www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.09.03, 6:29 PM ET By Matthew Robinson

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Venezuela's efforts to bring back oil output disrupted by a two-month strike by foes of President Hugo Chavez appeared to stall last week as the government struggled to restore production in older fields. Using replacement workers to compensate for striking employees of state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the government in January managed to restore output by about one million bpd, or about 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) every week. Chavez said on Sunday output had now reached 1.9 million bpd, a rise of about 100,000 bpd over the previous week and still short of the 3.1 million bpd pumped before the strike started on Dec. 2. Dissident PDVSA workers, who peg current output closer to 1.3 million bpd, and analysts say the government will find it difficult to restore the remaining oil production. Much of the shut output is located in older fields from the western Lake Maracaibo area that are difficult to restart. Rebel oil workers say it would take months restart these fields. They say oil production cannot be fully returned and that domestic refinery processing, currently about a third of the nation's 1.3 million bpd capacity, cannot be achieved unless they return to work. Chavez, who has already fired around 9,000 of the striking PDVSA employees, said on Sunday the recovery of oil production will continue and that he will take legal action against employees he said "sabotaged" oil installations. "By next week I'm sure we'll be over 2 million bpd," Chavez said on Sunday during his weekly radio and television program, "Hello, President". PDVSA President Ali Rodriguez has said output of 3 million bpd would be achieved in early March. Oil shipments by the world's No. 5 exporter contribute half of government revenues and normally supply over 13 percent of U.S. crude imports. But during the strike, the OPEC nation has been forced to import gasoline to meet internal demand of around 200,000 bpd. ORINOCO OIL STILL SHUT Analysts say restarting four foreign-financed Orinoco projects, which partner PDVSA with international oil majors such as U.S. ExxonMobil (nyse: XOM - news - people) and French TotalFinaElf<TOTF.PA>, represents the government's best chance to add another large volume of oil output soon. Chavez said last Sunday output from the four projects, which had pumped over 400,000 bpd of Venezuela's pre-strike output, would be restored last week. Only the Hamaca project, which is still under construction, has come back on line so far. It is producing around 15,000 bpd of blended crude that is being placed into storage compared with pre-strike levels of about 45,000 bpd. Three other projects which have completed upgrading units that allow the tar-like Orinoco oil to be processed into light, refineable synthetic crude, have not restarted. Project officials said Friday that PDVSA has not been able to guarantee a steady supply of natural gas feedstock needed for upgrading units, and that it was unclear when output would resume. REFINERY OUTPUT Chavez also said on Sunday the giant 940,000 bpd Amuay-Cardon refineries would restart 80,000 bpd of gasoline producing units next week. The hemisphere's largest refining complex is currently processing around 150,000 bpd of crude, but units needed to make finished products have not yet been returned. Striking PDVSA employees, who are attempting to force Chavez out of office, have said the complex units cannot be restarted by replacement workers. Output at the tiny 130,000 bpd domestic El Palito refinery was being restored as well, Chavez said. "Thanks to the workers, the military, and managers in the refinery, it is operational today and producing some 42,000 bpd of gasoline," he announced on Sunday.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 1:11:38 AM By: Will West

Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 00:52:38 -0800 From: Will West thewillies@cox-internet.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: A Letters to the Editor Submission

Dear Editor: The (perhaps fatal) damage Chavez has inflicted upon Venezuela's democratic form of government is unforgivable.  It is my belief that, in the long run, maintaining a healthy, functioning democratic form of government (including a "loyal opposition") will do more to increase and ensure the prosperity of all Venezuelans than any amount of heavy-handed economic tinkering.

Comparisons between Chavez and Hitler are obvious -- not with regard to the scale of the evil they represent, but with regards to the similar patterns their careers have followed thus far.  Several observers of the Venezuelan situation have noted this similarity, but let me mention one more example:  Both Hitler and Chavez have used gangs of armed thugs to intimidate (and worse) those who disagreed with them.  Hitler had the S.A., the brown shirts, while Chavez has his Bolivarian Circles (who have been used to intimidate and harass the free press, attack and kill protesters, etc.).  How can educated people reconcile support of Chavez (as a benign socialist?) with his use of Hitlerian (fascistic) tactics?  Can any good can come of this practice?

