www.centredaily.com Posted on Fri, Feb. 28, 2003 ALEXANDRA OLSON Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - The government has identified suspects in this week's bombings that damaged Colombian and Spanish diplomatic missions, President Hugo Chavez said Friday.

"We have them fingered. Let them rear their heads and they'll see," Chavez told the state television station, Venezolana de Television, during a visit to an electricity plant in southeastern Venezuela. He did not elaborate.

It was the president's first comments on the blasts, which occurred minutes apart Tuesday at the Spanish embassy and the Colombian consulate in Caracas.

The explosions slightly injured four people and damaged nearby buildings. Spain, Colombia, the United States and other nations demanded a swift investigation and warned Venezuela's protracted political crisis may have entered a new, more violent phase.

The U.S. Embassy reopened Friday after closing the previous day, citing "credible information of a threat to its security." The government sent more than a dozen federal agents, national guardsmen and municipal police to the mission after U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro requested increased security.

The bombings came a day after Chavez lashed out at Colombia and Spain for allegedly interfering in Venezuela's domestic affairs. Colombia and Spain had expressed concern over the arrest of Carlos Fernandez, head of Venezuela's largest business chamber. He faces rebellion and other charges for leading a 63-day general strike.

Leaflets supporting Chavez were found near both blasts, prompting opposition leaders to accuse the government.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel suggested radical Chavez opponents trying to destabilize the country may have been responsible.

Federal investigators have not said what type of explosives were used.

The blasts came as Venezuela is trying to recover from an unsuccessful two-month strike to force early elections. The strike cost Venezuela $6 billion, according to government estimates, hobbled what was once the world's fifth largest exporter and plunged the economy deeper into recession.

Venezuela's opposition - an assortment of business leaders, labor unions and conservative and leftist political parties - accuses Chavez of sowing class hatred and driving away investment with antibusiness policies.

Chavez counters that his foes belong to an economic elite intent on overthrowing a democratically elected president and thwarting his efforts to spread Venezuela's oil wealth to the poor.

Negotiations between the government and opposition resumed Friday after a 10-day lull but made no significant advances, said mediator Cesar Gaviria, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States. Gaviria said tensions over the bombings and Fernandez's arrest cast a shadow over the talks.

"We've had a difficult week," Gaviria said. "We haven't been able to advance to a better climate that would allow an electoral, peaceful, constitutional and democratic solution."

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.

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

Organization of American States (OAS) facilitated peace negotiations have once again been suspended at the request of the government, which blames security concerns for the move. Talks were suspended last week due to OAS secretary general Cesar Gaviria's other commitments and were due to restart on Wednesday, but were delayed as opposition supporters marched and protested near the venue for the talks. 

Thursday's session was again canceled as government negotiators as a group of 50 sacked Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) employees gathered outside. 

The international community is calling on the government to advance with the negotiation process, but at the present time this looks difficult, particularly following the arrest of Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Fedecamaras) president Carlos Fernandez.

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

US Ambassador to Venezuela Charles Shapiro has expressed his nation's concern over the escalation of violence in Venezuela over the past two weeks.  The US diplomat met with Interior & Justice (MIJ) Minister Lucas Rincon, during which the pair discussed the killings of three soldiers and a civilian two weeks ago as well as the explosions at Spanish and Colombian diplomatic missions in Caracas earlier this week.

"We are worried because obviously they were executions ... we are worried about the physical and verbal violence from both sides, I have said this on several occasions."

Shapiro's comments come several days after President Hugo Chavez Frias told US State Department spokesmen to stop meddling in Venezuelan affairs.

news.mysanantonio.com San Antonio Express-News Web Posted : 02/28/2003 12:00 AM   Anxiety now frames life and business Feeling nervous these days? Get used to it, Cox News Service says.

Fortune (March 3) says the "orange alert" is the new reality for business and consumers: "American businesses and consumers are going virtually nowhere economically. The metaphor we keep hearing is that they're frozen by anxiety over war (with Iraq)," the magazine says.

Although the government lowered the alert to yellow Thursday, anxiety isn't expected to subside until the Iraq situation is resolved.

The more likely reality is that we're seeing the start of a fundamentally new model of how we live and do business, based on the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the magazine reports.

And then there's oil On that same theme, The Economist (Feb. 28) says trying to assess the economic consequences of a war with Iraq is tricky because of the vast number unknowns and contingencies, especially those related to the price and supply of oil.

"Oil prices have already reached their highest level for two years," the magazine says. "The conventional wisdom is that prices will fall sharply once a war is over, just as they did in 1991" after the Gulf War.

But even if the war is as short, oil prices may not fall as much this time because of the disruptions in Venezuela's oil output.

Try to catch up Spooked by the bear market in stocks, older Americans who have 401(k) plans are not jumping at the chance to put away more money for retirement, Kiplinger's Personal Finance (March) reports.

But they could, as two years ago Congress changed the tax law to permit people age 50 and over to make extra "catch-up contributions."

"Part of the problem is that only about two-thirds of employers have made the complicated changes necessary for their plans to accept the extra contributions," the magazine says.

But it's expected that most employers will add one to their plans by the end of the year, Kiplinger's says.

Calling all workers

If you have a question about your job or the workplace, now you have a chance to get a response from a human resources professional.

If you're wondering about your rights on the job, under the Family Medical Leave Act, or even the most effective way to ask your boss for a raise, we'll get you the answer.

Please write Jobs, Business News Section, San Antonio Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio 78297, or e-mail biznews@express-news.net.