Ali Rodriguez............sigh.
OPEC Chief to Discuss Oil Cuts in Russia
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez plans to visit Russia this weekend to discuss oil export limits which Moscow intends to abandon from the end of June, industry sources said on Friday. It may be one of the last official acts by Rodriguez before he leaves his job at OPEC to become head of Venezuela's state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela in Caracas.
http://www.slb.com/ba.cfm?baid=1&storyid=549058
US, Venezuelan Officials Indicate Tensions Remain
By Alex Keto
WASHINGTON, April 26 (Dow Jones) - A little more than two weeks after an aborted coup thrust Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez from power and then supporters restored him to office, sharp differences emerged in the views of two high-ranking diplomats from Venezuela and the U.S. of what happened and what should be done next. Furthermore, neither diplomat, who made their remarks at a forum hosted Friday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, could rule out the possibility that Venezuela's internal conflicts could lead to civil war.
Lino Gutierrez, the U.S.'s deputy assistant secretary for hemispheric affairs, adhered to the U.S. position that Chavez himself caused the coup. Chavez has polarized his country and has taken several antidemocratic steps such as arming the so-called "Bolivarian circles" of supporters and passing laws by decree, Gutierrez said.
These and other actions pushed the opposition to launch the coup, Gutierrez said.
However, Gutierrez also added "it is not too late for President Chavez to rectify his mistakes" and added that "better steps to democracy will lead to better relations."
For his part, Luis Herrera Marcano, the Venezuelan Charge d'Affaires at the embassy in Washington, said no one really knows what happened on April 11 when the events that led to the coup began. He pointed out that two national commissions are studying the issue now.
While Marcano said Chavez remains committed to reconciliation with the opposition, he also said that the only solution to Venezuela's political woes is to push even harder to institute the reforms that Chavez wants to see accomplished. The alternative, he warned, could be civil war.
Marcano said the main problem facing Venezuela is the split between "the haves and the have-nots" and Chavez's reforms would address this issue.
"You cannot tempt fate," Marcano said, adding that if "problems persist without resolution" then the outcome will be violence.
Gutierrez dismissed this view point.
"I would not agree this is a battle of the haves and have-nots," Gutierrez said pointing out that the labor unions in Venezuela played a key role in the events of April 11.
On a specific issue that has caused concern in the U.S., Marcano denied allegations that Venezuela is allowing Colombian guerrillas to operate out of Venezuela.
However, he also said it was obvious that Colombian nationals are living in Venezuela and the border, which is over a thousand miles long, is patrolled by only 15,000 troops.
Gutierrez took a hard-line approach on the issue and warned that if the U.S. developed information that Venezuela was helping the narco-terrorists, saying it would be "extremely counterproductive."
Copyright © 2002, Dow Jones Newswires.