biz.yahoo.com Wednesday February 5, 7:44 pm ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ohio Credit Union Movement's Latino Financial Literacy Program this week kicked off its second year of helping Central Ohio's growing Spanish-speaking population learn more about personal finance. More than 225 individuals attended one or more of the classes in 2002, the program's pilot year.

Three Columbus credit unions -- OhioHealth, Telhio, and Western -- and the Ohio Credit Union Foundation sponsor the financial literacy program, which is free and open to the public. The weekly two-hour classes are delivered in partnership with The Ohio State University Extension Office, with additional funding and in-kind support from various Columbus area credit unions, businesses, and charitable organizations.

The credit unions publicize and host the classes, which are taught by Dr. Ruben Nieto, a native of Venezuela and an associate of The Ohio State University Extension Office. Nieto developed the class curriculum, which in a four-part series covers budgeting, financial goals and priorities, establishing and maintaining good credit, and financial products and services. The three credit unions and a grant from the Ohio Credit Union Foundation pay for the course materials and instructor. Several Central Ohio churches and community organizations have provided meeting space for the classes.

To graduate, individuals must complete all four parts of the class series. In 2002 more than 53 percent of the participants graduated.

"Credit unions know that education will make life better for these new residents," said Sue Helmreich, manager of outreach programs for the Ohio Credit Union League, a trade association for the state's credit unions. "Participants in the financial literacy classes come from many countries. Some cannot speak English, some can't read or write any language, but the common bond is that they want to learn how to handle money in this country where they have come to make a better life for themselves and their families."

Helmreich said that the Spanish financial literacy classes are scheduled for the first half of 2003. Additional funding sources are being sought to extend the program into 2004. Securing appropriate funding will enable the Credit Union Movement to expand the program throughout the state.

The majority of class participants are natives of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

The Ohio Credit Union League, with offices in Dublin, is a state trade association representing more than 500 credit unions. Credit unions are not- for-profit financial institutions owned and democratically controlled by their members. Ohio credit unions provide savings, loans, and other consumer financial services to their nearly 3 million members. To learn more, visit www.OhioCreditUnions.org .

www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.05.03, 6:34 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Venezuela's government plans to set a fixed exchange rate of 1,600 bolivars to the U.S. dollar as part of new currency controls aimed at staving off the economic impact of a two-month opposition strike, government sources told Reuters on Wednesday. The Venezuelan currency, which last traded at 1,853 bolivars to the U.S. dollar, plummeted about 24 percent from the start of the year until the government shut down currency trading two weeks ago. The bolivar fell 46 percent against the greenback last year. Venezuela suspended currency trading from Jan. 22 to prepare a strict currency control regime to protect its reserves and the bolivar during the strike aimed at forcing leftist President Hugo Chavez from office. "The rate will be 1,600 bolivars," one of the government sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity. An opposition strike, started on Dec. 2, battered the oil-reliant economy by choking off the petroleum exports that accounts for half of the government's revenues. Officials last week said that the government would begin with a single fixed exchange rate that would be adjusted on a monthly basis and could later move to a dual rate.

boston.com By Associated Press, 2/5/2003 16:07

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Smarting from a failed strike to oust President Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan businessmen warned Wednesday that plans to restrict access to foreign currency will bury the reeling economy.

Chavez's leftist government plans to announce the restrictions on Thursday, to try to stop a devaluation of the bolivar and protect Venezuela's foreign reserves, which shrank $2 billion during the two-month strike.

Details have not been released. But Chavez vowed Tuesday to punish strike leaders by restricting their ability to purchase U.S. dollars, an essential in a nation heavily dependent on imports.

He accused those he calls ''coup plotters'' of stashing billions of dollars abroad ''our international reserves, belonging to the nation, to the Republic.''

That could force thousands of businesses to close for lack of supplies and leave tens of thousands jobless, business leaders warned.

Already, analysts say the failed two-month strike to oust Chavez will close more than 20,000 businesses and leave 200,000 people jobless.

Strike leader Carlos Fernandez, head of the Fedecamaras business federation, said Chavez was trying to impose control over the struggling private sector, which relies on imports for 60 percent of its supplies and raw materials.

Lope Mendoza, president of the Conindustria business chamber, urged citizens in the import-crazy nation to buy Venezuelan products to keep the economy afloat. ''The industrial sector isn't going to please the president, who wants to see a cemetery of businesses,'' Mendoza said.

Chavez's threat on Tuesday to provide ''not one more dollar for the coup plotters'' showed he will devise a discretionary system that will ''hand out prizes and punishments,'' said analyst Luis Vicente Leon.

''He is going to control his enemies' income. Venezuela is too dependent on imports,'' Leon said.

Chavez's government suspended dollar purchases on Jan. 22 after the bolivar lost more than 30 percent of its worth during the strike, which began Dec. 2 and ended in all sectors but oil this week.

Foreign reserves dropped $2 billion in part because the government was spending $60 million a day to prop up the bolivar.

The bolivar last traded at 1,850 to the dollar. On the black market, it's 2,500 per dollar. Devaluation, in turn, sent inflation past 30 percent, and many economists forecast a 25 percent recession this year.

Finance Minister Tobias Noriega said a fixed rate between 1,600 and 1,850 bolivars per dollar will be adopted for imports of food, medicines and government transactions.

