MANDELA BLAST PRESIDENT BUSH ON IRAQ, WARN OF ñHOLOCAUSTî

    Former South African leftist president Nelson Mandela lashed out at U.S. President George Bush's stance on Iraq on Thursday, saying the Texan had no foresight and could not think properly. Mandela said the U.S. leader and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were undermining the United Nations, and suggested they would not be doing so if the organization had a white leader.

    "It is a tragedy what is happening, what Bush is doing in Iraq," Mandela told an audience in Johannesburg. "What I am condemning is that one power, with a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust," he added, to loud applause. "Both Bush as well as Tony Blair are undermining an idea (the United Nations) which was sponsored by their predecessors," Mandela said. "Is this because the secretary general of the United Nations (Ghanaian Kofi Annan) is now a black man? They never did that when secretary generals were white."

    He also attacked the United States's record on human rights, criticizing the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagaski in World War Two. "Because they decided to kill innocent people in Japan, who are still suffering from that, who are they now to pretend that they are the policeman of the world?..." he asked. "lf there is a country which has committed unspeakable atrocities, it is the United States of America...They don't care for human beings."

      LAWSUIT SEEKS CHAVEZÍS EXTRADITION TO SPAIN

    The "immediate" extradition of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and other 27 indicted persons was requested in a lawsuit filed before Spain's High Court. The move seeks to "prevent" the perpetration of new offenses of genocide, State terror, crimes against humanity, political harassment, assassination, murder and severe injuries. Extradition may be possible under the Extradition Treaty signed by the Republic of Venezuela and the Kingdom of Spain in Caracas on January 4, 1989. In their claim, the attorneys-at-law filing the lawsuit said that articles 5 and 6 of this treaty provide for extradition in the event that "the State has the jurisdiction to hear the dispute and when the offenses committed are terror acts, that is to say, the use of automatic guns against people, among others."

    In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs asked the corresponding authorities to urgently issue "warrants and requests of assistance by Interpol and the law enforcement agencies of the relevant governments" in order to bring the indicted persons to the Spanish justice. The move was made to counter both "the danger" of contempt by the Venezuelan government and the chances that any of the 27 people indicted "flee to third countries." Attorney-at-law Luis García Perulles said in Spain that they expect the appointment of the justice that is to take charge of the case. Once this move is made, Spain's High Court has a week-long term to decide whether to allow the claim to proceed or not.

    PRESIDENT BUSH PREPARES THE NATION FOR WAR AGAINST IRAQ

    In the roughly hour-long State of the Union address, President George W. Bush sought to strike a balance between his commitment to addressing challenges at home and a vow to disarm Saddam Hussein by force if necessary.  "We will work for a prosperity that is broadly shared, and we will answer every danger and every enemy that threatens the American people," Bush said in his speech to a joint session of Congress.

    "Our faith is sure, our resolve is firm, and our union is strong," President Bush said. The forcefully delivered speech comes at a delicate time for the president, one that he described as a "whirlwind of change and hope and peril." Bush outlined the threat the administration sees from Saddam and cast him in the context of the broader war against terrorism. Bush said Saddam "aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda.

    "Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent," Bush said. "Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?" The president said the world has waited "12 years for Iraq to disarm," and added that the United States would ask the U.N. Security Council to convene on Feb. 5 to discuss Baghdad's "ongoing defiance of the world."  

 

      SECRETARY POWELL TO PRESENT IRAQ INTELLIGENCE AT THE U.N.

     U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will present intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction next week at the United Nations, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The intelligence would form one part of the U.S. push to persuade key countries -- including U.N. Security Council veto-holders France, Russia and China -- as well as a wary U.S. public that military force may be necessary to rid Iraq of its suspected chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs.

    Security Council members Russia, France, Syria, Germany and China have all said the inspections are working and should be given more time, a stance at odds with the U.S. view that time is running out for Iraq, which denies having such weapons. "We do have a number of intelligence products that convince us that what we are saying is correct ... that they are doing these things, and we hope in the next week or so to make as much of this available in public as possible," Powell said.

    While Britain has remained firmly on U.S. President George W. Bush's side, France, Russia, China and Germany have come out against hasty U.S. military action against Iraq and in favor of giving U.N. inspections longer to work. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that "if Iraq starts hampering (the work of the inspectors) I do not exclude the fact that Russia could change its position."

    CHÁVEZ SUED IN SPAIN FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

    Spanish attorney-at-law Luis García Perulles confirmed that a criminal lawsuit was filed before Spain's National High Court against president Hugo Chávez on charges of crimes against humanity, violation of human rights and terrorism. According to García Perulles, "the Venezuelan State is making every possible effort to obstruct any criminal ruling in connection with the suits already filed."

    Relatives of José Antonio Gamallo, one of the persons who died as a consequence of the slaughter that occurred in the vicinity of Palacio de Miraflores in Venezuela, are to request the prosecution of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez by the Spanish judiciary. Gamallo, a Spanish citizen, was severely wounded during the events of April 11, 2002, in Caracas. Then he was transferred to the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia, where he died three months later.

    García Perulle said international treaties allow to prosecute crimes against humanity in the event that the State where such crimes were committed has not filed the appropriate penal actions to punish them. García Perulles also said, "in this lawsuit we documented some relationships between the government of Venezuela and some Spanish terrorist groups and international armed gangs." He stressed that "we have evidence" that Caracas is funding ETA and "we shall prove it."

    U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF NAMES SPECIAL ENVOY FOR CUBA

    U.N. human rights chief Sergio Vieira de Mello named French magistrate Christine Chanet Monday as envoy to report on Cuba's much-criticized human rights situation. Chanet will report her findings at the U.N. Commission for Human Rights' annual session starting on March 17.

    Last year the commission passed a resolution to send a special envoy to monitor Cuba's progress in improving its rights record.  Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is frequently criticized for repressing freedom of expression and jailing opposition activists.

    "The High Commissioner (for Human Rights) has informed the Cubans, but there is still no word," said Jose-Luis Diaz, a spokesman at the High Commissioner's office. Last year's resolution to monitor Cuba's human rights marked the first time Latin American countries had taken the lead in attacking their Caribbean neighbor. The U.S.-backed proposal was offered by Uruguay, with the backing of eight other Latin American states.

       CAMCO CELEBRATES WITH HOPES OF LIBERTY THE BIRTHDAY OF THE APOSTLE OF CUBAN INDEPENDENCE, JOSÉ JULIÁN MARTÍ Y PÉREZ  (January 28, 1853 - May 19, 1895) 


     The Apostle said: ñYou take your rights, you do not beg for them; you do not buy them with tears but with blood.

    LANGUAGE LIFTING THE TRAVEL BAN REMOVED FROM SPENDING BILL

    Senate Republicans have quietly killed language in a spending bill that would have effectively ended the ban on American travel to Cuba.  The full House and the Senate Appropriations Committee voted last Fall to stop funding enforcement of the ban, a move that would have permitted Americans to travel to the communist state.

    Opponents of the travel prohibition said last year they had solid, bipartisan, support in the full Senate to approve what could have represented a dramatic change in U.S. policy toward Fidel Castro's totalitarian dictatorship. But the Senate never finished its 2003 spending bills, and when senators wrapped all the unfinished appropriations measures into an omnibus package this week, the language lifting the travel ban had been removed.

    Anti-Castro forces said senators were fixing "bad legislation" and sparing a possible veto by President Bush, who supports the travel ban and the economic embargo against Cuba as a way of weakening Castro's 43 years old totalitarian dictatorship. Democrats lawmakers said they did not know who was responsible for removing the Cuba language, but they noted that the change was made after the GOP took control of the Senate this year.

    VENEZUELAÍS OPPOSITION BEGINS PROTEST POSTPONEMENT OF REFERENDO

    Opponents of President Hugo Chavez launched a 24-hour street demonstration in Caracas Saturday to protest a court ruling that postponed a referendum on Chavez's rule. A 2 ½-mile stretch of central Caracas highway was set aside for the event, which organizers warned may last longer than one day.  Negotiations mediated by Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the Organization of American States, continued, aimed at ending the 55-day-old strike. But the opposition says it isn't going to wait for talks to produce results.

