www.zwire.com By:Aurora Sentinel wire affiliates February 18, 2003

Venezuela's gross domestic product shrank by 8.9 percent in 2002, due mainly to a strike that virtually shut down the crucial oil industry in December, the Central Bank reported Saturday. This decline ended a two-year period of economic growth, with increases in GDP of 3.2 percent in 2000 and 2.7 percent in 2001.

The 2002 decline surpassed that of 1999, when the country's economy contracted 7.2 percent because of falling international prices for oil, Venezuela's principal export.

During the fourth quarter of 2002, Venezuela's GDP fell 16.7 percent, hurt by the "partial paralysis" of the vital petroleum sector, according to the Central Bank's report.

The Bank said the oil sector experienced a decline of 25.5 percent during the last quarter of 2002.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Italian under secretary of state to the Foreign Ministry Mario Baccini has said his government is keen to take part in the Friends of Venezuela group currently made up of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States. 

"We hope that Italy might be officially admitted to the Friends of Venezuela group."

The comments came following a meeting with Venezuela Foreign (MRE) Minister Roy Chaderton Matos and a trip to Rome by Venezuelan-Italians who called for the Rome government to get increasingly involved in the political crisis.

Contact has already been made with other group members to evaluate what if any help Italy could be to their efforts. 

"Venezuela should remain linked to the international community so its problems can be solved without violence and through the strength of politics."

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

The peace negotiations organized and led by Organization of American States (OAS) secretary general that have been continuing on and off since November have finally produced at least some results, with government and opposition negotiators agreeing to sign a declaration renouncing violence. 

The details of the accord will be made public later today, at 4:00 p.m. Caracas time during a press conference with all negotiators present. 

The agreement was suggested by Gaviria and is believed to contain an eight point proposal, including the reduction of crime across the country, the setting up of a joint commission made up of government and opposition representatives and also something with regard to the media.

The media issue will be of particular importance as the government continues to push forward with its media content law and its legal action against Venezuela's four main privately owned TV stations. 

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

During the two-month-old opposition work stoppage many businesses suffered badly from a loss of sales, however, this was not the case for pharmaceutical company Pfizer, as it appears while Venezuelans' minds were off the job they were clearly elsewhere!

During the stoppage Viagra was the top selling medicine in the country, with more than six million pills sold.

These figures put Venezuela in third place in third in terms of per capita Viagra consumption.

According to a report in the Tal Cual newspaper "Venezuelan men with erectile disfunction have used their time well during the general strike." Reports claim that the stress levels associated with the strike may have led Venezuelan men to look for a pressure value to forget their woes!

world.scmp.com Tuesday, February 18, 2003 VENEZUELA REUTERS in Caracas Updated at 11.15am:

Venezuela's government and opposition agreed overnight (HK time) to an anti-violence pact to lower tensions and curb harsh rhetoric that often inflames their feud over the rule of President Hugo Chavez.

The eight-point resolution was the first firm development from three months of frustrating talks guided by the Organisation of American States and backed more recently by a six-nation group led by the US

But a source close to the negotiations said the document carried no sanctions and the feuding sides appeared no closer to a deal on elections to end their political conflict in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

The agreement includes references to freedom of expression, the media's role in promoting peace, condemns violence and also urges a toning down of aggressive language, the source said.

OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, who has guided the talks, said the government and opposition would sign the resolution later on Tuesday.

''We have finished the round of negotiation and dialogue to complete a declaration against violence,'' General Gaviria said.

At least seven people have died in clashes or violence during rallies and marches since December when the opposition started a two-month strike that failed to oust a president who they accuse of ruling Venezuela like a dictator.

Mr Chavez, a retired paratrooper whose populist speeches are often laced with aggressive class warfare references, accuses his enemies and private media stations of being ''terrorists'' conspiring to topple him.

But his opponents say the president has inspired his mostly poor followers to acts of violence with his tirades against the ''rich elites'' he says have long robbed the nation of its huge oil wealth.