<a href=www.sun-sentinel.com>South Florida Sun Sentinel By Sandra Hernandez STAFF WRITER Posted April 12 2003

MIAMI · Exactly one year after President Hugo Chávez was briefly ousted from power in a bizarre and violent coup attempt, Venezuelans recalled the day in an array of ways from protests to quiet moments -- a reflection of the deep divisions that split the South American nation.

In Miami, dozens of protestors carried flags and blew whistles at a candlelight vigil to remember the dead and call for the removal of Chávez.

"I'm here tonight to remember those who lost their lives," said Miriam Salas, who was in the capital city of Caracas on April 11 when the violence broke out. "I never imagined that so many people would die that day. I just remember walking, and then running for cover. I don't think anyone who marched that day could have imagined what was to come."

Just a few miles away in Coral Gables, however, a supporter of Chávez chose to remember the day quietly.

"I called some friends just to see how things are back there," said Carlos Matamoros, a local radio host who supports the charismatic but controversial leader. "I don't plan on making a celebration of this day. I think you remember this tragic day quietly and hope it never repeats itself."

Last April 11, Caracas was turned into a battleground after a protest march calling for the removal of Chávez turned deadly. Shots rang out as the throng of marchers approached the presidential office, leaving 19 people dead and scores injured. Military leaders who blamed the president for the violence briefly forced Chávez out. A temporary government was installed, but it collapsed after leaders announced they were dissolving the constitution and most of the government institutions.

Less than 48 hours later, troops and supporters loyal to the president restored him to office.

Chávez appeared on television the following day and promised to bring unity and restore order in the country.

But a year later, Venezuela remains one of the most polarized places in the region with an ongoing battle between Chávez's opponents who vow to remove him from office and his supporters who say they will back him.

"The country is worse off today than a year ago," says Alfredo Keller, a Venezuelan analyst and pollster. "There is very high unemployment, crime is a real problem and the economy is on the verge of collapsing."

Unemployment is near 20 percent, murders are at an all-time high and hundreds of small businesses have shut down while larger companies fled months ago.

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East and is a key provider of fuel to the United States.

Moreover, the country's opposition movement that spurred the coup now appears to be confused. The leaders of a two-month-long strike that paralyzed the country and shut down its oil production are scattered.

Labor leader Carlos Ortega has sought political asylum in Costa Rica. And the two remaining leaders -- Carlos Fernandez, who heads the country's largest business chamber, along with Juan Fernandez -- were both in South Florida this weekend.

"The danger right now in Venezuela is the more time that goes on, the more radicalized the both sides become," Fernandez said during an interview in the Weston home of a friend.

But the 53-year-old businessman insists the opposition will remain intact to push for an August referendum that would open the door for removing Chávez.

"I'm not sure that there will be a referendum, but we will push for that," he said.

Until now, Chávez had not committed to calling for a referendum, but on Friday, the government and members of the opposition agreed to hold a vote after Aug. 19.

The agreement could lead to a peaceful solution of an otherwise untenable crisis, according to analysts.

"We are headed toward a crisis when August comes, unless there is some vote," said Keller, the analyst. "I imagine the opposition will do everything possible to get it done and the government will try and stall it and blame the opposition. If that happened, you will have a very serious crisis."

<a href=www.vcrisis.com>The Venezuelan News Service | Apr 10 2003 20:25:30 GMT By Aleksander Boyd

As the creator and editor of Vcrisis, director of ProVeO and exerting my right to freedom of expression I feel compelled to raise my voice about some issues. The present circumstances of world affairs and geopolitics are paving the way to increase extremism. Saddam Hussein biggest crime to date -in the eyes of the international community- was his attempt to use oil as a weapon to condition his permanence in power. Bush & Blair, have been rather busy trying to convince the general public about the urgent necessity of removing the Iraqi dictator for humanitarian reasons. Humanitarian reasons? I think not!! Iraq reserves of oil are second only to those of Saudi Arabia. In times of recent economic embargo, 50 % of Iraqi oil was flowing to the American market, yes you read it correctly 50 %. The USA consumes 40 % of the world's gasoline production and a quarter of the total oil production. Their own production, contrary to what everyone believes, picked in 1978 and it's been decreasing ever since according to analysts. Should the current rate of energy consumption remains in the same trend in America, their reserves will last only 8 years. Whereas countries like Iraq or Venezuela have reserves which will last about 50 years depending of course in production levels. "Big Oil" is choked with the prospect of getting their hands on the Iraqi reserves and they are most certainly imposing the rules of the game behind the scenes.

