suspension of output quotas."

However, Venezuela is unlikely to pump more than its current OPEC quota of 2.819 million barrels per day as it struggles to recover from the two month work stoppage. Ramirez estimates that this quota will be reached by the end of this month.

english.pravda.ru 11:00 2003-03-07

The government "Corporacion de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agricolas (Government Agricultural Supply and Services Corporation) began distribution of food for the Venezuelan people Thursday, to prevent any shortage of supplies in the national market. CASA president Gerardo Liscano highlighted that, in the beginning, his company is trying to cover the needs of 20 percent of the most vulnerable people in the country.

Eight groups will distribute the food in the market in Caracas and other Venezuelan cities, Liscano said. The official pointed out the food will be distributed in Barquisimetro, Maracaibo, Acarigua, Maracay and Caracas to prevent any possible shortage of supplies in the next few days, "whether it happens naturally or if it is provoked".

CASA is a State-run company that buys food from national companies as well as foreign companies such as the US, Ireland and Argentina, among others, pointed out the official. Liscano stated that this time his corporation will distribute grains, peas, lentils, refined sugar and flour, wheat, sardines, tuna, pasta, rise and powdered milk, among other basic food products.

Liscano said that more food and a greater variety will arrive in Venezuela soon and will be distributed gradually in all national entities through wholesale markets such as Inmerca, Mercabar and Mercamar, among other supply centers in the interior of the country and Caracas.

The government assigned CASA at the beginning of 2003 to purchase basic food products inside and outside the country, after the shortage of supplies caused by the opposition strike in December and January joined by important business people. CASA is also trying to become a strong competitor to force private companies to lower the price of food.

On other issues, Chavez announced PDVSA, the oil national giant, has reached pre-strike production standards. He also added that Venezuela is now able to comply with contracts sealed with foreign customers.

Hernan Etchaleco PRAVDA.Ru Argentina