It wasn't known how many dollars the government will make available to citizens and businesses, what conditions they must meet to buy dollars, and how many dollars they can buy.

Some newspapers speculated Wednesday that citizens will face restrictions on the amount of dollars they can buy for business travel abroad.

Also Wednesday, the government opened an investigation into a fifth private television station, Venevision, for allegedly breaching broadcast law by supporting the strike.

Chavez accuses Venevision, Globovision, Radio Caracas Television, Televen and a regional station in the southwestern state of Tachira of supporting efforts to overthrow him. The stations could be fined or suspended.

On Tuesday, the government said it would investigate whether some radio stations should have their broadcast licenses revoked for airing ''violent propaganda.''

The government is preparing a media content law governing what and when radio and TV stations can broadcast.

Media owners accuse Chavez of inciting his followers to attack journalists and abusing a law that allows presidents to interrupt private programming to broadcast speeches or government messages.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.05.03, 3:23 PM ET By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday they feared the leftist leader would use planned foreign exchange controls as a political weapon to repress them after they failed to oust him with a two-month strike. Venezuela's government suspended currency trading two weeks ago while it drafted the controls to protect its reserves and the bolivar currency after the opposition strike cut off its economic lifeline by slashing vital oil production. Chavez, clearly buoyed by the limited restart of the oil sector, warned foes he would go on the offensive and ordered restricted access to U.S. dollars for the business leaders and opponents he accuses of trying to topple him. "There can be no pardon here. There will be no negotiation with traitors or with terrorists. We don't negotiate our principles," the president told supporters late on Tuesday. Chavez is locked in a bitter struggle with opponents who are pressing for elections to oust a leader they say rules like a dictator and wants to install Cuban-style communism. He has resisted calls for an early vote. Since Chavez's 1998 election on a populist platform, his fierce anti-capitalist rhetoric and threats against private property have riled foes who accuse him of driving the nation into economic chaos. Finance Minister Tobias Nobrega last week said the government planned to introduce a fixed exchange rate that would be adjusted monthly. Officials said priority access to dollars would go to fuel, medicine and food imports. Currency markets are scheduled to reopen on Thursday, but sources said the government was still wrangling over the final details of the control regime. Anti-Chavez business leaders said they feared draconian currency controls would be used to punish strikers by restricting access to dollars. Venezuela imports more than 60 percent of its goods and many businesses need the U.S. currency to purchase products from overseas partners. "This will be a political tool. This regime is doing everything to finish off the private sector, said Albis Munoz, vice president of the Fedecamaras business chamber. The strike, started on Dec. 2 by unions, private sector leaders and opposition parties, battered the oil-reliant economy. But the stoppage later faltered and most businesses have since reopened. Only state oil workers are staying out. Chavez has sacked more than 5,000 state oil employees in a strike-breaking offensive to restart exports. But strikers say oil production still stands at just over a third of the normal 3.1 million barrels per day. ECONOMIC JITTERS, SLIDING CURRENCY Chavez, who survived a coup last year, is defiant in the face of an opposition he sees as divided and without clear leadership. He has vowed to strengthen his self-styled "revolution" aimed at easing poverty. A six-nation group, led by the United States and Brazil, is backing efforts by the Organization of American States to broker a deal to end the political dispute over the president's rule. But Chavez rejects opposition calls for a constitutional amendment that would shorten his term and trigger early elections. He says they must wait for a referendum after August -- halfway through his current term. Economists say currency controls may initially help Venezuela stave off economic crisis and keep up its foreign debt payments. But they say exchange curbs and price controls hamstring the private sector and push up prices. "This will deepen the recession, halt recuperation by limiting access to currency and hike inflation," said Orlando Ochoa, economics professor at Catholic University in Caracas. Nervous demand for U.S. dollars sent the local bolivar currency <VEBFIX=> tumbling 24 percent from the start of the year until the government suspended trading on Jan. 22. Venezuela's reserves dipped $670 million dollars from the start of the year and $1.23 billion since the strike began. The reserves stood at $11.26 billion on Feb. 3. While the initial fixed rate has not been released, sources say it will be set between 1,600 and 1,800 bolivars to the dollar. The bolivar last traded at 1,853 to the dollar. Venezuela last had exchange controls during a banking crisis from 1994 to 1996 until it reached an accord with the International Monetary Fund. The controls fostered a thriving black market, with currency trading conducted through private accounts and Brady bonds. A black market has already surfaced, with the bolivar trading at 2,200 to 3,000 bolivars to the dollar. Prices on many goods have spiked as businesses bet they will be forced to pay more for imports ranging from televisions to baby foods.

sg.biz.yahoo.com Thursday February 6, 3:57 AM

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela's crude oil output fell to 1.04 million barrels per day (b/d) Wednesday, compared with around 1.22 million b/d Tuesday, dissident staff of state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela (E.PVZ) said Wednesday.

The biggest decline was noted in the eastern part of the country where 692,000 b/d is being produced, compared to 852,000 the previous days. The decline is due to maintenance work at fields that had been virtually pumping at capacity in Monagas State, one industry source said. "This is what it is going to be like in the coming weeks - production will vary," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Another 300,000 b/d on top of the current 692,000 b/d could be produced in the east in the coming weeks, dissident PdVSA staff have said.

Production in the west stood at 260,000 b/d, compared to 280,000 b/d the previous days. In the southern region, 92,000 b/d were being produced.

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02-05-03 1457ET