www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 2:45:48 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

According to Infrastructure (Minfra) minister Diosdado Cabello, the government will broaden its clampdown on TV and radio stations some time this week, as it launches fresh legal actions like those already taken against Globovision, RCTV, Televen and a local TV station in Tachira State.

"We are working on a large number of cases and they could be commenced later this week, eventually against TV and radio stations."

Although the Minister didn't name which stations figured high on his list, he did say that particular attention would be given to regional TV and radio stations, " but they will be notified accordingly."

• Among the measures that could be taken are fines and other economic sanctions, suspension of broadcasting licenses or the complete revocation of concessions.

Venezuela's privately-owned media has angered the government by broadcasting only opposition advertisements, showing violent scenes during times when children are likely to be watching.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 2:41:31 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

The Confederation of Trade Unions (CTV) has announced that it will do whatever it can for petroleum, merchant marine, petrochemical, educational and other sector employees who have been affected due to their support for the opposition's national work stoppage, which basically came to an end on Monday, with only the petroleum sector continuing to support the action.

Since the strike began over 5,000 Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) employees have been sacked for abandoning their posts and causing severe damage to the petroleum industry, a move which opposition leaders and striking executives claim to be illegal. The government insists that the firings were entirely constitutional, and PDVSA president Ali Rodriguez Araque has warned that more lay-offs will follow unless workers return.

Following a CTV general council meeting, the union grouping's president Carlos Ortega announced that committees would soon be formed to defend the workers' rights and legal action would be taken against PDVSA directors.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 2:35:30 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

Finance (Hacienda) Minister Tobias Nobrega is set to announce a new exchange rate control system tomorrow, and most expect it to be in the form of a single exchange rate, which will be adjusted on a monthly basis followed by a dual rate, later on, with priority granted to food, fuel, medical supplies and government transactions.

The initial rate is expected to be in the Bs.1,600.00 to Bs.1,750.00 to the US dollar range . This compares to the Bs.1,853.00 rate it closed on before being suspended on January 22.

The move will hopefully give the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) the breathing room they need to defend international reserves, which were believed to be slipping at around $60 million per day as the bolivar was being kept artificially high to prevent it falling further.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 - 2:35:30 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

Finance (Hacienda) Minister Tobias Nobrega is set to announce a new exchange rate control system tomorrow, and most expect it to be in the form of a single exchange rate, which will be adjusted on a monthly basis followed by a dual rate, later on, with priority granted to food, fuel, medical supplies and government transactions.

The initial rate is expected to be in the Bs.1,600.00 to Bs.1,750.00 to the US dollar range . This compares to the Bs.1,853.00 rate it closed on before being suspended on January 22.

The move will hopefully give the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) the breathing room they need to defend international reserves, which were believed to be slipping at around $60 million per day as the bolivar was being kept artificially high to prevent it falling further.

Wednesday, February 5, 2003 Charita Goshay www.cantonrep.com

Imagine for a moment, that you are the Most High Exalted, Glorious Grand Pooh-bah and President for Life.

Your word is law. Schoolchildren sing your praises. You have unlimited wealth. Palaces. Yachts. Hummers. A luxury suite on the 50-yard line.

Your country is floating on a sea of oil.

Life is good.

Then one day, the most powerful nation on earth rings you up and tells you to dump your stockpiles of anthrax and poison gas, or prepare to be turned into a parking lot.

Would you do it? Or would you stick out your tongue and say, “Make me.”

That pretty much sums up the situation for Saddam Hussein.

Even if I didn’t have any weapons of mass destruction in my arsenal, I think I’d whip up some to turn over if it meant the United States would leave me alone.

Then again, Saddam is the same megalomaniac who vowed that the desert would be pockmarked with American graves during the Gulf War. Instead, ill-equipped Iraqi soldiers were begging to be captured.

Guess it’s hard to fight a war in dress shoes, especially when you haven’t eaten in three days.

Perhaps Saddam is looking to become a martyr.

If so, he’s about get his wish.

In Venezuela, the doltish Hugo Chavez is regularly and publicly humiliated by his wife, but it hasn’t loosened his grip on the government, which is in chaos.

A few weeks ago, Chavez fell for a telephone prank, in which the caller pretended to be Fidel Castro.

What, no caller I.D. in the presidential palace?

The only ones who might be more dense than Chavez are the Bush administration operatives who fumbled an attempt to overthrow him when their elderly, hand-picked successor promptly suspended all civil liberties.

Chavez was back at his desk in two days, because even a dolt is preferable to a doddering despot.

If you were to call Central Casting and say, “Get me a dictator,” chances are, Kim Jong II would show up.

With his Elvis eyeglasses and Don King hairdo, North Korea’s fearless leader looks like a bargain-basement villain from a James Bond knockoff.

A frustrated actor who starves his own people, a man whom supporters say was born on a “magic mountain,” Kim II has dared the world to do something about his nuclear arsenal.

So, what are we going to do about him?

Not much.

Why not?

No oil.

Too many times, we’ve crawled into bed with dictators because they served our purpose at the moment, or because they were preferable to communists, only to have them bite us in the end.

Augusto Pinochet. Manuel Noriega. Fulgencio Batista. The Duvaliers. Marcos. Mugabe.

The world always will be plagued with strongmen. We can’t eradicate them all. But we can, and should, promote democracy wherever possible. When people have a real voice in how their government is run, they’re not too quick to give that up in exchange for the trains running on time.

If Saddam was at all smart, or even sane, he would opt for exile.

He might even get to keep his luxury box.

You can reach Repository writer Charita Goshay at (330) 580-8313 or e-mail:

charita.goshay@cantonrep.com