It seems as if many of Chavez's most vociferous supporters in the "Letters" area of VHeadline profess ideologies to the extreme left.  Although there is nothing necessarily wrong with being a leftist, it is the extremity of their position that seems to allow them to overlook Chavez's many negative aspects and to justify his actions.  Their devotion appears to be driven more by their own ideology than by any real resemblance between Chavez and a benign leftist head of state.

Do the ends Chavez envisions justify the means means he has chosen? 

What price is he willing to have his people pay in order to enforce his will? 

Is any price whatsoever acceptable? 

Where does Hugo Chavez Frias draw the line between acceptable means of political/economic change and unacceptable?

I ask these questions in order to give your readers who are Chavez apologists a way to determine for themselves if the label "extremist" (for whom the ideological end ALWAYS justifies the means) fits, or if their ideology is leavened with some modicum of humanity.

• Lest anyone believe that I am some kind of right-wing, whacko extremist, let me say that I have never been accused of extremism (I lack the energy).

The only area in which my views even approach extremism regards my belief that functioning democratic forms of government are far and away superior to all others when it comes to ensuring the greatest degree of human happiness and prosperity for the largest proportion of people.  I would be greatly relieved if more Chavistas shared this belief.

Sincerely, William West thewillies@cox-internet.com

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 11:44:22 AM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Datanalisis poll director Luis Vicente Leon has told subscribers that the only way to get rid of democratically-elected President Hugo Chavez Frias is by reinforcing an opposition campaign of radical civil disobedience.

• El Universal has leaked part of the company’s January 22 report to clients concluding that Chavez Frias rejects the validity of democratic institutions.

Leon bases his latest private report on the concepts of US scholar Gene Sharp regarding the conduct of dictators … “dictators do not negotiate” … “violence or coups generally fail.” He says institutional change through legal means or moderate protest isn’t an option when confronted with the government’s non-democratic character.

Insisting that "dictatorships have a knack of avoiding the law being used against them" and “unfortunately, it includes any attempt at reforms, constitutional amendments, early elections etc.”

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 5:16:01 PM By: Roy S. Carson

Britain's Foreign & Commonwealth Office has rescinded an advisory against travel to Venezuela after VHeadline.com published a Reader's Letter complaining that the restrictions were complicating matters for British and European tourists wishing to travel to the Caribbean paradise island of Margarita,  Canaima and Angel Falls in the rainforest region of  Venezuela's southeast ... hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of political unrest in Caracas.

An original advisory issued in December, had warned Britons against going to Venezuela because of "rising political tensions" after the opposition launched its anti-government "strike" with violent demonstrations.

The incidence of street crime in Venezuela is high and rising and the political situation remains volatile. British nationals are advised to exercise vigilance at all times. At this time it is difficult to buy or sell foreign currency legally in Venezuela. We therefore advise British visitors to obtain local currency where possible before travelling. While there have been some terrorist incidents in Venezuela we are not aware of any specific terrorist threat to British nationals in Venezuela.

The FCO said earlier today, Wednesday, that it had amended its travel advice with immediate effect and was downgrading warnings because the situation had improved.

The move follows a letter published in Tuesday editions of VHeadline.com Venezuela in which British travel expert Charlie Hopkinson had pointed out the knock-on inconveniences to Venezuelan tourism, especially concerning British tourists to Bolivar and Amazonas States as well as Isla de Margarita which have largely remained unaffected by the two-month opposition strike/stoppage which has recently self-imploded.  Hopkinson had written that the FCO "advice appears to be in conflict with what we are being told by a variety of sources in and around Venezuela.  Not only is this bad for our company, but ten times worse for Venezuela's lucrative tourist industry."

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, February 09, 2003 - 1:11:47 PM By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

According to pro-government sources, the Rector of the Venezuelan seminary at the Vatican, Father Pedro Freytes was prominent in organizing an anti-government signature campaign in St. Peter’s Square to coincide with the Coordinadora Democratica (CD) activity in Caracas.

Father Freytes worked for Vatican Radio before returning to Venezuela in the late 90s to take up the post of Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV) secretary.  He gained fame as a rabid anti-Chavist by attacking President Chavez Frias for allegedly attempting to create a parallel church in Venezuela.

Unconfirmed reports say Freytes, wearing a tricolor baseball cap, had gathered Venezuelan pilgrims and ex-pats in Rome during the Pope’s Sunday Angelus prayer to sign the recall referendum and other petitions.