Having said that, I need to stress that the humanitarian factor is completely irrelevant nowadays. Prime example of it is the Venezuelan case. Hugo Chavez differs from Saddam Hussein only in that the latter has been in power a longer period of time. Their ulterior motives are equal, i.e. to subjugate their compatriots in order to ransack rapaciously the wealth generated from the riches of their countries and to use it as means of perpetrating themselves in power. Last night, the BBC aired a program about Hugo Chavez, international news outlets have been echoing all sorts of statements coming from the Venezuelan president and his henchmen. There must be a reason to explain why Saddam on the one hand is the number one threat to western societies and as such he has been marketed and on the other hand Hugo Chavez having an appalling record of humanitarian abuses and crimes continues to be portrayed as the darling of the poor. Could it be that since Venezuelan oil keeps flowing to the US none of it matters? Or perhaps the hypothesis of lucrative contracts to be had in reconstructing the already in shambles PDVSA? Or maybe even to eliminate PDVSA altogether as a worldwide contender among energy companies whilst Chavez plays his game of Robin Hood? Whatever it is, freedom loving Venezuelans are in the middle of this collision course between the crystallization of the Bolivarian revolution and international energy interests.

The amount of money involved in oil markets is overwhelming. Taking that into account, to even consider the possibility of changing the political game on humanitarian reasons is plain wishful thinking. Unfortunately, the battle for control of the once almighty PDVSA has brought about levels of misery to the Venezuelan people unrecorded in the contemporary history of the country. Alas this detail does not count. Hugo Chavez is using PDVSA's monies to buy all kinds of favors and opinions from the world's "most respected" news sources and the BBC is only one of the accomplice companies at the receiving end of this deal. About seven days ago, I was doing searches in Google and Yahoo for the following subjects: "crisis venezuela" "venezuela crisis" "human rights violations venezuela" "hugo chavez venezuela" "terrorism venezuela" "hugo chavez terrorism" In the first four Vcrisis continues to appear right at the top of the search -even before BBC and organizations of the stature of Human Rights and Amnesty International-. The last two, after some corrections that I made to the page, were resulting in Vcrisis being right at the top of the search of many possible results. I repeated the operation daily to monitor any changes. A couple of days ago I wrote an article about Hugo Chavez and his international rabble, referring to the Gott's, Weisbrot's, Lemoine's and Ramonet's of this planet. Yesterday I had a big rumpus with a member of the BBC. Incredibly as it may sound, Google as well as Yahoo have removed Vcrisis from the search results dealing with the relationship between Hugo Chavez and terrorism. Is it just coincidence, or is it that someone is trying to silence me? I would like to ask to all my readers to help me in the slander fight against Hugo Chavez. I do not want financial help, however linking this site to many others increase the chances of our truth being read by more people. I would like to urge the writers, economists, journalists, lawyers, businessmen, citizens of Venezuela whom are victims of this barbaric regime to forward your reports and opinion pieces, to help me convert this site in the voice of freedom, in the symbol of our genuine right to freely express our ideas, in example for history that an entire nation will not be defeated by a bunch of criminals. One thing is certain, we are on our own. The least thing that we could do is stick together. Please help me to help Venezuela.

<a href=www.vcrisis.com>The Venezuelan News Service | Apr 10 2003 20:22:53 GMT

Le 11 avril prochain, 4 journées de réunions et festivités sont organisées à Caracas en l´honneur de la Révolution Bolivarienne menée par le président Hugo Chávez.

Des personnalités sont annoncées entre autres Danielle MITTERAND, Jean-Pierre CHEVENEMENT, José BOVE, Ignacio RAMONET, Bernard CASSEN… Pour l´opinion publique locale, ces noms sont étroitement liés à la France…mais quelle France ! Nous sommes donc assimilés, nous français locaux, qui luttons contre ce régime castriste révolutionnaire, à des supporters de cet homme violent, mégalomane, terroriste, ami de Fidel et de Sadam HUSSEIN, qui par esprit de vengeance fait agoniser tout un pays voulant le mener à la mer de félicité que connaissent Cuba et Haiti.

