The list of 6,000 items deemed essential by the exchange control commission, or Cadivi, includes various food products, medicines, personal hygiene items and industrial raw materials. The list was posted on Cadivi's Web site.
Most of the items on the list are not produced in Venezuela, which imports more than half of the goods it consumes, including almost all the medicine used by Venezuelans. U.S. dollars must pay for those imports.
Restrictions on imports form part of a new currency exchange control system that President Hugo Chavez's government is gradually implementing. ***
URBAN VIOLENCE The FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, are leftist rebels waging war here for nearly 40 years. Guerrilla tactics common in the countryside have recently made their way to urban centers, bringing a decades-old war to the cities in random incidents that sometimes appear to have no particular target. The rebel group denied responsibility for a Feb. 7 car bomb that killed 37 people at an exclusive social club. Other recent urban attacks have included a laptop bomb left in December at a hotel frequented by politicians, and mini-rockets launched at the federal prosecutor's office in November.
Tuesday's attacks were against Transmilenio buses, a transportation system inaugurated just two years ago that shuttles 800,000 people a day in designated lanes. Police said gasoline-filled bottles were left on three of the 470-bus fleet. Police confiscated Coca-Cola containers with an unusual substance inside, police Col. Marco Antonio Pedreros said. Two women allegedly seen planting the devices were arrested.
''We saw the bus was parked and started to light up,'' transportation worker Jenny Correa told local TV reporters. ``There were about 35 or 40 people on board. There was desperation, and they started to run.'' Everyone was evacuated safely. A similar bomb was found on a Transmilenio bus in January. And in December, authorities announced they had learned of a FARC plan to bomb 80 buses.*** STATIONS SEARCHED Transportation officials stressed that all 61 Transmilenio stations were being searched and that bus service would not be suspended. City leaders urged commuters to continue using the shuttle system. [End]