abcnews.go.com The Associated Press PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil Jan. 26 —

Venezuelan President Meets Sympathetic Crowd at World Social Forum

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized his opponents Sunday after arriving at the World Social Forum to meet with sympathizers among the 100,000 activists gathered to protest American-style capitalism.

Chavez, who left his country despite a 56-day general strike, lashed out at Venezuelan opposition leaders, predicting they would fail in their bid to oust him from power.

"Our struggle against the terrorists and fascists has further strengthened the will of the Venezuelan people," Chavez said after arriving at this far southern Brazilian port city. "It is one thing to try to get rid of me, and another thing to succeed. I have the popularity to remain in power."

Although Chavez wasn't formally invited to the World Social Forum, a counter-conference to the World Economic Forum being held in Davos, Switzerland, he was attending some events.

The social forum has shunned government leaders in the past but this year welcomed Brazil's new leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as a keynote speaker.

One of the forum's founders, Oded Grajew, said organizers weren't embarrassed by Chavez' decision to come, but warned the Venezuelan leader not to use the event for self-promotion.

"He will get no sympathy from anyone at the forum if he uses it to capitalize for his own benefit," said Grajew.

Activists at the six-day social forum are participating in 1,700 sessions and workshops on topics ranging from corporate misdeeds to Third World debt.

Also Sunday, an unidentified woman threw a strawberry cake in the face of Jose Genoino, the president of Silva's Workers Party, yelling "Lula does not represent us in Davos."

Silva, who is popularly known as Lula, was criticized by some for going to the economic forum after attending the social forum.

The woman left a statement saying she belonged to a group called "Bakers Without Borders" before fleeing. Genoino called the incident an "act of anarchists," according to Brazil's GloboNews television network.

The Associated Press PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil Jan. 26 —

Venezuelan President Meets Sympathetic Crowd at World Social Forum

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized his opponents Sunday after arriving at the World Social Forum to meet with sympathizers among the 100,000 activists gathered to protest American-style capitalism.

Chavez, who left his country despite a 56-day general strike, lashed out at Venezuelan opposition leaders, predicting they would fail in their bid to oust him from power.

"Our struggle against the terrorists and fascists has further strengthened the will of the Venezuelan people," Chavez said after arriving at this far southern Brazilian port city. "It is one thing to try to get rid of me, and another thing to succeed. I have the popularity to remain in power."

Although Chavez wasn't formally invited to the World Social Forum, a counter-conference to the World Economic Forum being held in Davos, Switzerland, he was attending some events.

The social forum has shunned government leaders in the past but this year welcomed Brazil's new leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as a keynote speaker.

One of the forum's founders, Oded Grajew, said organizers weren't embarrassed by Chavez' decision to come, but warned the Venezuelan leader not to use the event for self-promotion.

"He will get no sympathy from anyone at the forum if he uses it to capitalize for his own benefit," said Grajew.

Activists at the six-day social forum are participating in 1,700 sessions and workshops on topics ranging from corporate misdeeds to Third World debt.

Also Sunday, an unidentified woman threw a strawberry cake in the face of Jose Genoino, the president of Silva's Workers Party, yelling "Lula does not represent us in Davos."

Silva, who is popularly known as Lula, was criticized by some for going to the economic forum after attending the social forum.

The woman left a statement saying she belonged to a group called "Bakers Without Borders" before fleeing. Genoino called the incident an "act of anarchists," according to Brazil's GloboNews television network.

www.bayarea.com Posted on Sun, Jan. 26, 2003 ALAN CLENDENNING Associated Press

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized his opponents Sunday after arriving at the World Social Forum to meet with sympathizers among the 100,000 activists gathered to protest American-style capitalism.

Chavez, who left his country despite a 56-day general strike, lashed out at Venezuelan opposition leaders, predicting they would fail in their bid to oust him from power.

"Our struggle against the terrorists and fascists has further strengthened the will of the Venezuelan people," Chavez said after arriving at this far southern Brazilian port city. "It is one thing to try to get rid of me, and another thing to succeed. I have the popularity to remain in power."

Although Chavez wasn't formally invited to the World Social Forum, a counter-conference to the World Economic Forum being held in Davos, Switzerland, he was attending some events.

The social forum has shunned government leaders in the past but this year welcomed Brazil's new leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as a keynote speaker.

One of the forum's founders, Oded Grajew, said organizers weren't embarrassed by Chavez' decision to come, but warned the Venezuelan leader not to use the event for self-promotion.

"He will get no sympathy from anyone at the forum if he uses it to capitalize for his own benefit," said Grajew.

Activists at the six-day social forum are participating in 1,700 sessions and workshops on topics ranging from corporate misdeeds to Third World debt.

