www.austin360.com By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER Associated Press Writer

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)--President Hugo Chavez warned nations endorsing early elections not to be misguided by opposition allegations that he is leading a dictatorial regime.

Chavez urged the so-called Group of Friends,'' a forum of six nations backing negotiations mediated by the Organization of American States, to understand the truth about Venezuela.''

In Venezuela, there is a legitimate government, a democratic government,'' Chavez said during a speech to foreign diplomats. It's necessary to recognize that reality.''

Opposition leaders claim Chavez, a former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, is riding roughshod over the nation's democratic institutions.

Meanwhile, a melee between opposition sympathizers and municipal police under the command of a ruling party mayor erupted outside a building in Caracas where a petition backing early elections is stored. No injuries were reported.

Dozens of opposition supporters pledged to secure the building through the night and accused police of attempting a raid.

``We are going to stay here all night to safeguard the signatures,'' said Geraldo Blyde, a member of the Justice First opposition party.

Although a two-month strike that failed to oust Chavez has ended in all sectors except the all-important oil industry, Venezuelans still must cope with gasoline shortages and an economy in shambles.

Despite increases in oil production and government expenditures of more than $500 million on fuel imports, motorists waited for hours to fill up their tanks at service stations.

The strike is over but we are still going through a critical moment,'' said Wilmer Acevedo, 30, a tow truck driver waiting at one gas station. If I don't get gasoline, I can't work.''

Some restaurants, stores and factories were having trouble opening because of the gasoline shortage, causing serious delays in deliveries of other goods.

The government has raised oil production to more than 1 million barrels compared to pre-strike levels of 3.2 million barrels per day. Still, refineries remain largely idle.

Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez said Venezuela would import 12 million barrels of gasoline this month to make up for shortages.

It will take a couple of months to bring refining capacity back up to a normal operating rate,'' said Ed Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant LLC in New York. Part of the problem is they have fired a lot of the key people that used to run these things. You can't replace these people that easily.''

Thousands of employees are still on strike at the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. More than 9,000 of the company's 40,000 employees have been fired for joining the work stoppage.

The opposition is planning a march Saturday in support of the striking oil workers and those who have been fired. Protesters will gather at four PDVSA office buildings in Caracas and converge on the five-star hotel where peace talks sponsored by the Organization of American States are being held.

The fate of the fired workers is a sticking point in negotiations between the government and opposition. Chavez vowed Friday not to rescind the firings. ``Not even if I were crazy,'' he said.

Shortages could worsen as the government implements exchange controls to protect its foreign reserves and the bolivar, which lost a quarter of its value during the strike. Dollar requests could take as long as 45 days to process under the new rules, which could delay imports. Venezuela depends on imports for 60 percent of raw materials.

The government fixed the bolivar at 1,598 bolivars per dollar. The bolivar is trading at roughly 2,500 bolivars to the dollar on the black market.

www.newsok.com 2003-02-08 By Adam Wilmoth The Oklahoman

TULSA -- The credit rating of Tulsa- based Citgo Petroleum Corp. continued to tumble Friday as the oil strike in Venezuela continues after nearly 10 weeks.

Citgo, which is owned by Venezuela's national oil company and until December received more than half the oil for its three refineries from its parent company, took its second downgrade from Fitch Ratings this year. It is the company's fourth downgrade since the strike began Dec. 2. All three credit agencies have dropped Citgo's debt rating to junk status.

Fitch on Friday dropped the company's debt rating to B+ from BB- citing the volatile situation in Venezuela and the potential for Citgo to acquire more debt.

Citgo spokesman Kent Young declined to comment on the downgrades, but he said the company's three key refineries -- in Lake Charles, La., Corpus Christi, Texas, and Lemont, Ill. -- were running at full capacity.

In an SEC filing Friday, Citgo said the company continues "to be able to locate and purchase adequate crude oil, albeit at higher prices than under the contracts with (parent company) PDVSA, to maintain normal operations at our refineries and to meet our refined products commitments to our customers."

But in December 2002, Citgo received only 59 percent of the crude oil volumes it received from its parent company the previous December. Volumes improved to 94 percent in January, but are expected to fall to about 80 percent in February, according to the SEC filing.

The Tulsa company is having to make up for the lost crude by buying oil on the market, where crude oil traded above $35 on Friday.

"They're facing a triple whammy," said Bruce Bell, chairman of the Mid- Continent Oil and Gas Association's Oklahoma division. "Their supply is gone, they're having to buy oil and prices are higher than they have been in a significant amount of time."

And every time Citgo's credit is downgraded, it makes borrowing money to pay for that more expensive crude more costly.

"A downgrade always comes at the wrong time," Tulsa money manager Fred Russell said. "It comes at a time when a company with a lot of debt needs refinancing or more loans. Downgrades are painful confirmation of the nervous existence companies with much debt must face, and you can almost be assured that one downgrade, especially in bad economic times, leads to more downgrades."

Citgo's output represents about 5 percent of the nation's refining capacity. The company also has 13,400 gasoline retail outlets.

