Venezuela Government: Minimum Wage Hike To Cost At Least VEB634 Billion *** CARACAS -(Dow Jones)- Venezuela 's 20% minimum wage increase, announced last month, will cost the government at least 634 billion bolivars ($1=VEB847.13), the National Assembly's Finance Commission President Rodrigo Cabezas said Thursday. The increase for public-sector minimum wage earners will cost about VEB334 billion and accompanying pay rises for other workers will cost about another VEB300 billion, Cabezas said during a press conference on the government's economic forecasts. The funding for the salary hike may come from above-budget oil revenues, given a recent rise in the average annual price to a bit above $18 per barrel this week, Cabezas said.***
As Fears Linger, Venezuelans Press for Truth About Killings During Chavez Protests*** Many of the relatives interviewed said they had isolated themselves until they could work through some of their grief. Others said they had not come forward because they worried that dueling political camps would seize upon the deaths of their loved ones to ignite tensions. Others said that they were afraid. "Things seem so tense that I still don't know if there are people out there who would attack me or my family if we speak," said María Capote, mother of Jesús Espinoza, the dead high school senior. She only agreed to be interviewed after checking with trusted human rights investigators. "The people who killed my son are still out there."
That kind of fear is new, said Liliana Ortega, a leading human rights investigator. Her agency was formed after food riots of 1989, in which hundreds of people were killed. The exact number and identities of the dead have never been confirmed. No one was ever convicted for the killings. Still, Ms. Ortega said, in the days following those riots relatives of the dead quickly began forming support groups and investigative committees. They held news conferences and marches. Since April 11, she said, her office has received threats by telephone and the Internet. Only a handful of the relatives of the dead have filed complaints. "People are afraid," Ms. Ortega said. "That is clear."***