Comment, nous français, installés ici depuis tant d´années, fiers de notre nationalité, ayant des racines dans ce pays, aimant profondément cette terre qui nous a prodigué de belles amitiés, comment ne pas avoir honte lorsque les médias annoncent que des personnalités françaises viennent fêter les évènements du 11 avril, lorsque ce jour là, nous avons tous vécu un cauchemar.

Injustement prise à parti par des espagnols et des vénézuéliens chez un commerçant que je connais depuis plus de 20 ans, je suis rentrée à la maison en larmes.

-Larmes de tristesse car le 11 avril, nos enfants, nos amis, nos employés manifestaient pacifiquement contre l´autoritarisme et la violence. Bilan : 20 morts et une centaine de blessés.

-Larmes de rage : comment se réjouir un jour de deuil national et quelle indignation de se voir assimilé à un supporter du terrorisme !!!

-Larmes de honte : j´ai honte face à nos voisins, face à nos amis vénézuéliens, face à nos employés, qui tous, sans exception, manifestent contre ce régime totalitaire.

C´est beau, la liberté d´opinion, la liberté d´action de tous ces gens qui ne vivent pas la tragédie que vit actuellement le Vénézuéla. Ils ne perdent ni leur patrimoine, ni l´espoir d´un futur décent pour leurs enfants. Ils changeraient certainement d´avis s´ils vivaient le chaos d´un magnifique pays qui agonise injustement sous l´effet de l´incompétence, de la corruption effrénée et du machiavélisme de la Révolution Bolivarienne qui, par un régime totalitaire de terreur, en finit avec tout le secteur productif du pays qui représente tout de même 75% de la population.

On ne peut profiter des médias, publiant ces noms liés à la France, pour mettre à exécution une telle machination qui ternit incontestablement l´image de notre pays et nous fait, nous français sincères et honnêtes, trembler d´indignation.

Gabriel, en tant que Délégué, se doit de vous transmettre le mécontentement général dont il reçoit les véhéments témoignages.

Je ne suis pas experte en diplomatie mais c´est la rage au cœur, l´ oeil larmoyant que je vous transmets mon indignation et celle de la plupart de nos compatriotes.

Il est très dur, loin de la Mère Patrie, que l´on s´efforce à bien représenter, d´arriver lamentablement à ressentir un certain " malaise " d´ être français.

Hélène et Gabriel LAFAVERGE.

Caracas, le 4 avril 2004.

The Venezuelan News Service | Apr 10 2003 20:19:00 GMT    By Aleksander Boyd

The rather awkward title of today's editorial is a metaphor of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez present state. Foreign secretary Roy Chaderton has not been this busy in his entire existence. He is traveling up and down this earth attempting to maintain his boss' democratic façade with the help of the Venezuelan diplomatic network, arguably the only government personnel capable of maintaining educated enough conversations in languages other than Spanish. They have an image problem therefore they had recourse to international P. R. firms, Irish filmmakers, obscure analysts, leftist news outlets and a whole array of spin doctors to try to prove their legitimacy and democratic behaviour. Quite frankly they are struggling, their main problem seems to be the Venezuelan president himself. True to its form, a couple of weeks ago in his dominical "Hello President", he brash about the weight of the external debt on the national budget, which cause the Venezuelan bonds to plummet in international markets. The price of his verbal diarrhea is the following; no one in the financial world will advice companies of any size or field to invest in the country.

Similarly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its April 2003 forecasts of the World Economic Outlook. The IMF envisages a -17.0% recession in Venezuela, surpassing Zimbabwe's -11% recession, for the worst performance in the world. This follows a -8.9% recession in 2002, for a two year -26% collapse in the economy, which is only seen in economies of war or during the Great Depression of the United States. After Zimbabwe, Cote D'Ivoire, and Ethiopia are the next worst performers, with -2% recessions in 2003. I am dying to see how the spin professionals are going to masquerade that !! Or shall we assume that the (IMF) is just another opposition mouthpiece trying to discredit the creole Robin Hood?

