Gregory Wilpert puts it this way: "As of this writing (Dec. 16), the government claims that it has by and large managed to regain control over the oil production and shipping process, with the help of the military, so that oil supply should be back to normal within a few days. The opposition, however, denies this and warns that serious industrial accidents could result because unqualified personnel are taking control of the installations" ("Coup D'Petrol In Venezuela," December 17, 2002, <http://zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=2760§ionID=45>).
The New York Times reported yesterday that, of the three largest refineries in Venezuela, Paraguana and El Palito remained inactive:
***** NYT December 16, 2002 Venezuelan Chief Says He's Weathering Crisis By JUAN FORERO
...Venezuela's all-important oil sector is slowly coming back, he contended, after its production plunged by 70 percent, to one million barrels a day, because of worker walkouts.
He acknowledged that of the country's three principal refineries, the huge Paraguana refinery remained inactive, as did a smaller one of the three, El Palito.
But the president said that another refinery at Puerto La Cruz was at 80 percent production, and that four tankers carrying two million barrels had left port in the last three days to deliver exports.
To provide gasoline for the internal market, he said, the military has started sending fuel from storage centers to gas stations nationwide....
<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/16/international/americas/16VENE.html> *****
Venezuelan government troops, however, have taken over the Paraguana refinery complex:
***** Agence France Presse December 16, 2002 Monday SECTION: International News LENGTH: 90 words HEADLINE: Venezuelan troops take over world's largest refinery complex: manager DATELINE: CARACAS, Dec 16
Venezuelan government troops Monday took over the Paraguana refinery complex, the world's largest, according to the manager of the installations that paralyzed by a general strike. "There is a massive presence of National Guard units in the installations," said general manager Edgar Rasquin, who participated in the 15-day-old strike.
He also said he was briefly detained.
The complex, located 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of Caracas, normally processes more than a million barrels a day. *****
What the government needs is more refinery engineers, more tanker captains, and other highly skilled workers difficult to replace.
>Also - is there anythign ordinary U.S. citizens can do oppose this
>coup attemp?
You can join seventeen Congresspeople and numerous orgs and individuals who signed a letter to protest US policy toward Venezuela; see the letter and its signers and add your signature to it at <http://www.narconews.com/Issue26/article562.html> (the letter has also been circulated by Portside, among other listservs -- see <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portside/message/3463>).
>Is there someone we should write to?
President George W. Bush J. Curtis Struble, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Otto J. Reich, Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere Ambassador Charles Shapiro Dan Fisk, Deputy Assistant Secretary Brian Naranjo, Venezuela Desk Officer Ambassador John Maisto, Senior Director for Inter-American Affairs, National Security Council Philip Chicola, Director, Office of Andean Affairs John Creamer, Deputy Director, Andean Affairs
You can also write to CTV, FEDECAMARAS, & corporate media in Venezuela: ctv at la-ctv.com, c_ortega at la-ctv.com, mcova at la-ctv.com, rpetit at la-ctv.com, pcastro at la-ctv.com, apadron at la-ctv.com, jramirez at la-ctv.com, direje at fedecamaras.org.ve, secgeneral at fedecamaras.org.ve, juridica at fedecamaras.org.ve, intfedecamaras at telcel.net.ve, contactenos at el-nacional.com, mmaita at eluniversal.com, globovision at globovision.com.
>Have demonstrations been called?
There were "a picket line at AFL-CIO headquarters in February" (Katherine Hoyt, "Concerns Over Possible AFL-CIO Involvement in Venezuela Coup Led to February Picket," <http://www.labornotes.org/archives/2002/05/b.html>) and "an emergency picket line on Oct. 9 at 5:00-6:30 p.m. at the Venezuelan Consulate at 7 East 51st Street near Madison Ave" (@ <http://www.workers.org/ww/2002/venezuela1010.php>). I have yet to receive any call for a national or nationwide action now. -- Yoshie
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