www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 14, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Confederation of Trade Unions (CTV) executive secretary Pablo Castro has confirmed that CTV president and failed national stoppage instigator, Carlos Ortega has asked the Costa Rican government for political asylum.

Ortega was reported in residence at the Embassy since early Friday morning. Castro claims, “We are organizing all the necessary red tape so that Ortega can leave the country.”

In a later report Castro retracted and has denied that Ortega is at the Embassy at the moment.  Ambassador Ricardo Lizano has not confirmed the breaking news.

• Sources indicate that the Embassy is keeping the matter under wraps.

An arrest warrant was issued for Carlos Ortega after he refused to turn up for a court hearing about his part in the two-month long national stoppage.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 14, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Confederation of Trade Unions (CTV) secretary general Manuel Cova has appeared before the Attorney General's Office following a summons issued earlier in the week by public prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz.

At first Cova was unsure as to whether he would attend following the arrest warrants issued for other leading strike leaders, such as CTV president Carlos Ortega who is currently on the run from the police, but following some clarification of why he had been summoned he decided to present himself.

The senior CTV member said he had been questioned in regard to the two month long national work stoppage which he argued "was a decision made by every Venezuelan citizen that believed it was necessary to join the protest which was aimed at securing elections."

Cova told the public prosecutor that Coordinadora Democratica's and the CTV's role had merely been to urge people to participate and those that did so acted of their own accord.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, March 13, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

IRS/Seniat National Tax Superintendent Trino Diaz has announced that the government is investigating the source of funding for the political propaganda that flooded opposition print & broadcast media over the past months ... especially those allegedly signed-for by the Coordinadora Democratica (CD) and Mujeres por la Libertad.

“We would like to know whether the spots were 'donated' and if they comply with the Donation & Events Law … if money for the spots was indeed donated, the groups and media outlets must pay regular taxes … if, on the contrary, there weren’t the result of donations, there is no problem for media outlets since it would be purely a commercial transaction.”

Diaz reports that IRS/Seniat received 655.7 billion bolivares of an estimated 659.4 billion in February … 396.2 billion from VAT and 129.6 billion from bank taxes.

seattlepi.nwsource.com Tuesday, March 11, 2003 · Last updated 1:49 p.m. PT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS     Venezuelan doctor Maria Preciado holds a poster which reads "Chavez leaves now" during a march to protest a shortage of supplies in Caracas' hospitals on a highway in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 10, 2003. For decades, Venezuela's public hospitals have suffered from severe supply shortages, forcing many patients to buy their own syringes, antibiotics, painkillers and gauze bandages.(AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's government will not grant U.S. dollars for the importation of electronic equipment, clothing, footwear and some fruits, according to a list posted by the nation's exchange control commission on Tuesday.

The list of 6,000 items deemed essential by the exchange control commission, or Cadivi, includes various food products, medicines, personal hygiene items and industrial raw materials. The list was posted on Cadivi's Web site.

Most of the items on the list are not produced in Venezuela, which imports more than half of the goods it consumes. Almost all the medicine used by Venezuelans is imported. U.S. dollars must pay for those imports.

Restrictions on imports form part of a new currency exchange control system that President Hugo Chavez's government is gradually implementing.

The controls are meant to protect the bolivar currency, which lost a quarter of its value during a two-month general strike seeking to force early elections. The strike, which cost Venezuela an estimated $6 billion, ended last month without achieving its objective.

Due to delays in implementing the new currency plan, the government hasn't sold any dollars for two months. The lack of dollars has led to scarcity of some goods, including medicine and some raw materials.

This month the government plans to sell $645 million, which will go toward expenses like supporting students abroad and paying for business travel.

Cadivi decides on an individual basis how much and how often foreign currency will be sold to importers.

Opponents of Chavez fear he could use the controls to punish his adversaries, including opposition-led newspapers that must import newsprint. But newsprint appeared on the list of essential goods.

Imports averaged a bit more than $1 billion a month last year and are expected to fall by roughly half that amount as a result of the new foreign exchange controls system.

The economy contracted almost 9 percent in 2002. Unemployment stands at 17 percent according to official government statistics, but economic analysts argue close to one out of five Venezuelans is actually jobless.

The bolivar currency lost a quarter of its value this year before currency sales were halted on Jan. 21.

Under the new exchange controls program, the bolivar is set at a fixed rate of 1,598 to one U.S. dollar. The bolivar trades as high as 2,800 to the dollar on the black market.

On the Net: www.cadivi.gov.ve

sg.biz.yahoo.com Tuesday March 11, 1:24 AM

CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuelan retailers marked up some essential goods by as much as 40% after the government published a decree Friday lifting price controls recently imposed on them, local daily El Nacional reported Monday.

The goods, including imported pasta and cheeses, were on a list of around 200 products and services the government last month set prices for in a bid to stem soaring inflation.

Retail chamber officials couldn't be reached for further comment.

Annualized inflation is currently around 40%, as the bolivar's roughly 70% depreciation against the dollar over the last 15 months has pushed prices higher for imports, which make up about 60% of consumption.

While the official rate for the bolivar is VEB1598 to the dollar, the currency's real value has weakened to around VEB2500 per dollar in a private secondary market.

El Nacional Web site: www.el-nacional.com

-By Jehan Senaratna, Dow Jones Newswires; 58212-564-1339; jehan.senaratna@dowjones.com