Expatriate opposition organizations are poping up like mushrooms everywhere for Chavez's misfortune and the fundamental problem that he has got in this particular area is that we are too many, too difficult to silence, impossible to control. In the secure and comfortable western societies there is no space for Bolivarian Circles, Freddy Bernal's or Lina Ron's gangs, which takes out of the equation the possibility of attacking or intimidating us. Such thugs can not operate in civilized communities. Another "lethal aspect" of these organizations is the level of education of its members, as they are formed by the increasing numbers of professionals whom have decided to abandon the country due to the chaotic situation. These extraordinary group of people are doing the utmost to show the ugly face of Chavez's revolution and they are succeeding at it. Private conversations held with top government officials, economists, the media, human rights organizations and jurists demonstrate that the credibility of Hugo Chavez is in the substratum. Everyone knows, or at least the policy makers, who the Venezuelan president is. A good adage for it would be "El sol no se puede tapar con un dedo" or "you can't block the sun with a finger". The enormity of the failure can not be obviated with a power point presentation given by the foreign secretary or a bent film by some Irish fellows.

The country's indexes in economy, poverty, crime, terrorism, corruption, unemployment constitute the best arguments that the opposition has. The level of these conditions are consequence of 4 years of absolute mismanagement of Hugo Chavez and his useless government. Thus, Venezuelan monies can buy favors from news agencies, reports from dodgy institutions, prime time programmes, Irish filmmakers, analphabets from the Middle East and so on but most certainly will not buy the lost credibility. The beast is cornered and wounded. We shall see its end.

De: "Jessica Rosenberg" jessica@obraweb.com Fecha: Mie, 9 de Abril de 2003, 7:09 pm Para: jessica@obraweb.com

VENEZOLANOS EN EL EXTERIOR...

Esta nota es para informar a todos los venezolanos viviendo en el extranjero sobre el proceso para registrrse/actualizar datos en el Registro Electoral Permanente (REP). Debemos registrarnos con anticipación para votar (ya sea para el referéndum como para elecciones presidenciales) pero hay que ACTUAR de inmediato!! (Si conoces a venezolanos viviendo en el extranjero por favor envíales esta nota).

El proceso para el registro electoral es muy sencillo: Presentarse (en el consulado correspondiente) con cédula y algún comprobante de su actual dirección (como prueba de jurisdicción). El mayor inconveniente es que hay que presentarse personalmente de lunes a viernes en horas de oficina (que varían según el consulado).

Sin embargo, necesitamos HACER PRESION DESDE AHORA. En los últimos días he estado llamando al consulado de Houston, mi juridisccion, para verificar que está abierto y funcionando el REP y dicen no tener el material necesario (o planillas) para la inscripción electoral, que les llegara en dos semanas y que les prohibieron sacar fotocopias. En vista de que esta misma respuesta nos la vienen dando desde el mes de Enero, decidí comunicarme con las autoridades respectivas en Venezuela para pedir su colaboración al respecto.

Primero me comuniqué con la Dirección General de Registro del CNE, me informaron que el REP se encuentra abierto y que los consulados deben inscribir a los venezolanos utilizando fotocopias de las planillas, tal como se indica en la circular de la cual se extrajo el texto a continuación. Dicha circular se originó en el CNE y fue enviada a las representaciones diplomáticas por la Dirección General de Relaciones Consulares del MRE

19 de diciembre del 2002 Circular Informativa Nº DGRC-36 1.La actualización del registro electoral de los venezolanos residentes en el exterior, permite inscribirse o actualizar su inscripción en el Registro Electoral en cualquier momento,..." 4.1.En caso de que alguna Representación Diplomática o Consular no cuente con las Planillas de Actualización de Venezolanos residentes en el Exterior (se sugiere revisar exhaustivamente los archivos) deberá utilizar copia del formulario cuyo modelo se envía como Anexo III. .......... 5. El requisito único e insustituible para que un ciudadano venezolano pueda inscribirse o actualizar su inscripción en el Registro Electoral, es la presentación de su cedula de identidad laminada, aun cuando este vencida. El pasaporte no constituye un documento aceptado para los fines del Registro Electoral.........Se recomienda mantener la actualización del registro de manera permanente,..."""

