www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Talks between government and opposition negotiators are scheduled to continue this week despite the unavailability of Organization of American States (OAS) secretary general Cesar Gaviria, however the earliest possible session is likely to be this Wednesday.

Gaviria has prior engagements in Bolivia this week and is not expected to return to Venezuela until next week.

Coordinadora Democratica negotiators are hoping that the discussions will continue to concentrate on an electoral solution to the current crisis, as laid out by former US President Jimmy Carter.

Talks have been very stop and start over recent weeks, with major disagreement over the arrest of Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Fedecamaras) president Carlos Fernandez and the detention orders issued for several other strike leaders.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, March 03, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

President Hugo Chavez Frias has aid that those responsible for the bombings at Colombian and Spanish diplomatic offices last week have been identified and it is only a matter of time before arrests are made ... "we have identified them, let them rear their heads and they'll see."

During his weekly Alo Presidente radio show the President said that he had the photos of those responsible, but they were on the run and being hunted by security forces.

The President also announced that a new anti-terrorism squad was being formed to help prevent any similar attacks in the future. 

Both sides of the political divide have blamed each others supporters for the attacks, but until the first arrests are made it is still unclear who was responsible for the attacks.  Colombian officials have carried out separate investigations into the attack on their mission, but the results have not yet been announced.

www.smh.com.au March 3 2003

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said yesterday that $US30 a barrel was a "perfect" price for crude oil.

"We have to sell oil at a fair price. $US30 a barrel? Perfect," Mr Chavez told state television station Venezolana de Television while touring an electricity plant in south-eastern Venezuela.

The president's comments came 12 days before OPEC meets in Vienna, Austria, to discuss whether to adjust its production quotas. Mr Chavez did not say what the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries should do.

International oil prices are soaring amid expectations of a US-led attack on Iraq and the lingering effects of a two-month strike in Venezuela's oil industry.

A day after surging to a 12-year high of $US39.99 a barrel, crude oil fell US5c to $US37.15 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

Venezuela was the world's fifth largest exporter before the unsuccessful strike to force early elections. The strike began on December 2 and petered out this month. The Government is steadily increasing output.

Mr Chavez said current production was 2.1 million barrels a day, almost two-thirds of pre-strike levels of 3.2 million barrels a day.

But a manager at the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela, said production was 1.5 million barrels a day.

Venezuela had to reduce output by 500,000 barrels a day as storage tanks were full, the manager said. It will take up to three days to empty the tanks and restore production to previous levels, the manager said.

In a report released yesterday, former PDVSA executives - fired for joining the strike - said production was 1.1 million barrels a day.

usinfo.state.gov

To the east, the situation in Venezuela continues to deteriorate, undermining Venezuela's democracy and economy while threatening regional economic and political stability. We must help Venezuela find a solution to the current impasse to avoid further harm. The only politically viable solution to the crisis in Venezuela is a peaceful, constitutional, democratic, and electoral solution agreed upon by both the government and the opposition. The dialogue led by the OAS Secretary General remains the best hope for Venezuelans to reach such a solution. The electoral proposals tabled January 21 by former President Carter - either a constitutional amendment to enable earlier elections or an August recall referendum, as provided for in Venezuela's Constitution - present viable options to break the impasse.

Four OAS member states (Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and the U.S.) and two leading OAS observer states (Portugal and Spain) have joined to address the current situation in Venezuela through the Friends of the OAS Secretary General's Mission for Venezuela. The Group of Friends plans to monitor and verify the implementation of any agreement brokered by the OAS. I was in Caracas four weeks ago with senior officials from the Group of Friends governments and had useful meetings with the government and the opposition. President Chávez told us that the Carter proposals are constitutional and acknowledged that his government was obligated to provide funding and protection for constitutional elections and political activities. We are pleased that both sides to the dispute in Venezuela endorsed a non-violence pledge. Still, President Chavez's incendiary rhetoric and the violence that has followed the signing of the pact, including the bombings outside the Spanish Embassy and Colombian Consulate in Caracas, cast doubt as to the government's commitment to honoring this pledge. It is imperative that this commitment, which is key to creating a climate conducive to dialogue, be respected. We hope to meet again soon with our partners in the Friends Group to discuss concrete initiatives to advance the dialogue.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, February 28, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

According to Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim the Friends of Venezuela group made up of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and the United States is set to hold its next meeting on March 10, most probably in Brazil.

However, the Minister ruled out any chance of the group visiting Caracas to assess the situation as had been requested by opposition negotiator Timoteo Zambrano.

Regarding the recent arrest of Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Fedecamaras) president Carlos Fernandez and the issuing of arrest warrants for several other strike leaders, Amorim said the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva found the issue difficult to understand, but assumed the warrants had been issued on judicial rather than political grounds.