    ñPrepare yourself for the longest protest in history!î screamed TV commercials and newspaper ads in the opposition-run media. They advised protesters to bring drinking water, sun hats, folding chairs and portable TVs to while away the hours under the tropical sun. The demonstration followed a Supreme Court decision Wednesday to indefinitely postpone a nonbinding plebiscite, dashing opposition's hopes for a means of removing Chavez from office. Opposition leaders were convinced Chavez would be so embarrassed by the outcome, he would quit.

    SIX-NATION GROUP PUSHES FOR VENEZUELA PEACE ACCORD

    A six-nation group led by the United States and Brazil was ready to make a fresh bid to end Venezuela's crisis on Friday, a day after a grenade blast in Caracas stoked fears of increasing violence. Foreign ministers from the group were to hold talks at the Organization of American States headquarters in Washington, D.C., with President Hugo Chavez's government and his foes. Chavez, on the eve of the Washington talks, said about the opposition: "We do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not negotiate with coup-mongers. We defeat them."

    The group mediating in Washington includes the United States, Brazil, México, Chile, Spain and Portugal. Chavez, whose anti-imperialist rhetoric often strains ties with the United States, has said he believes it should be expanded to bring in other countries, such as Cuba, Russia and France. International efforts to end the crisis have intensified after the stoppage slashed Venezuela's vital oil production as the United States prepares for a possible attack on Iraq.

    President Bush administration, keen to find a quick solution to the conflict on Thursday endorsed a proposal by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter on elections. Carter presented Chavez and his opponents with two ideas at a meeting on Tuesday -- an amendment to Venezuela's constitution that would trigger early elections or a binding national referendum on Chavez's rule on Aug. 19. Both proposals called for an end to the strike. At least seven people have died in shootings and street clashes since the strike began on Dec. 2. 

    CUBAN PARLIAMENT SHELVES VARELA PROJECT

     Communist Cuba's National Assembly has rejected as unconstitutional the Varela Project, an opposition petition seeking political and economic reforms through a popular referendum, an aide to the assembly's president said on Thursday. "The Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee carefully studied the petition and decided not to move it forward because it went against the very foundation of the constitution, amongst other reasons," said Miguel Alvarez, advisor to National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón.

    "It has already been shelved," Alvarez added, in the first official declaration from the assembly that Cuba's one-chamber parliament considered the Varela Project dead. Alvarez said the project's leader, dissident Oswaldo Paya, was informed of the decision last November. Paya was out of the country and not immediately available for comment. However, a spokesman for the Varela Project said no formal response had been received from the National Assembly and the petition drive continued. "They have not given us a response. The Varela Project is going forward with thousands of citizens continuing to sign," he added. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro told reporters on Sunday that the Varela Project was ñfoolish," and charged it was the creation of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana, "that incubator of supposed dissidents."

   ñBUYING OFF A TOTALITARIAN DICTATORî

    Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, said Washington should ''be ahead of the curve'' in preparing for changes and possible turmoil in Cuba once Castro, who is 76, is out of power. ''We cannot afford the kind of chaos in a post-Castro Cuba that a terrorist organization or a drug cartel leadership -- let me repeat, a drug cartel leadership -- may bring. That would present additional problems for the United States in the region,'' Roberts said. . ''Here is a government that has been involved in narcoterrorism, narcotrafficking and guerrilla movements . . . throughout Latin America, Asia and Africa,'' said Joe Garcia, executive director of CANF. ñIf he (Senator Roberts)  thinks buying off a totalitarian dictator is a good idea, then he's probably making things worse, not better.î

    The senator made the remarks as he endorsed a report prepared by the National Policy Center that calls for ñnegotiated normalizationî of relations with Cuba. The report recommends that President Bush administration remove a cap on the remittances U.S. residents can send to families in Cuba, legalize private financing of sales of food, medicine and medical products to Cuba, and permit the sales of other goods, such as household goods and clothing.  The report was developed by a panel headed by James R. Jones, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Other members included former Texas democratic Gov. Ann Richards, Miami Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Wenski, and the Cuban-Americans: Carlos M. de la Cruz, Carlos Saladrigas and Max Castro

    ONE KILLED NEAR CHAVISTAS MARCH

    Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans marched through Caracas on Thursday to pledge their loyalty to President Hugo Chavez and protest a 53-day-old strike intended to unseat him. An explosion near Industrial Bank of Venezuela, a block from the march, killed one person and injured 14, Fire Chief Rodolfo Briceno said. The cause of the blast wasn't immediately known. Opposition leaders asked their supporters in Caracas to stay home Thursday to lessen the chance of clashes with chavistas.

    The outpouring of support marked the 45th anniversary of the fall of the country's last dictator, Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez. It also came a day before the first meeting of the ñGroup of Friends,î six nations that have offered to help Venezuela find a way out of its crisis. The meeting will consider two plans presented this week by former President Jimmy Carter to end the strike and hold early elections.

    Chavez said late Wednesday he welcomed international help but warned against outside intervention in Venezuela's internal affairs. The president urged the group ¿ United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal - to recognize that his is an elected government and to not give equal weight to what he calls a coup-plotting opposition. Chavez said Wednesday he still wants to expand the group to include such nations as Cuba, Russia, and France. But the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, César Gaviria, said the group of six was picked for balance and to be of a size that is manageable.

    VENEZUELA COURT SUSPENDS REFERENDUM AGAINST CHAVEZ

    Venezuela's Supreme Court suspended a Feb. 2 referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule Wednesday until it can determine whether it is legal, a blow to opposition leaders hoping the vote would lead to his removal. Chavez's allies had appealed to the court to rule the nonbinding referendum unconstitutional. The court on Wednesday ordered the National Elections Council to stop organizing the referendum until a final ruling on its legality is made.

    It was not clear when the final ruling would be made. Tens of thousands of Chavez opponents fought through bullets and tear gas Nov. 4 to deliver a petition signed by 2 million people required for holding the vote. The elections council set the vote for Feb. 2. But Chavez said opponents had to wait until a binding referendum, which the constitution allows midway through his six-year term, be conducted in August. Then, opponents cited a constitutional clause that allows citizens to petition for referendums on "matters of national importance" at any time and launched a general strike Dec. 2, to demand Chavez consent to the referendum and promise to abide by it.  

    VENEZUELA TO SET FOREX TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has authorized the Finance Ministry and Central Bank to establish temporary restrictions on currency exchange, the government said Wednesday.  "The Finance Ministry is authorized to establish with the Central Bank temporary measures setting limits and restrictions on the convertibility of the national currency and the transfer of funds abroad," said a government decree published in the official gazette.

    It did not specify details of the measures to be adopted. Venezuela's Central Bank said Wednesday it was closing the foreign exchange market for five trading days as the government moved to stem capital flight during a crippling seven-week opposition strike against leftist president. Battered by the nation's political and economic turmoil, the local bolivar currency has shed more than 24 percent of its value against the dollar since the start of the year and 28.5 percent since the strike began on Dec. 2. 

    JIMMY CARTER PRESENTS VENEZUELA ELECTIONS PLAN

    Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Tuesday presented to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his political foes a plan for elections to break the political deadlock. Carter said after talks with the left-wing president in Caracas his plan foresaw an end to the crippling seven-week-old opposition strike. "Both sides now want to reach an agreement to end the impasse," Carter told a news conference before flying home.

    His plan comprises two independent alternatives: One proposes an amendment to Venezuela's constitution that would allow early elections. The other is for the country to wait until Aug. 19 -- halfway through Chavez's term -- when the constitution allows for a binding referendum on the president's mandate, which is due to end in early 2007.