Also Sunday, an unidentified woman threw a strawberry cake in the face of Jose Genoino, the president of Silva's Workers Party, yelling "Lula does not represent us in Davos."

Silva, who is popularly known as Lula, was criticized by some for going to the economic forum after attending the social forum.

The woman left a statement saying she belonged to a group called "Bakers Without Borders" before fleeing. Genoino called the incident an "act of anarchists," according to Brazil's GloboNews television network.

abcnews.go.com Jan. 26

— CARACAS, Venezuela/PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (Reuters) - Venezuelan oil output extended a two-week recovery on Sunday, despite a lengthy opposition strike crippling the world's fifth largest oil exporter, government and opposition officials said.

The two sides disagree over the extent of the recovery, but both confirm a sharp rise from a low of 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) at the depth of the eight-week-old strike.

Anti-government strikers said crude flows rose to 986,000 bpd on Sunday, 30 percent of pre-strike levels, while President Hugo Chavez said the production reached 1.32 million, 40 percent of normal.

"We have been recovering our production levels very fast," Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters on a visit with Chavez to Brazil. "In the first quarter we will stabilize our production until we reach the new OPEC quota, which is 2.8 million barrels per day."

Venezuela's strategic oil industry is the focus of a bitter political conflict in the OPEC member country.

The strike, mounted by opponents to Chavez who want new elections, has brought the country to the brink of economic collapse, helped drive world oil prices to two-year highs, and drained U.S. stockpiles as Washington prepares for possible war on Iraq.

The government blames strikers for sabotaging oil wells, pipelines and ports, causing a recent spate of oil spills and refinery fires. Dissident workers say they left the installations in good working order and blame incompetent strike-breakers for the damage.

"A good proportion of the crude being produced, more than 300,000 bpd, is not sustainable because it has not been sold on the market so it should not mean higher exports," the strikers said in a daily report on the industry.

Most foreign ship owners are staying away from Venezuela, amid the risks of sabotage in the ports and ship agent warnings that terminals are run by staff without the necessary certification to handle oil and gas.

Exports last week rose to 688,000 bpd, still only 25 percent of pre-strike levels, according to ship agents and port authorities.

Chavez, who has repeatedly failed to achieve previous targets, said output would reach 2.6 million bpd within one month to six weeks.

Some oil refineries have been partially restarted by troops, foreign engineers and unemployed or retired workers, but the opposition sees serious operating problems, and long lines of cars stretch outside the few gasoline stations offering fuel.

Chavez was visiting Porto Alegre to attend a demonstration in support of his besieged government at the World Social Forum, a meeting of leftist intellectuals and nongovernmental groups designed as an alternative to the World Economic Forum, a meeting of global power brokers under way in Switzerland.

www.itv.com 20.29PM GMT, 26 Jan 2003

Tens of thousands of foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are continuing to clamour for early elections as they fight to maintain the impetus of an eight-week strike that has crippled the economy.

On the second day of a big street protest in Caracas, opponents of Chavez massed along a section of a major highway, turning it into a sea of colour as they waved red, yellow and blue national flags.

Spirits were high, but the enthusiasm was tinged with frustration and uncertainty about the future of the 56-day opposition strike, which has slashed oil exports in the world's fifth biggest petroleum exporter and triggered an economic crisis.

The Supreme Court dashed opposition hopes for a vote next month on Chavez's rule by suspending a February 2 referendum.

Leaders of the strike are now pursuing other strategies to trigger early elections. They have collected signatures for a planned constitutional amendment to seek an early poll.

They are also studying ways of scaling down their gruelling strike that has hurt anti-Chavez private businessmen as much as it has harmed the oil-reliant economy.

Amid shortages of gasoline and some food items and growing reports of job lay-offs, the government has suspended foreign currency trading and sharply cut back the 2003 budget.

As his foes rallied in Caracas, Chavez, who has rejected calls for early elections, flew to Brazil to attend a meeting of the World Social Forum.

He told reporters his government was studying putting a tax on financial market transactions as part of its efforts to cope with the fiscal emergency caused by the strike.

A shift in the opposition's strike strategy could involve allowing suffering private businesses to go back to work but maintaining the crippling stoppage in the strategic state oil sector that has choked off government revenues.

Chavez, who survived a brief coup in April last year, has sacked 3,000 rebel executives and employees in the strike-hit state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA. The opposition says return of those workers' jobs and a deal on elections are conditions to lifting the strike.

Accused by foes of dragging Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism, Chavez has been condemned for failing to deliver on promises to eliminate corruption and poverty. He says his opponents are a rich elite trying to protect their privileges against his self-styled "revolution."

At least seven people have been killed and dozens wounded since the strike began Dec. 2.