Opponents of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez have staged a general strike for nearly 10 weeks in hopes of causing a nonbinding referendum on his rule. They say the twice-elected Chavez is authoritarian, while his supporters accuse strikers of plotting a coup.

www.sltrib.com

CARACAS -- Venezuelan motorists waited for hours to fill up at gasoline stations Friday -- a sign life has been slow to return to normal after a two-month strike that failed to oust President Hugo Chavez and left the economy in shambles. 
Thousands of employees at the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., are still on strike or have been fired by Chavez. The government has raised crude oil production to about a third of normal, but refineries are largely idle. 
Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez said Friday that gasoline production was 150,000 barrels a day, compared to 250,000 before the strike. He said Venezuela would import 12 million barrels of gasoline this month to make up for shortages. 
Venezuela -- the world's fifth-largest oil exporter -- has spent more than $500 million a day on fuel imports since the strike began Dec. 2. 
Hundreds of drivers joined lines stretching for several miles at Caracas service stations, most of which were dry and waiting for deliveries. Earlier this week, it took 20 minutes at most to fill up in Caracas, though huge lines had persisted in the rest of the country.

www.syracuse.com February 08, 2003 By Frank Brieaddy Staff writer

The two 18-year-old Central New York exchange students that Rotary International recalled a month ago from Venezuela because of political unrest are headed Monday for Argentina.

The pair, Jessica Ruhlman, of Skaneateles, and Julie Wynkoop, of Cato, were reluctant to come home and had hoped the situation in Venezuela would settle down quickly enough for them to return.

But Scott Wisner, who runs the exchange program for Rotary District 7150 in Central New York, said, "Things didn't seem to be moving anywhere positively."

He said the local Rotary already had a strong relationship with some families in Argentina.

Travel and visa arrangements were expedited to get the two students back to South America.

All students for this year's exchange have to return home by August.

Ruhlman said she was disappointed that she wouldn't be returning to her "family" in Venezuela.

"It became apparent that it would have just taken too long," she said.

Even though she's going to Argentina instead of Venezuela, Wynkoop said she'll have contact with the extended family of those who originally housed her.

They're from Argentina and have relatives there who are eager to meet Wynkoop.

Wynkoop said she also isn't ruling out a flight to Venezuela to visit friends.

www.guardian.co.uk Saturday February 8, 2003 9:30 AM

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez warned nations endorsing early elections not to be misguided by opposition allegations that he is leading a dictatorial regime.

Chavez urged the so-called Group of Friends,'' a forum of six nations backing negotiations mediated by the Organization of American States, to understand the truth about Venezuela.''

In Venezuela, there is a legitimate government, a democratic government,'' Chavez said during a speech to foreign diplomats. It's necessary to recognize that reality.''

Opposition leaders claim Chavez, a former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, is riding roughshod over the nation's democratic institutions.

Meanwhile, a melee between opposition sympathizers and municipal police under the command of a ruling party mayor erupted outside a building in Caracas where a petition backing early elections is stored. No injuries were reported.

Dozens of opposition supporters pledged to secure the building through the night and accused police of attempting a raid.

``We are going to stay here all night to safeguard the signatures,'' said Geraldo Blyde, a member of the Justice First opposition party.

Although a two-month strike that failed to oust Chavez has ended in all sectors except the all-important oil industry, Venezuelans still must cope with gasoline shortages and an economy in shambles.

Despite increases in oil production and government expenditures of more than $500 million on fuel imports, motorists waited for hours to fill up their tanks at service stations.

The strike is over but we are still going through a critical moment,'' said Wilmer Acevedo, 30, a tow truck driver waiting at one gas station. If I don't get gasoline, I can't work.''

Some restaurants, stores and factories were having trouble opening because of the gasoline shortage, causing serious delays in deliveries of other goods.

The government has raised oil production to more than 1 million barrels compared to pre-strike levels of 3.2 million barrels per day. Still, refineries remain largely idle.

Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez said Venezuela would import 12 million barrels of gasoline this month to make up for shortages.

It will take a couple of months to bring refining capacity back up to a normal operating rate,'' said Ed Silliere, vice president of risk management at Energy Merchant LLC in New York. Part of the problem is they have fired a lot of the key people that used to run these things. You can't replace these people that easily.''

Thousands of employees are still on strike at the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. More than 9,000 of the company's 40,000 employees have been fired for joining the work stoppage.

The fate of the fired workers is a sticking point in negotiations between the government and opposition. Chavez vowed Friday not to rescind the firings. ``Not even if I were crazy,'' he said.

Shortages could worsen as the government implements exchange controls to protect its foreign reserves and the bolivar, which lost a quarter of its value during the strike. Dollar requests could take as long as 45 days to process under the new rules, which could delay imports. Venezuela depends on imports for 60 percent of raw materials.

The government fixed the bolivar at 1,598 bolivars per dollar. The bolivar is trading at roughly 2,500 bolivars to the dollar on the black market.