    Chavez told reporters after meeting Carter he was willing to accept a constitutional amendment if it followed established legal procedures. "I don't reject any of these possibilities, but the opposition must comply with the Constitution," Chavez said. Opposition leaders reacted cautiously. Carlos Ortega said the opposition would carefully evaluate any proposal for the constitution to be altered. Carter said both sides would have to agree on one of his proposed alternatives. "I think this is a step in a positive direction, but certainly not a definitive answer," he said. The opposition has been demanding immediate elections, arguing the country cannot wait until the August referendum.

  ONE DEAD, 28 WOUNDED IN VENEZUELA CLASHES

    One person was killed and two dozen wounded by gunfire on Monday during street clashes in Venezuela, officials said. Clashes involving police and rival protesters broke out when ñchavistasî attacked an opposition march in Charallave, 30 miles (50 km) south of Caracas. Initial accounts of casualties were confused. But a Civil Defense official said man was shot dead and 28 people were wounded by gunfire in the fighting.

    President Hugo Chávez has ordered troops to raid factories, banks and schools joining the strike, as well as food and drink manufacturers he accuses of hoarding supplies. National Guard troops sparked opposition outrage and international concern on Friday after they broke into a local bottling affiliate of Cola-Cola Co. to take away crates of drinks. Negotiations between Chavez and his foes were thrown into doubt at the weekend after the populist leader threatened to quit the talks even as the international community stepped up support for OAS mediation.

    FRIENDS OF VENEZUELAÍS GROUP TO START WORK FRIDAY

    A coalition of nations seeking to help Venezuela negotiate an end to a seven-week-old strike against President Hugo Chavez will begin talks on Friday in Washington, Brazil's foreign minister said on Monday. Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, Celso Amorim said the meeting would bring together the foreign ministers of a "group of friends" comprising the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain and Portugal.

    The group, spearheaded by Brazil's new leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was created last week to aid talks led by the head of the Organization of American States, Cesar Gaviria. Chavez, who was briefly deposed in a botched coup last April, has cast doubts on the plan by threatening to pull out of the OAS talks and insisting Lula's group be expanded to include other countries such as Cuba, Russia, and France. Lula has resisted, arguing the coalition is already balanced.

    Negotiations between Chavez and his foes have been deadlocked for weeks, raising international concern over global oil supplies at a time when energy markets are jittery over a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter and supplies about one-sixth of U.S. oil imports. Chavez has dismissed his opponents as "terrorists and fascists," refusing to step down or call early elections. His critics accuse him of seeking to turn the country into a Cuban-style authoritarian state.

    CARTER WHO FAILED BEFORE, TRIES TO MEDIATE AGAIN IN VENEZUELA

    Former President Jimmy Carter on his second visit to Caracas in less than a year, planned to hold meetings with President Hugo Chavez and opposition leaders, who have been locked in a political standoff since April when the Venezuelan leader survived a short-lived coup. "There is always hope for a resolution and I hope that will be soon," Carter told reporters as he arrived in Caracas to meet with Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, who brokered the peace talks.

    Carter, who carries out international peace work through his Atlanta-based Carter Center, has been in Venezuela for about a week on a fishing trip. Chavez, who was elected in 1998 six years after leading a botched coup, has dismissed his foes as "fascist terrorists" plotting to overthrow him. But his critics, who say Chavez has wielded power like a corrupt, inept dictator, have vowed to keep up the strike until he steps down. Chavez strongly rejects the oppositionÍs demands.

  CUBAN COMMUNIST PARTYÍS GENERAL ELECTIONS

    Cubans voted in one-party general elections on Sunday following a call by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro "to defend the country, revolution and socialism in the face of the most powerful empire in the world and in history." The election is held every five years and will choose 609 deputies to the National Assembly and 1,119 representatives to provincial assemblies. Voters have no choice of candidates who are members of the Communist party and equal to the number of open seats.

    "This is not an election because in a free election you can choose between different options. Here the only option is to continue as we are ... this is one of Fidel Castro's many frauds," said dissident Vladimiro Roca. Roca, like other members of Cuba's small dissident movement, has called on voters to boycott the polls or spoil their ballots. However, a taxi driver, after casting his ballot in Havana, said: "It may seem like you can vote or not, but if you don't you are marked, so it is in your interest to turn out."

    Castro, 76, will be sent back to parliament, which will elect the Council of State. That body designates the President of the Republic and Castro, in power for 44 years, is expected to be chosen for another five-year term. Castro said on Friday Cubans should cast their ballots for all candidates presented on two slates for the national and provincial governing bodies to defend the revolution. The dictator added that the United States, where he said President George W. Bush won "without the majority of votes," and with the help of Cuban exiles in Miami who used "force, lies and money" to win the state of Florida in the 2000 election, a victory that delivered the White House.

    VENEZUELAN TROOPS RAIDS COCA-COLA BOTTLING PLANT

    Venezuelan troops seized control of a bottling affiliate of Coca-Cola Co. (KO.N) and raided a beer warehouse on Friday as President Hugo Chavez made good on his threat to get tough with a six-week opposition strike that has disrupted fuel and food supplies. National Guard troops wielding metal batons and firing tear gas clashed with a small group of protesters, including young women, who tried to block the entrance to Venezuela's largest bottling plant -- Panamco's water and soft drinks facility -- in Valencia, about 100 miles (160 km) west of Caracas.

    Television images showed troops standing inside warehouses filled with crates of bottled products.  "The national guard are here at the plant and they look as if they are ready to take over a guerrilla base because they are walking around armed with assault automatic weapons (FAL rifles)...Uzis (machine guns) and shotguns," plant sales manager Romulo Salazar said.    

    National Guard Gen. Luis Felipe Acosta Carles, a staunch President Chavez ally dubbed "Rambo" by the local media, said he was carrying out the president's orders to ensure basic food supplies. "What I see here is hoarding and we are going to move these products," said Acosta. .  ñTaking into account that collective rights preside over personal rights, we are proceeding to distribute these products to the population,'' said the general. He then grabbed a malt beverage, drank it and belched loudly in front of television cameras. "We are distributing this product to the population because collective rights come above individual rights," Gen. Acosta told reporters.

    CUBA ACCUSES UNITED STATES OF AIDING TERRORISM

    Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba's parliament, said on Thursday at a Havana news conference that the sale in Florida of a small plane taken from the island by a defector "... is another demonstration of the U.S. authorities' engagement with anti-Cuban terrorism."

    On Nov. 11, a Cuban pilot snatched the government-owned plane, flying seven of his relatives from the Caribbean island to Key West, 90 miles (145 km) north of Havana. The United States ruled the act a defection and granted those involved asylum. Cuba called it air piracy and demanded the return of the aircraft and its passengers. However, a Florida court ruled in December that the crop duster could be sold to help pay a $27 million judgment against Havana in the case of the ex-wife of a Cuban spy who had sued for civil damages. The plane was sold -- to the ex-wife -- on Monday for $7,000.

    Alarcón added that Cuba had posted on the Internet a dossier it gave to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1998 detailing exile activity against the country. Alarcón said that, soon after the dossier was handed over, the FBI rounded up Cuban agents instead of the exiles. Five Cuban spies were convicted in 2001 of plotting against the United States and imprisoned. The five spies were part of a ring that infiltrated U.S. military bases and Cuban exile groups and fed information to Havana.

    AGAIN, PRESIDENT BUSH EXTENDS SUSPENSION OF HELMS-BURTON LAW'S TITLE III

    Following the lead of former President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush on Thursday suspended for six months Title III of Helms-Burton law that allows Americans  to sue foreign companies using Cuban property confiscated after the 1959 communist takeover of the Caribbean island.

    In an open letter sent to key members of Congress, President Bush said, as he stated last year, extending the suspension ñis necessary to the national interests of the United States and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba,î The letter does not say what everyone knows, that extending the suspension of Title III allows the United States to avoid potential disputes with European Union nations whose firms have big investments in a communist nation that exploits slavery work.