La dirección del CNE también me informo de que ellos no tenían ninguna solicitud formal de material por parte del consulado de Houston. Esta falta de material es una excusa artificial. En vista de esta situación me comunique directamente con la Directora General de Relaciones Consulares del MRE Embajadora Jocelyn Henríquez. Muy amablemente la Embajadora me respondió que el REP debe de permanecer abierto permanentemente y que deben inscribir a todos los venezolanos sacando fotocopias a las planillas. Que no se ha girado ninguna comunicación prohibiendo el uso de las fotocopias como afirman en Houston. La Embajadora se comprometió a hacerle seguimiento al problema y conseguirle pronta solución.

Como preparación y apoyo al movimiento que sucede en Venezuela debemos estar listos para influir en el futuro de nuestro país a través del voto. Esta nota es preventiva pero requiere ACCION IMMEDIATA por parte de los venezolanos viviendo en el extranjero, para que se comuniquen urgentemente con el consulado de su jurisdicción para verificar que el REP está abierto y en funcionamiento. En caso de que reciban una excusa oficial, mucho les agradecería que me mantuvieran informada al respecto, ya que la embajadora Henríquez me pidió que la mantenga informada de estas situaciones. Por favor, anoten el día y hora llamado y el nombre de la persona con que hablaron.

Hay que inscribirse en el consulado respectivo con anterioridad suficiente para poder votar y es mejor estar preparados en caso de no poder viajar a Venezuela para hacerlo.

Si queremos influir democráticamente en el futuro de Venezuela a través del voto, por favor pongan su granito de arena y llamen al consulado de su jurisdicción para hacer presión o asiste a registrarte durante las próximas semanas. Aquí les copio los números de contacto de los consulados en USA, el resto del mundo lo pueden buscar en el Internet.

Saludos Marisabel Olivares Mary_olivares@yahoo.com

For any further consultations in regards to the voting process in Venezuela we suggest you visit the web page www.cne.gov.ve www.cne.gov.ve

WASHINGTON D.C. Embassy of Venezuela www.embavenez-us.org (Sección Consular) 1099, 30th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20007 Telephone: (202) 342 2214 Fax: (202) 342-6820 Office hours: 9:00am-1:00pm / 2:00pm-4:00pm Monday to Friday www.embavenez-us.org www.embavenez-us.org

BOSTON, MASACHUSETTS venezuela.mit.edu Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Boston 545 Boylston Street 6th floor, suite 603 Boston, MA 02116 Telephone: (617) 266-9368/ 266-9475; Fax: (617) 266-2350 Office hours: 9:00am-1:00pm (consular service hours) Monday to Friday Jurisdiction: Massachusetts, Maine y New Hampshire.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Chicago 20 N Wacker Drive, Suite # 1925 Chicago, IL 60606, USA Telephone: (312) 236-9659 / 236-9655 Fax: (312) 580-1010 Telex: 234-4330235 CONVE VI Jurisdiction: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota y Wisconsin.

HOUSTON, TEXAS Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Houston www.consulvenhou.org

2925 Briarpark Dr., #900 Houston, TX 77042, USA Telephone: (713) 974-0028 Fax: (713) 974-1413 Jurisdiction: Kansas, Nuevo Mexico, Oklahoma y Texas.

MIAMI, FLORIDA Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Miami www.consuve.com 1101 Brickell Avenue, Suite 901 Miami, Fl 33131 Telephone: (305) 5774214;Fax: (305) 372-5167 Jurisdiction: Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in New Orleans 1908 World Trade Center, 2 Canal Street New Orleans, LA 70130, USA Telephone: (504) 522-3284 / 524-6700 Fax: (504) 522-7092 Jurisdiction: Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama y Tenessee.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK 7 east 51st street New York, NY 10022 212.826.1660 Phone: 212.826.1660 fax: 212.644.7471 hours open to the public: 9:15am to 12:45pm office hours: 9am to 4pm Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in San Francisco www.consuladovenezuelasfo.org 311 California Street, Suite 620 San Francisco, CA 94104, USA Telephone: (415) 955-1982/ 1987 / 1989; Fax: (415) 955-1970 Office hours: 9:30am-2:30pm (consular service hours) Monday to Friday Jurisdiction: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington y Wyoming.

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO Consulate General of <www.tld.net the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in San Juan, PR www.tld.net Avenida Ponce de León Edificio Mercantil Plaza, Suite 601 Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, 00918 Telephone: (787) 766-4250 / 766-4251 Fax: (787) 766-4255 Jurisdiction: Puerto Rico y Virgin Islands

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