<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, June 05, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has announced the birth of his National Front (FN) aimed at " agglutinating political parties, civil sector and other groups supporting the government and its Bolivarian Movement." 

Speaking at a rally in Guarico State, the President says the new organization is important because it embodies  a sense of unity and ties together groups supporting the process in a single purpose. 

The first aim of the organization, the President says,  will be to reach the highways and byways of Venezuela to impart a message of union and consolidation of the Revolution, which is on the road to victory." 

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias

Chavez Frias reminded his followers that the events of last year and earlier this year placed serious obstacles in the path of the Revolution.  

Since the failure of the national stoppage, President Chavez Frias has made it his business to be seen and heard in the provinces as part of his campaign to defeat any recall referendum against him and the visit to Guarico is typical of what is seen as preparations to offset opposition influence in the provinces.

The President also announced that Venezuela will soon be producing "naval aluminum" to build ships for export. The project is a joint Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and  Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) venture. "Venezuela used to import aluminium for ships, but now we are going to build ships here." 

The government will also import several thousand heads of  cattle from Brazil to boost agricultural development and cut the dependence of food imports.

Tiana Perez, NewsMax.com June 2003 Editor's note: Tiana Perez, NewsMax's Venezuelan correspondent, will offer dispatches on the turmoil in this crucial and often-overlooked part of the world. See her previous articles.

Chavez Targets Argentina

June 4: Hugo Chavez's international agenda rekindled a few weeks ago with the meetings held with Lula on Brazilian-Venezuelan business cooperation and Colombian President Uribe on easing of relations between the two countries due to guerrilla control of the border.

The Venezuelan president’s latest visit was to Nestor Kirchner, recently elected president of Argentina. Kirchner, of Swiss and Croatian ascent, skipped the second round after Menem, who on April 24 surpassed Kirchner in the first round of presidential elections by 2 percent, retired from the race with 24 percent.

Chavez attended the inaugural ceremony and praised the president-elect’s aim of improving Argentines’ living standard through economic and not social policies.

Kirchner, veteran of the Peronist Party's (Partido Justicialista) center-left wing, announced in his inauguration speech that he would work to combat poverty and hunger.

Kirchner keeps close ties with Brazilian President Inacio “Lula” da Silva, who has also promised to make the fight against hunger his priority.

Argentina and Brazil are partners in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) talks and have promised to enforce regional cooperation and negotiate trade tariffs as a regional block, Mercosur, to counter the U.S. on the elimination of agricultural subsidies.

Chavez, the only president opposing free trade in Latin American, has sided politically with Lula and now with Kirchner based on their stated goal of combating hunger. His revolutionary plan being in full swing, he does not give up his attempt to spread the bad seeds around Latin America.

The Wall Street Journal, in an article published the day after Chavez had extended his support to Kirchner, told of a Chavez-led underground movement in Argentina that follows communist ideals.

Chavez came accompanied by a cabinet member who represents the indigenes of Venezuela, in a move possibly meant to symbolize his support for Argentina’s population whose deposits have not yet been given back by the banks. Ecuadoran President Lucio Gutierrez named a representative of the indigenes movement as head of the deposit payback entity to assure his indigene support base that, if worse comes to worse, it would be one of their speakers who will take charge of sensitive measures.

Foreseeing the crossroad of Argentina, which had partially liberalized frozen deposits through a Supreme Court order in March but has not yet established the payback method, the Venezuelan president practically warned that his voice was going to be heard if the Argentine government did not do the right thing.

Neither banks nor the state own enough foreign currency in Argentina to pay back deposits at the rate at which they were acquired before the devaluation of the peso. The currency devalued 70 percent since former President Duhalde ended the peg to the dollar in 2002.

It is possible that five- to 10-year dollar-denominated bonds are issued by the state to ease banks facing the public’s demands. Unfortunately, the decreased credibility in Argentina might prove the bond issue expensive and risky. Argentina still holds a US$141 billion public debt, significantly above its estimated $100 billion GDP. The country strongly depends on the deals that it will be able to reach with the IMF, which allowed Duhalde to put payments on hold, and international investors.