    The President last extended the waiver in July. The 1996 law, written by now retired Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., gives Americans and Cuban-Americanas the right to sue any individual, investor or business using property seized after Castro took power in 1959. The law, passed in the aftermath of the downing of two small civilian planes by Cuban air force fighters, gives the president authority to waive enforcement of the ban at six-month intervals. President Clinton (a democrat) exercises his authority ten times after the law took effect, and President Bush (a republican) has now decided four times - contrary to pleas from the Cuban-American community - not to change President ClintonÍs policy.

     PRESIDENT CHAVEZ WELCOMES HELP FROM ñFRIENDLYî NATIONS

     Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government and its opponents on Thursday welcomed the creation of a group of "friendly" nations to try to help end their conflict and a 46-day strike strangling vital oil exports. The six-nation group was approved by Latin American presidents, including Chavez, on Wednesday as part of growing international efforts to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela, the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter.

    Chavez, who is resisting fierce opposition pressure to resign and call early elections, met U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York on Thursday to discuss ways of ending the conflict. Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain, Portugal and the United States agreed in Quito, Ecuador, to form the group to back efforts by Organization of American States Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria to broker a peace between Chavez and his foes.

    Opposition leaders, who accuse the populist Chavez of dragging his oil-rich country toward Cuban-style communism, said they hoped the contribution from the foreign states, especially the United States and regional heavyweight Brazil, could give new impetus to negotiations with the government. The United States, which has seen the source of 13 percent of its oil imports cut off by the Venezuelan crisis, has expressed strong support for the "friends group" initiative. Opposition leaders saw membership of the group as "balanced." 

    LUCIO GUTIERREZ MEETS REGIONAL LEADERS

    Ecuador's new president, Lucio Gutierrez, met with leaders from Brazil, Cuba and Peru on his first working day in office Thursday and vowed to cut arms spending to battle his nation's real "enemy" -- poverty.     Gutierrez, a retired army colonel who aided a 2000 Indian uprising that ousted then-president Jamil Mahuad, met early Thursday with Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He was to meet later in the day with Cuba's communist dictator Fidel Castro and Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo. The three leaders were in Quito for Wednesday's inauguration.

    Lula said he saw Gutierrez's victory as a sign of hope for the poor Andean nation and hoped to work closely with the new leader to boost trade and infrastructure. "The inauguration of President Lucio Gutierrez awakens expectations of hope for the Ecuadorian people, just as our election did in Brazil," Lula, a former metalworker and leftist who took office on Jan. 1, told reporters.

    Gutierrez's rise to power is seen as part of a leftist current sweeping Latin America. Gutierrez promised to join Peru's push for a regional accord to slash arms spending, saying the money would be better spend on social programs and development.

   POSSIBLE SADDAM EXILE RUMORS INCREASE

    Cuba, Libya, Egypt or North Korea - could one become Saddam Hussein's next home? Arab diplomats say the idea - which has not been publicly confirmed - has been presented to Saddam as a way out not only for him and his family, but also for his people, suffering for 12 years under punishing U.N. sanctions.

    The United States has threatened war to topple Saddam, whom it accuses of hiding nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters in Washington this week that, ñit would be a good idea if (Saddam) took the opportunity to leave.î Arab leaders have tried before to lure Saddam into exile. In 1991, Egypt offered Saddam a haven to avert the Gulf War; he declined.

    Some analysts believe there's not enough pressure on the Iraqi leader to force him to consider such an option now. The Americans may have him in their gun sights, but the bombs have not started falling and there is no collective Arab and Western support for military action against him. In the White House, Fleischer said: ñYou've known from repeated statements from both the State Department and here that if Saddam Hussein were to leave his country that would be a welcome event.î

    A GREAT CUBAN PATRIOT DIES

     Luis Andrés Vargas Gómez, an economist, diplomat and anti-Castro activist, has died of kidney failure. He was 87. Vargas Gomez, the grandson of Generalisimo Máximo Gómez, a hero of Cuba's wars for Independence, died Monday at his home in Coral Gables. In April 1961, 1,500 Cuban exiles supported by the CIA had invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Vargas Gomez helped plan that invasion, was captured and sentenced to death by firing squad. Later, the sentence was commuted to a prison term, and Vargas Gomez ended up serving 22 years at various communist prisons before his release in 1982.

    Vargas Gomez hadn't always been a foe of Castro. He had been appointed Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations shortly after Castro took power in 1959, but he quit two months later in a political falling-out with the Communist leader. He moved to Coral Gables in 1960 and served as director of a clandestine radio station as he became involved in Bay of Pigs planning. Five days before the failed invasion, Vargas Gomez slipped into Cuba with his wife, Maria Teresa. He was captured after being refused asylum at Ecuador's embassy, but, luckily,  his wife made her way back to Florida.

    Vargas Gómez was allowed to leave Cuba when civil rights activist Jesse Jackson persuaded Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to release him and 25 other Cuban prisoners in 1984. Once back in South Florida, Vargas Gomez served as a college professor and international trade consultant. In 1991 the great Cuban patriot helped form Unidad Cubana (Cuban Unity), a coalition of anti-Castro organizations, and wrote a column for El Nuevo Herald from 1986 to 1999.

      CUBAN SPYÍS EX-WIFE GETS CUBAN PLANE FOR $7,000

    The ex-wife of a Cuban spy was supposed to receive the proceeds from Monday's auction of a Cuban government plane as partial payment for a judgment she won against the Havana government. But the woman herself was the winning $7,000 bidder for the Soviet-made Antonov-2 Colt biplane, flown to Florida by a Cubana de Aviación national airline pilot who defected.

    So Ana Margarita Martinez now owns the aging mustard-colored plane that sports a Cuban flag on its tail. She will not have to write a check for the $7,000 since the $27.1 million judgment she won against the Cuban government is essentially a credit, her attorney Fernando Zuleuta said. Her ex-husband, Juan Pablo Roque, was a Cuban agent sent to infiltrate Miami's exile community. He fled to Cuba in 1996. The plane will remain at Key West International Airport until Martinez pays off a lien of nearly $16,000 filed by Monroe County officials seeking reimbursement for the cost of guarding the plane.

    Martínez said she bought the aging Antonov AN-2 Colt because bids were below the plane's estimated value of $40,000 to $60,000. ñStill we had a victory, we got to keep this property of the Cuban government,î she said. Cuba has demanded the United States return it and the people who took it. However, in December, a judge ordered the plane sold to partially pay the $27.1 million judgment awarded to Martinez under an anti-terrorism law.

      VENEZUELA OPPOSITION AGAINST BRAZIL MEDIATION

    A top leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Timoteo Zambrano, said on Monday he opposed a move to include Brazil as part of a multinational effort to end a strike that has crippled the vital Venezuelan oil industry. Brazil, a key trading partner with Venezuela, has been widely mentioned as a possible participant in the Group of Friends, a new diplomatic effort that aims to find a negotiated settlement to the crisis.

    But congressman Zambrano said on Monday that Colombia and Brazil should be excluded because they share borders with Venezuela. "By defining who takes part in the mediation, a basic prerequisite, which has been the doctrine of the United Nations, is that territorial neighbors not participate in the Group of Friends," said Zambrano, who is in the United States to argue the opposition's point of view at the State Department and the United Nations.

    The opposition veto would be a major blow to efforts by Brazil's new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to mediate in the crisis. Zambrano mentioned Mexico, Peru and Canada as nations that would be acceptable to the opposition as mediators, although he warned that the Group of Friends would have to act within the framework of a December resolution by the Organization of American States. That resolution backed the mediation of OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria.

    CUBA CARDINAL SAYS POPEÍS VISIT CHANGE LITTLE

    Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega on Saturday accused the Communist-run government of ignoring the Roman Catholic Church and said always tense relations had not changed five years after Pope John Paul visited the island. "Relations with the Cuban government remain essentially the same. There is no substantial change ... The social-political space is always very limited and it appears often the church is ignored," Ortega told reporters at the opening of a Havana art exhibit.

