Smoke billows behind an oil refinery in El Palito, appoximately 150 miles West of Caracas, January 7, 2003. Workers trying to restart Venezuela's 130,000 barrel per day El Palito refinery, shut by a 37-day strike by foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, have damaged a seal in one of the vacum units. 'The products have to be drained from the vacum unit of the plant and they have to be burned', Pedro Jimenez, the plant's logistics manager said. REUTERS/Str
An oil leak near western Maracaibo, Venezuela, is seen Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2003. According to members of the opposition in a news conference Monday, new workers who were trying to resume oil production had an accident, resulting in the leakage. (AP Photo/Ana Maria Otero)
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Chavez spoke at a public school in Catia, one of the poorest districts in Caracas. The visit was intended to show public schools were ignoring the strike.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, left, greets the students of a new school in an impoverished neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2003. Also seen is Education Minister Aristobulo Isturiz at right. (AP Photo/Feliciano Sequera, Miraflores/HO)
July 1, 2001 - More Cuban Trainers in Venezuela (Chavez and Cuba have taken control of Venezulan schools)***A new constitution written by Chávez supporters requires all schools to teach ``Bolivarian principles'' ---- a code phrase for Chávez's brand of leftist populism ---- and the pro-Chávez majority in the legislative National Assembly is preparing a bill laying out the exact curriculum.
Last month, the president issued Decree 1011, creating a corps of ``itinerant inspectors'' empowered to close schools and fire teachers that don't follow government-setprocedures and standards. ``Political commissars,'' Agudo called them. Jaime Manzo, head of the national teachers' union, called it ``a sword hanging over the head of any teacher who refuses to sing Chávez's praises in the classroom.''
Parents' groups and the teachers' union have appealed to the Supreme Court to block the decree and submitted to the assembly an alternate education reform plan that guarantees a ``pluralist education'' and bans ``partisan politics'' from the classroom. New history texts for fourth- and sixth-graders published in 1999 praised Chávez's coup attempt and branded as ``corrupt oligarchies'' the two parties that ruled Venezuela since the late 1950s, Democratic Action and COPEI.
Chávez has also greatly expanded a system of paramilitary classes in public high schools that had long been on the books but were seldom held, portraying them as ``the founding stones of the new Venezuelan man.'' ``He is promoting militarism, infecting texts with viruses that foster class hatreds ... and speak against globalization and privatization,'' Raffalli said in an interview.
Chávez recently signed a deal with Cuba under which Havana will train Venezuelan teachers and provide educational materials, and Education Minister Hector Navarro last year approved a nationwide essay competition on the life of Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary Ernesto ``Ché'' Guevara.***
Hugo Chavez - Venezuela
REPORT ON VENEZUELA***
Fuel: Gasoline stored in the Paraguana complex (Cardon and Amuay refineries, the world's largest) might grant 20 days supply of national consumption (around 40 Mm barrels), at the same time, this inventory does not allow the refineries to operate for lack of additional storage capacity. One tanker was partially loaded by the end of the week with some difficulty due to shortage of qualified manpower. It is a well-known fact that the complexity of these refineries makes them not available for production in the short term.
The El Palito refinery was positioned as a symbolic figure and the Government is focusing all efforts and manpower into its start up, however there are several difficulties to overcome in order to succeed.
PDVSA refineries located abroad: Isla in Curaçao, closed operations December 29th, and will require at least 15 days to get restarted. St. Croix refinery is in full operation.
Gasoline distribution seems to worsen the problem on a daily basis. There are difficulties in the Andean region, gasoline is being smuggled from Colombia and sold at 14 times its current price in Venezuela. Caracas is being served from the Guatire reservoir, yet this terminal and its pipelines were contaminated when at the peak of the crisis, the Government pumped more than 200.000 barrels of Catalytic Nafta in order to pump out the gasoline inside the pipes. There is an existing black market in major metropolitan areas selling gas at $1 per liter (v. standard market price of $0.06 per liter) and the danger of accidental death due improper gasoline storage in jerry-cans has already occured.
This last weekend clean gasoline was pumped in again without purging the pipelines. The resulting mixture of gasoline and nafta will be distributed with the high risk of engine damage. (Explosion grade of gasoline is lower than nafta - nafta is a primary derivative of crude refining, needing additional refining plus the addition of derivatives to obtain gasoline. Additionally, the usual quality control of gasoline is not being conducted, and damage to vehicles is expected to happen). The Central region, Maracaibo, Oriente and Guayana areas are being hit the hardest by the fuel shortage.
It is noteworthy that only around 40% of available tank trucks are operating, most of them in an illegal manner, since they were confiscated "de facto" by government supporters. The available fuel, in no manner, covers distribution needs.
Crude Exports: For reference, please note that regularly, around 240 to 260 vessels are used to move oil exports from Venezuela. During the current strike, only 6 have been dispatched (carrying around 4.5 mm barrels). There are 27 vessels in the bay, an additional 17 have refused to enter Venezuelan ports and 4 are either loading or unloading (Vessels positioned in non operating terminals: Puerto La Cruz B/7 O/2, Jose B/1, Criogenico B/1, Puerto Cabello B/2, Cardon B/3, Amuay B/6, Tacoa O/1 Catia la Mar B/1, Carenero O/1, Bitor and Petrozuata none, Bajo Grande B/1, El Palito B/1 - B: moored in bay, O: in operation, None no vessel in port). It is noteworthy that PDVSA's own ships carried 90% of the operation and these are being operated under armed military supervision, which adds danger to the critical operation.
Operations - production and refining facilities are closed in all the Oriente Areas and also in Tia Juana, Paraguana and El Palito. Petrochemical plans are also closed. All facilities, nationwide are under military control.***