Kirchner’s lack of support by the majority of Argentina’s population will possibly urge him to satisfy depositors’ demands as local elections could otherwise turn to the advantage of populist governors who oppose his proposed austerity measures and commitment to reforms.

JORGE RUEDA, Associated Press Writer Tuesday, June 3, 2003
(06-03) 17:52 PDT CARACAS, Venezuela <a href=www.sfgate.com>(AP) --

Two former army captains who allegedly held President Hugo Chavez in custody during a brief coup last year left the country Tuesday for exile in the Dominican Republic.

Supporters of the two brothers, Alfredo and Ricardo Salazar, cheered and pounded on their car as they left the Dominican Embassy in Caracas for their flight out.

They later arrived in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo, where they made no immediate comment.

The brothers and other soldiers allegedly held Chavez at a military base after rebel officers ousted him on April 12, 2002, blaming him for the shooting deaths of 19 people during a clash involving opposition marchers, Chavez supporters and security officials. Loyalist troops, backed by thousands of civilian protesters, restored Chavez to power two days later.

The officers, who faced charges of engaging in "despotic and vulgar" behavior toward the president, had sought asylum at the embassy, saying they had received death threats.

The Dominican Republic granted the brothers asylum on April 30, and Venezuela's government granted them safe conduct on May 27.

Several other Venezuelans have fled abroad after facing rebellion charges filed by Chavez's government. They include Pedro Carmona, a businessman who became interim president during the coup and now lives in Colombia.

Carlos Ortega, a labor leader who led a general strike earlier this year to demand Chavez's resignation, is in exile in Costa Rica, fleeing charges of rebellion and treason.

Chavez was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 to a six-year term. His opponents are seeking a referendum on his presidency later this year, accusing the former army lieutenant colonel of trampling democratic institutions and ruining the economy.

Chavez counters his efforts to help Venezuela's majority poor have been sabotaged by an elite trying to overthrow a democratically elected president and restore power to corrupt political parties that ruled for 40 years.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel and government negotiators have held a press conference, insisting that the government is serious about the recall referendum and that it has its doubts whether the opposition is just as serious. 

Calling the current stage of relations a "fourth coup," Rangel accuses the opposition of distorting the facts and points to Proyecto Venezuela's (PV) propaganda slogan "Vote Yes on August 19!" as an example. 

Rangel says the claim is fraudulent and contentious  ... "there won't be any election or recall referendum on August 19 ... it will depend on a trustworthy National Electoral College (CNE) , collection of signatures by people wanting a recall referendum and revision of signatures ... finally, the CNE must convoke the referendum and fix the date." 

Government negotiators, Nicolas Maduro and Aristobulo Isturiz see the opposition's tactics as a "social  coup" because opposition deputies are calling on people to take to the streets and threatening insurrections, if the recall referendum doesn't come off on August 19.  Isturiz contends that the "social coup" is working at half steam with opposition media highlighting social problems, such as street children, external debt and inflation. 

Vice President Rangel comments that the opposition message is that if the government fails to comply with the referendum, then there will be an insurrection ... "we have our doubts as well about opposition compliance." 

Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) deputies, Omar Mezza and Calixto Ortega have been appointed as government representatives on the agreement liasion committee.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, June 02, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

President Hugo Chavez Frias says he thinks his detractors are changing their opinions ... "many people who were part of the crazy and fired up opposition are beginning to reflect and realize that Venezuela has a Constitution." 

Referring to the negotiations agreement signed last Thursday, the President says it is a small victory to have got opposition sectors to recognize the Constitution and accept the fact that if they want President Chavez Frias to go, then they must act constitutionally. 

According to Chavez Frias, the opposition will be defeated in any recall referendum and he calls on the opposition to be transparent in any signature campaign. 

2024 will be an important year, the President told his audience, adding that he hopes Latin America will be "united and free" ... in 2024 Venezuela will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Ayacucho ... Chavez Frias proposes it be declared as target year to end hunger on the continent. 

Discussing other matters, the President Chavez Frias promised to improve food distribution throughout Venezuela combining military and civilian convoys and has announced the beginning of negotiations to install a Marco Polo bus assembly plant in Venezuela to export buses to the Caribbean.