    The Pope's January 1998 visit to Cuba raised expectations Havana would adopt a more liberal policy toward the Catholic Church, perhaps even allowing it to broadcast television programs and operate schools. Cardinal Ortega said he was disappointed that neither had come to pass.

    "The government does not recognize the church is a public entity that should have access to the communications media," Cardinal Ortega said. The state runs all media on the Caribbean island. "There is a silence in terms of information about the church," added the Cardinal.

    VENEZUELA TROOPS FIRE TEAR GAS AT ANTI-CHAVEZ MARCH

    Venezuelan troops fired tear gas on Sunday to force back tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Caracas as leftist President Hugo Chavez threatened tough measures to counter a crippling 6-week-old opposition strike. Clouds of gas enveloped the demonstrators, who had marched toward Fuerte Tiuna military headquarters but found their path blocked by barbed wire barricades and several hundred National Guard troops and military police.

    "This looks like a war zone," opposition leader Antonio Ledezma said after the protesters scattered. Several people were carried away, apparently overcome by the gas. The clash, one of several in recent weeks, broke out on the 42nd day of the opposition strike. The strikers are demanding the resignation of the leftist president, who was elected in 1998, six years after he staged a botched coup bid.

    Chavez sternly warned the opposition strikers he would not let them disrupt the nation's social and economic life by shutting down schools and banks or interfering with food supplies. Chavez, who has already sacked 2,000 striking oil executives and employees, repeated threats to send troops to take over private factories and stores if anti-government businessmen withheld food supplies. On Saturday, he warned the government would intervene in banks and schools shut by the strike.

     IS THE CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY RADICAL AND DANGEROUS?  By Arch Kielly

    The Cuban exile community, once a highly respected immigrant group, is now presented by the media as rabid and dangerous radicals.  This, in spite that Cubans demonstrated that motivated Hispanics could progress economically in one generation.  They arrived dirt-poor but were delighted to find any work that would sustain their families.  They quickly took over the lowest level jobs in tourist hotels: cleaning rooms and washing dishes.  In a short number of years they became successful professionals and started private businesses.  Some claim that the media and academia are uncomfortable with these Hispanic immigrants because the Cubans destroyed their pet theories that  ñLatinosî cannot progress in America unless special laws and government handouts are implemented in their favor.   

    The official hate campaign started with the ñElianî case.  Leftist groups and the media quickly attacked the Cuban Exile community.  They could never stomach these ñuppity Hispanicsî that asked for little government support and worse yet, Hispanics that identified themselves with Conservative Republican causes.  This became their opportunity to attack, not just the Exile communityÍs wish not to return little Elián to Communist Cuba, but to attack viciously the Hispanic group that dared not to follow their prescribed leftist agenda. 

    The Cuban Exiles are angry and hurt, but they now understand the hatred of the leftist groups and media for their community .  However, the immigrant Cubans on all sides of the political spectrum will continue to work hard for themselves, their families, their community and most importantly for the US, the country that embraced them in their darkest hour and gave them the opportunity to become all they could.

     U.S. EYES PEACEFUL WAYS TO END VENEZUELA STRIKE

    President Bush administration is engaged with other nations in the hemisphere in talks to explore ways to peacefully end the five-week strike in Venezuela that has crippled oil exports, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Friday. ñWe remain deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Venezuela,î Fleischer said.

    Fleischer said the administration was working with the Organization of American States and member nations to explore ways to peacefully end the standoff between the government of President Hugo Chavez and his opponents. OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria has been quietly discussing options with other OAS states, including formation of a ñFriends of Venezuelaî group ñto help the Venezuelans find a solution,î Fleischer said.

     The group would seek to develop a compromise calling for early Venezuelan elections and building on OAS mediation efforts already under way. ñIt's in the early stages,î Fleischer said ñAn electoral solution is the direction the United States sees.î

      CUBA BLASTS CRITICS OF VENEZUELA OIL DEAL

    Cuba blasted critics of a controversial oil agreement with Venezuela on Thursday, insisting it was no give-away, as the first crude arrived from the South American country since a general strike began there on Dec. 2. The Foreign Ministry characterized as a "gross fascist lie," charges by those trying to oust Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez's praise for Cuba, and friendship with dictator Fidel Castro, is one reason his opponents are trying to force him from office, as they fear he plans to impose a similar socialist state on the country.

    Cuba, which depends on Venezuela for more than half of its oil imports, received some relief this week from a mounting energy crisis caused by the strike and rising oil prices, when two tankers carrying Venezuelan crude arrived. Cuba imports approximately 100,000 barrels of oil per day for transportation, agriculture and industry, the government has reported, and produces the equivalent of 75,000 to 80,000 bpd in oil and gas, mainly used to generate electricity.

    Chavez's opponents called demonstrations for Thursday that include the demand he stop giving away oil to Cuba. Chavez and Castro signed an agreement in 2000 under which Venezuela exports up to 53,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba, with up to 25 percent of the cost payable over 15 years after a two-year grace period. A botched coup against Chavez last April led to a five-month disruption of supplies, forcing Cuba to close a refinery and purchase oil and derivatives on less favorable terms.

      CHAVEZ OPPONENTS TAKE TO THE STREETS

    Opponents of President Hugo Chavez took to the streets Friday as bank workers and other opposition sympathizers were rallying in Caracas and 11 other cities on Friday, a day after violence broke out at similar protests. Hundreds gathered in Caracas to march on the Melia hotel, where Organization of American States Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria is staying.

    On Thursday, government supporters attacked anti-Chavez marches in Caracas and outside oil facilities around the country as political violence increased in this South American country of 24 million. ñChavistas,î as the president's backers are called, attacked a rally outside a refinery in Cardon, 270 miles east of Caracas, wounding a 40-year-old worker and a 28-year-old demonstrator, said a civil defense worker. In Caracas, gunfire erupted at an opposition rally. No one was hurt.

    Chavistas armed with machetes and sticks also prevented a demonstration at an oil facility in central Carabobo state. A minor clash occurred at a plant in Barinas state. Chavez opponents claim the president's fiery rhetoric incites violent reactions from his most radical backers. The bank strike forced many supermarkets to close because shoppers were unable to pay with credit cards or debit cards, said the president of the National Association of Supermarkets. Strike organizers claim their protest is as strong as ever. Many factories, industrial parks and supermarkets remained closed.

     PRESIDENT BUSH NAMES AMBASSADOR REICH TO WHITE HOUSE LATIN AMERICA POST

    U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday named ambassador Otto Reich to a top White House position, avoiding a Senate confirmation battle. The NSC job does not require Senate approval. The move, announced by White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, keeps Reich in government, working out of the National Security Council and reporting to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

    "Ambassador Reich has a distinguished record of service to the United States both outside and in government," Fleischer said. Until Nov. 22, Reich was assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, a position that defines U.S. policy in Latin America. He was serving in a temporary position because President Bush was unable to secure the votes in the U.S. Senate to confirm him to the post permanently.

    The White House also said Bush would nominate Roger Francisco Noriega to fill the vacant post of assistant secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere. Noriega has been the U.S. representative to the Organization of American States.

    THOUSANDS OF VENEZUELA BANK  WORKERS STRIKE

    Thousands of bank employees went on strike Thursday to support a national work stoppage that has dried up income in the world's fifth-largest oil exporter while seeking to oust President Hugo Chavez. Jose Torres, president of the Fetrabanca workers union, claimed 80 percent of the country's nearly 60,000 bank employees were participating in the two-day strike.

     Spokeswomen for three of Venezuela's four largest banks - Banco Provincial, Banco de Venezuela and Banesco - said at least 80 percent of their branches in the country were closed. An official with the Venezuelan Bank Association said 70 percent of branches nationwide were closed. The association represents all of Venezuela's private banks.

    Those banks that were not shuttered only opened for three hours - as they have since Dec. 9 in a management decision to support the national strike against Chavez. Demand for dollars soared on speculation that Chavez's government, facing a fiscal crisis because of dwindling oil and tax revenues, would devalue the bolivar to balance its budget. Nervous depositors wanted dollars before the banks closed, not knowing what the bolivar would be worth when banks reopen next week.

   AMBASSADOR OTTO REICH GETTING NEW ROLE AS PRESIDENT BUSHÍS AMERICA ENVOY

     President Bush administration is expected to announce a "new" reorganization of its Latin America policy team that will include the appointment of Ambassador Otto Reich as a ''presidential envoy'' to the Americas, thus avoiding a confirmation battle with the Senate, administration officials said Tuesday. What happened to the "old" team? a few months ago, in February 2002, the White House announced: ñThe recent appointment of Otto Reich as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs completes the PresidentÍs foreign policy team. With it, a full review of the tools we are using to achieve our policy goal in Cuba is now appropriate.î (Click here)

    The Cuban-born Reich, who had to step down last month as the State Department's top official in charge of Latin American affairs after failing to win Senate confirmation, would move to the White House and report directly to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, the officials said. The announcement could be made as early as this week, they said. Replacing Reich at the State Department's top job in charge of Latin American affairs will be Roger Noriega, another political appointee currently serving as ambassador to the Organization of American States, the sources said.

    The Bush administration decision to place Reich in a position that does not require Senate confirmation avoids the necessity of another battle in the Senate, where the outcome was uncertain even though Republicans control the chamber in the new Congress.

    BANK STRIKE DEEPENS VENEZUELA STANDOFF

    Venezuela's bankers said Wednesday they will close for two days to support a 38-day-old strike seeking President Hugo Chavez's ouster. Chavez has gone so far as to threaten nationalizing striking banks, which have opened just three hours a day since Dec. 9, a week into the strike. Thousands line up each morning outside Caracas banks splattered with graffiti reading ñI want my money!''

   Jose Torres, president of Fetrabanca, the umbrella group for bank workers unions, said banks will close Thursday and Friday. Local banks include subsidiaries of Citibank, Banco Santander Central Hispano and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. The action underscored intransigence by both sides in Venezuela's crisis despite international pleas to help Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria find a solution.

   WHY FORTY-FOUR YEARS OF A COMMUNIST TYRANNY IN CUBA? (Diario Las Americas, Editorial, January 7, 2003)

      Although many knowledgeable and intelligent people, including some in important media organs and universities are of the opinion that communism has disappeared because it failed as a norm of government in the economic and the political, beginning by the former Soviet Union, we must insist on saying that communism is not dead. What has taken place are some transformation in its methods and, above all, in the way in which it expresses its purposes. But, in essence, communism is alive and has among its main goals to directly or indirectly back the totalitarian tyranny of Fidel Castro. An, precisely because of this, that tyranny reached its 44^th anniversary of terrible existence on January 1^st., 2003. (Click here and read the complete editorial)

     VENEZUELA OPPOSITION HERALDS TAX REVOLT WITH MARCH

      Venezuela's opposition stepped up its call on citizens to stop paying taxes with a march Tuesday on the offices of the federal tax agency - part of a month-old strike intended to force President Hugo Chavez from office. The government warned that tax evasion can carry up to seven years in prison.

     ñIt's not only a criminal action, it's also anti-national and threatens efforts to create a stable tax system,î said Elias Eljuri, an officer of the Seniat tax agency. The march in Caracas - one of several slated across the country - was also meant to pressure Chavez into accepting referendum to ask citizens if he should quit. Opponents said they will hold the vote even if Chavez ignores it, as he says he will.

    ñThe referendum will happen on February 2 with or without the participation of this regime,î said Carlos Ortega, president of the 1 million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation and leader of the general strike against Chavez.

    PRACTICAL JOKEÍS ON PRESIDENT CHÁVEZ

    It was a practical joke. Two Miami radio-show hosts got Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on a private line this morning by pretending that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was calling him from Havana. ''We still can't believe it,'' said Enrique Santos, co-host of El Vacilón de la Mañana. On Monday, Chávez fell victim to El Vacilón. They said they started calling Miraflores Palace on Friday. About 8 a.m. Monday, using a Cuban-accented woman posing as a Havana operator, they got through to a presidential aide who identified himself as Lt. Arcia.

    The secretary said Castro was on the line and wanted to speak to Chávez. Castro's taped voice can be heard in the background, leading the unwitting officer to believe the dictator was really on the line. The officer offered to have Chávez call Castro back, but the secretary explained that the Cuban was in a secret location and could not be phoned. The officer gave the radio station the number of Chávez's private line.

    ''Hello Fidel!'' booms Chávez. ''Did you receive my letter?'' asks Castro. ''Of course I received it,'' replies Chavez. ñI spoke with Germán.'' ''I'm all set to collaborate with you,'' Castro says. ''Yes, brother, how's it going?'' Chávez asks. ''I'll do what you're asking me to,'' Castro replies. ''I don't understand,'' a bewildered Chávez says. ''But I'm going to be harmed, I confess to you,'' Castro says. Silence from Chávez. "What day is today? Thursday?" Castro asks. "No, Fidel, today is Monday," Chavez replies. Castro goes on: ñEverything's set for Tuesday.'' ''Everything's set for Tuesday,'' Chávez repeats, obviously befuddled. ñI don't understand.'' Santos then breaks in and announces they were calling from Miami.

     CUBAN SANTERIA LEADERS FORETELL WAR AND MAYHEM IN 2003

     Practitioners of the Afro-Cuban Santeria religion honored a long-dead high priest Friday after their leaders predicted war, government collapse, the deaths of prominent personalities and marital infidelity for the world in the coming year. Known as the Letra del Año -- the Letter of the Year -- the predictions issued in the first days of January are watched closely by many Cubans, even if they are not adherents of Santeria. More than 800 Santeria priests, known as babalawos, compiled the predictions during a Dec. 31 meeting in Havana.

    Among the slogans for the year is: ñThe king turns in his crown before dying.î Santeria priest Victor Betancourt, one of those who announced the Letter of the Year to international reporters, insisted the slogan did not refer to 76-year-old Cuban dictador Fidel Castro, who has been in power 44 years. ñThis letter is for all of humanity,î he said.

    Among the Santeria priests' other predictions for 2003 were grave neurological and psychiatric illnesses, infectious disease and liver ailments, as well as food poisoning and other sicknesses caused by improperly prepared food. The babalawos said that along with the collapse of a government somewhere in the world, the people of some nations will be enslaved because of war, commercial accords will be broken, corruption will increase, economic markets will have troubles and irregular weather will continue. Santeria is a mix of Roman Catholic beliefs brought to Cuba by the Spaniards and Yoruba spiritual traditions brought to the island by African slaves.

    CHAVISTAS ATTACK POLICE IN CARACAS 

    Armed chavistas fired on police officers Saturday after the government accused the Caracas police of killing two people during a melee at an opposition rally a day earlier, the police chief said. Two officers were wounded. On Saturday, several thousand Chavistas waving national flags and chanting pro-government slogans marched and held a rally in a Caracas square.

    The shooting increased tensions in Venezuela, where a month-old opposition strike demanding Chavez's resignation has paralyzed oil exports and driven up international oil prices. The shooting broke out during a wake for one of those slain. The two officers wounded were on duty at a small police station next to the Funeraria Valles funeral home in northern Caracas, Police Chief Henry Vivas said. ñThey're trying to blame us for the deaths,î Vivas said.

    On Friday, gunfire erupted at an opposition march on the armed forces headquarters. Military police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at both Chavez supporters and marchers, and unidentified snipers fired into the crowd. At least 78 people were injured - five of them from gunfire. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel, attending Saturday's wake, claimed the government had a videotape showing city police were responsible for Friday's shooting deaths. After Rangel's appearance at the wake, as many as 15 Chavists approached the officers and fired automatic weapons, the police chief said. Some of the attackers may have come from the wake; at least one fled back into the funeral home, Vivas said. Officers returned fire using rubber bullets and tear gas.

    CHAVEZ CONSIDERS MARTIAL LAW

    President Hugo Chavez said he would consider imposing martial law to quell Venezuela's internal crisis after two people died and dozens more were wounded during a march aimed at ousting him. Gunfire erupted Friday during an opposition march on the headquarters of the armed forces, Caracas. Two people died of gunshot wounds and at least 78 others were injured - five of them by gunshots.

    ñI am obligated to protect the people. I am obligated to protect public order,î Chavez said. ñIf they force me to (decree martial law), I'd have to do it.î But, he added, ñSo far, despite everything that has happened, there has been no need to apply any exceptional measures.î Chavez made his comments after meeting with Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the Organization of American States, who is trying to negotiate a settlement between the government and the opposition.

    The last time people were killed during a political demonstration was Dec. 6, when three people were gunned down at an opposition rally. Dozens were killed in April rioting that sparked a coup. Chavez regained power after two days. ñThe force of law is going to be imposed here,î Chavez said Friday. But opposition leader Herman Escarra warned, in comments broadcast on Globovision television, that Venezuelans would hold Chavez responsible if martial law was declared and civil rights were violated.

     SECRETARY POWELL TO MEET OSWALDO PAYA

     Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to meet Monday with Osvaldo Paya, the Cuban dissident recently awarded the European Union's top human rights prize. Paya gained international attention earlier this year with his nationwide effort to gather signatures for a petition to hold a referendum to promote human rights for all Cubans.

    The petition drive gathered enough signatures for presentation to the National Assembly. But Cuban dictator Fidel Castro countered with own petition campaign in support of a constitutional amendment to make the country's socialist system untouchable. The amendment was adopted this past spring. Paya received the European Union award last month at a ceremony in France.

     VENEZUELA TO IMPORT WORKERS IN OIL RESTART EFFORT

     The Venezuelan government will import oil workers from Algeria and possibly India and the Philippines to try to break a 33-day strike by foes of President Hugo Chavez. ñWe are expecting the arrival of a delegation of more than 20 people from Algeria in the next few hours. Tanker crews, some experts in energy matters, refining, production, and especially systems analysts, are coming,î Chavez told reporters at the Miraflores presidential palace Friday.

    The strike, which has the support of many executives and managers from state energy firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), has slashed shipments by the fifth largest crude exporter and threatened the economy of the oil-reliant nation. Rebel PDVSA employees have said replacement staff will not be able to operate the oil installations, but Chavez told reporters on Thursday operations will return to normal "in a few weeks".

    The government was negotiating to bring in between 40 to 50 workers to help man the ships, "enough for about two crews," one shipping source said. Members of the navy took over some PDVSA tankers whose crews joined the stoppage last month, and the foreign staff would be used in attempts to bring deliveries back to normal. Venezuela on Thursday dispatched the Victory tanker, laden with 350,000 barrels of crude for Cuba. The Caribbean island imports oil from Venezuela under a favorable payment plan agreed by Chavez and his friend, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

     CLASHES IN LOS PROCERES PARK LEAVE TWO PEOPLE SHOT DEAD AND DOZENS WOUNDED 

    Troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas Friday to keep opponents and rock-throwing supporters of President Hugo Chavez from clashing outside the Venezuelan capital's military headquarters. At least two people shot dead and dozens were injured. The violence erupted when several hundred chavistas threw rocks, bottles and fireworks at thousands of opposition marchers and police in Los Proceres park, outside Caracas' Fort Tiuna.

    The anti-Chavez marchers were demanding the release of a dissident national guard general and urging the military to support a 5-week-old strike aimed at forcing Chavez to resign. Stinging white clouds of tear gas drifted through the district's tree-lined avenues as guardsmen fired tear gas and buckshot. The unrest rekindled hours later, with protesters and police ducking behind trees and lying flat on the streets as gunfire rang out. Among the injured were seven police officers, said Police Chief Henry Vivas. Opposition leader said 11 people were hurt in a stampede.

    Demonstrators and police threw themselves to the ground after dozens of shots rang out near the center of the capital.  "There was a volley of shots, we all threw ourselves to the ground. There was chaos and total panic. The shooting didn't stop," said a photographer at the scene. One Civil Protection official was shot in the stomach. But it was unclear who had opened fire. Columns of smoke wafted high above apartment blocks in the south central part of Caracas as chavistas demonstrators set up burning barricades near Fuerte Tiuna military base to block the opposition marchers. 

    BRAZIL SEES ñAXIS OF THE LEFTî WITH VENEZUELA, CUBA

    The first day in office for Brazil's new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, projects the image of a leftist alliance in Latin America - one that Chavez, Venezuela's president, has already nicknamed the ñAxis of Good.î However, many Latin American analysts call the alliance, that may include Lucio Gutierrez, the newly elected president  of Ecuador, the ñAxis of Evil. Castro and Chavez who had front-row seats in Congress at Silva's inauguration Wednesday, dined together, and talked until 4 a.m. Thursday at the Brasilia hotel where the Cuban dictator staying.

    The leftist alliance could hinder U.S. efforts to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas stretching from Alaska to the tip of Argentina by 2005. The United States sent trade representative Robert Zoellick to the inauguration, seen by the Brazilians as something of a snub because Zoellick suggested last October that Brazil's only trading partner would be Antarctica if it did not join the hemispheric trade zone. Silva responded by calling Zoellick ñthe sub secretary of a sub secretary of a sub secretaryî during his election campaign.

    At a breakfast meeting held Thursday morning, Chavez asked Silva to send technical experts from Brazil's state-owned oil company to replace some of the 30,000 PDVSA workers who have joined a crippling nationwide strike. Silva said he would consider the request. Before dining Thursday night with Silva, Castro told international reporters  that Brazilian-Cuban relations will grow stronger now that Brazil has its first elected leftist president.

    VENEZUELA STRIKERS SEEK MILITARY SUPPORT

    Leaders of a strike that has crippled Venezuela's economy called on the military to join their cause, while President Hugo Chavez announced an international diplomatic effort to resolve the standoff. On Thursday, opposition union boss Carlos Ortega announced a march on Friday past armed forces headquarters in Caracas.

    Ortega appealed to Venezuela's military to help obtain the release of a dissident anti-Chavez National Guard general, Carlos Alfonso Martínez, who is being held at the military's headquarters despite a court order for his release. The strikers have encouraged soldiers to disobey orders from Chavez, but say they are not seeking a repeat of the coup that briefly toppled the leftist leader in April. ñAct! Join us!î said Ortega.

    So far, the military has backed Chavez in the 5-week-old general strike that has brought the country to a standstill. Only about 100 officers who were stripped of their commands after a brief April coup have joined the opposition. Friday's protest will be a warm-up for an upcoming march to the presidential palace in the Chavez stronghold of central Caracas. A date for the march has not been announced. Nineteen people were killed during a similar march in April. "The people are out on the streets and will stay on the streets," Ortega said before warning the government might try to kill him and other strike leaders.

    OSWALDO PAYA MAY VISIT MIAMI NEXT WEEK 

    Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, a leading Cuban government opponent who just won Europe's top human-rights award, may travel to Miami next week to meet with exile leaders and explain his controversial plan for bringing sweeping changes to the island. Payá plans to first travel to Washington, D.C., where he'll meet with high-ranking officials in the President Bush administration. PayáÍs controversial petition-drive is seeking a referendum on whether there should be a sweeping democratic overhaul, including greater personal and political freedoms, in Cuba.

    Payá's trip would come just weeks after he received the European Union's highest human-rights prize, the Sakharov Award for Freedom of Thought. Payá, who is currently visiting relatives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is founder of Cuba's Christian Liberation Movement. He would neither confirm nor deny plans to visit Miami when reached via phone Thursday. He has had similar meetings in Paris, Madrid and Stockholm. ñWe're just now finishing the itinerary,î Payá told reporters

    CHAVEZ AND CASTRO MET FOR FIVE HOURS IN BRAZILIA

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that his country's oil industry, crippled by a month long general strike, is recovering and will reach its pre-strike capacity within 45 days. Chavez made the comments to reporters after an overnight meeting that stretched until 4 a.m. in a Brasilia hotel with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Both came to Brazil to attend the inauguration of the country's new president, former union leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

    Chavez said he and Castro, a longtime friend, discussed Latin American regional issues, but he provided no specifics and did not say whether they discussed the strike that has virtually paralyzed Venezuela.

    Castro and Chávez were among leaders of 119 foreign country who attended Wednesday's inauguration of Lula, Brazil's first elected leftist leader. Chavez' decision to travel to Brazil despite the turmoil over the strike is seen as a challenge to his opposition at home, who have been pressing for his resignation or for early elections. 

    VENEZUELA STRIKERS DECLARE ECONOMIC WAR ON CHAVEZ

    Foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez intensified their economic war of attrition against him on Thursday by adding a tax revolt to a month-old strike that is choking oil exports and government revenues. Although the strike has caused severe gasoline shortages and demanded a heavy financial sacrifice from striking private businessmen, opposition leaders vowed no let up in 2003 in their drive to force Chavez to quit and hold early elections.

    "The strike is deepening ... we're maintaining pressure on all fronts and increasing it," an opposition coalition leader told reporters. Another opposition leader urged Venezuelans on Thursday to stop paying taxes as part of a civil disobedience campaign to press for Chavezîs resignation. But Chavez describes the strike as an attempt by traitors to topple him from the presidency.

    Chavez, who has used troops to try to break the 32-day-old oil strike, told reporters during a visit to Brazil that full oil operations would be restored "in a few weeks." But PDVSA leaders said that even if the shutdown was lifted, it would take at least four months to return to normal operations. "We're not taking a single step backwards," anti-Chavez oil executive Juan Fernandez said Thursday.

      POLICE BREAK UP PROTEST AT BATABANO TERMINAL

    The National Revolutionary Police broke up a demonstration by around 600 people protesting the cancellation of the sailing of a ship from Batabanó to Nueva Gerona on the Isle of Youth. The would-be passengers started congregating in the terminal on the south coast on Christmas Day. When the departure was not made by December 29, some passengers became aggressive with terminal employees and the police were called.

    When the National Police arrived people became irate by the violence officials were displaying against the mostly young crowd. The police had to leave and request backup. The management of the Empresa Navegacion Caribe ordered the captain of the boat to anchor offshore to prevent an invasion of the craft. No explanation was given for the delay and eventual cancellation of the sailing. Witnesses said many of the would-be passengers were children who were going hungry because the cafeteria at the terminal only serves bread and tidbits and that just until 2 in the afternoon.

    BRAZIL INAUGURATES FIRST LEFTIST PRESIDENT

   Latin America's biggest nation marked a dramatic change in leadership Wednesday with the inauguration of a former shoeshine boy as Brazil's first elected leftist president. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former radical who used to espouse socialism and has promised to end hunger and economic misery in a country where an estimated 50 million of the 175 million citizens live in poverty, took the oath of office in Brazil's Congress.

    Leaders and representatives of 119 countries -- including Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and presidents of six other Latin American nations -- were attending the inauguration. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived Wednesday morning in Brasilia, the capital, leaving behind a crippling strike in his country that has virtually paralyzed oil production for the world's fifth largest exporter.

    As he entered a Brasilia hotel, Castro waved to photographers and said that he was happy Cuba no longer holds the "monopoly of January 1," the day that Cubans celebrate the revolution that unfortunately brought Castro to power. Lula counts Castro and Chavez among his friends. On Thursday, Lula plans to have breakfast with Chavez and lunch with Castro. The United States sent U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

     DEFIANT CHAVEZ SAYS STRIKE DOOMED

     Leftist President Hugo Chavez said that strikers who have cut off the nation's petroleum lifeblood were doomed to defeat. Chavez, a former paratrooper jailed for a coup attempt in 1992 but elected in 1998, was his usual defiant self as he attended the inauguration of Brazil's new president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

    "This is a coup d'etat disguised as a strike," Chavez told reporters in Brasilia, where he arrived wearing a dark suit instead of the military-style uniform and red beret he often favors for populist rallies. "The coup-mongers have a date with defeat," said Chavez, who survived a coup attempt in April, dismissing the strike leaders as "a business elite and a corrupt union elite."

   Tens of thousands of opposition supporters fired off fireworks and waved yellow-red-and-blue Venezuelan flags to see off 2002 on Tuesday night in Caracas, in a massive street party that was a show of determination to force Chavez out. The opposition accuses Chavez of abuse of authority, economic incompetence and corruption, accusing him of stirring class hatred with his inflammatory rhetoric, trying to implement a communist system similar to that of Cuba, and arming supporters in the slums. Chavez is grateful to Brazil's new leader like him a left-winger, for approving the sale of Brazilian gasoline to Venezuela. It was the first time the country had imported such fuel in 40 years. 
 

  VENEZUELA TO GREET NEW YEAR WITH VIOLENCE

     Venezuelans prepared for New Year celebrations marked by sharp political conflict as an opposition strike to force President Hugo Chavez to resign stretched into its fifth week. Strike leaders from political parties, unions, business groups and state oil firm PDVSA appeared determined to hold their ground until Chavez quit and called elections in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

    The stoppage that started on Dec. 2, has battered VenezuelaÍs strategic oil sector, rattled energy markets and stoked fears of violent clashes over the rule of the former paratrooper whose leftist reforms have riled his foes. After a Christmas marred by political rancor and domestic gas shortages, Venezuelans appeared ready to make the most of year-end festivities with their Andean nation still caught in a tense political deadlock.

     Attempts by the Organization of American States to end the political standoff have so far failed. The opposition demands a date for elections in the next three months. But the president rejects early elections and says the constitution only allows a referendum on his mandate in August, halfway though his current term. Elections are due at the end of 2006.

     VENEZUELAN GENERAL DETAINED

    Venezuelan police on Monday suddenly detained a dissident National Guard general Carlos Alfonso Martinez. Martinez rebelled against the government several months ago. He and other members of the military have been holding out at Altamira plaza in Caracas sin October, appealing to other members of the military to join the opposition to oust Chavez' leftist government. It was not known what the charges against the general will be.

    Previously, the government has accused Martinez and other officers of involvement in an April coup which briefly toppled the president before he was restored to power by loyalist troops. A lawyer speaking for Martinez said the general had not been charged and that his detention was illegal. "Whoever is responsible for this, whether it's Hugo Chavez, the interior minister or the head of the National Guard, we'll identify and charge them," said lawyer Cipriano Heredia.

    The opposition, backed by business and unions, accuses Chavez of authoritarianism, corruption and economic incompetence in what they say is a quest to establish a Cuban-style dictatorship. Chavez has kicked many of the renegade officers out of the armed forces and threatened to chase them from the square, but detaining Martinez is the toughest act against them so far.

     SEVERAL PEOPLE INJURED IN CARACAS CLASHES

    Several people were injured Monday in clashes between supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez, and police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. Such clashes have been a daily occurrence in Caracas and other parts of the country. Monday's violence in the capital followed an anti-government demonstration demanding the release of Carlos Alfonso Martinez, a National Guard general. In the ensuing clashes.

     A few dozen opposition sympathizers gathered outside a police station where Martinez was being held, were pelted with rocks and bottles by supporters of the populist president, and riot police followed with tear gas. One man, standing with the opposition militants, fell to the ground, bleeding and twitching as blood poured from his head. Chavez opponents have been staging demonstrations since December 2, when the opposition declared a national strike aimed at forcing him to resign or call early elections. Workers at the state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., have defied government orders to return to work.

    Chavez said his government has managed to keep PDVSA open and hoped to return production to normal levels within 15 days. Before the strike, Venezuela produced about 3 million barrels of oil a day. Since the walkout began, government officials said, production dropped to 200,000 barrels a day before climbing back up to its current rate of between 600,000 and 700,000 barrels per day. The strike is costing Venezuela about $50 million a day in lost oil revenue.