CARACAS, Venezuela — Petroleum supply disruptions caused by labor and civic unrest in Venezuela are affecting the price of oil on the world market. Further strife is expected in the largest foreign supplier of oil to the United States. 

Civic, political and business sector opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are backing petroleum workers' unions in their protests. The workers say the president is meddling in the state-owned oil company by appointing directors who are politically aligned with his government. The oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, has traditionally been run by professionals and had remained insulated from politics until now.

In recent days, thousands of oil workers have stayed home, engaged in work slowdowns or taken part in large anti-Chavez demonstrations. As a result, two out of five Venezuelan main export terminals have shut down and at least a dozen ships were left waiting at the ports with oil bound for the United States and other nations.

At least two people died in the recent unrest, and there is fear that opposition to the left-leaning Chavez government could lead to further violence in the days ahead.

All of this comes at a time when oil prices are on the rise because of violence in Israel and the Middle East. Oil industry analysts say a deepening of the crisis in Venezuela could have an even bigger impact on the world petroleum market than what is happening in the Middle East. Venezuela has the biggest oil reserves outside the Middle East.

President Chavez has shown no sign of backing 

Oil revenues provide one-third of Venezuela's $110 billion gross domestic product and almost half of government's revenue. Political observers say a major disruption of the industry would create the biggest crisis yet for the controversial three-year-old Chavez government. 
 

General strike today

CARACAS, Venezuela — The nation’s largest labor union is calling for a one-day general strike today in support of workers at the state-run oil company in their struggle against the government of President Hugo Chavez.

The strike by the Venezuelan Workers Confederation could widen the labor dispute and pose a threat to world petroleum markets.

The workers are striking over what they say are politically-motivated appointments to the company's board of directors by President Chavez.

The one-million-member labor confederation brought the Venezuelan economy to a standstill with a one-day walkout last December. Carlos Ortega, the confederation's president, said Tuesday's strike could be extended if necessary.

Costa Rican police agents took a U.S. citizen into custody as a suspect in the abduction of her 6-year-old child, Costa Rican sources said.

The woman was detained in the Punta Salas section of Heredia by agents working on a warrant from the United States, Costa Rica sources said.

They identified the woman as Barbara Dave, but identifications of North Americans frequently are incorrect or confuse the second given name with the surname.

Agents said that they were told that the woman illegally took her child to Costa Rica contrary to a judicial order in the United States.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said that no information could be given in the case because the detained woman had not signed a privacy waiver.

Embassy personnel are edgy lately on such cases because a U.S. citizen, Ralph Stumbo, has alleged that the consular staff treat cases differently depending on whether the parent who is believed to have abducted the child is a man or a woman. The embassy has denied the allegation.

Stumbo’s wife, a Costa Rican citizen, took their child from Florida last August, and he does not think that the embassy officials have pressed the case aggressively.

A similar arrest involving a non-custodial father took place several months ago in Moravia. The man took a child to Costa Rica from the United States. He still is in prison here.

Taxi driver held
in fondling case

Investigators arrested a 60-year-old taxi driver about 8 a.m. Monday and held him to face an allegation that he made sexual advances against a female passenger.

He was identified by the last name of Castro. The arrest took place near the Tribunales de Justicia, the headquarters of the courts and the Judicial Investigating Organization.

The woman told investigators that last Thursday she entered a taxi in the center of San José. The taxi driver entered into conversation with her and soon began to touch her, she told agents. Then he told her in a menacing fashion that he knew where she lived, she reported.

The woman was able to get out of the cab and quickly filed her complaint, agents said. She also was able to remember the placa number of the taxi, which enabled investigators to arrest the driver, who lives in Tres Ríos, they said. 

Investigators said they want to know if other women suffered similar experiences at the hands of taxi drivers. They asked such victims to contact them in the Sección de Delitos Sexuales at 295-3315 or 295-3316.

U.S. changes student visa rules

 The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has tightened rules for foreign student and tourist visas. Immigration officials say that effective immediately, foreigners must obtain student visas before studying in the United States. 

Until now, most students were allowed to enter the country on a tourist visa, while awaiting student status. 

Also on Monday, the INS proposed changing the time limit on visas for tourists and business travelers from six months to about 30 days. An INS official says visa holders will have to show compelling reasons to extend their stays. 

Two experimental vaccines against HIV/AIDS have been effective in a small trial conducted by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, according to an announcement from the research consortium.

As a result of the initially promising signs, the institute will launch expanded human testing in Britain. "The goal of this 100-plus volunteer study is to confirm the results of the previous trials as well as investigate different doses and timings of administering the vaccines," according to the institute press release.

The 26 volunteers who have taken the vaccine have shown a stimulated response from the immune system, as researchers had hoped. Early stage trials have also been underway in Kenya, though their results have not yet been fully analyzed. Second stage trials are scheduled to begin in sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2002.
 

Crowd protests
IMF’s aide’s visit

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Demonstrators in Argentina have burned U.S. flags and chanted slogans against the International Monetary Fund to protest the arrival of a top IMF negotiator. 

Anoop Singh, flew to Buenos Aires Monday on a 10-day mission to assess the country's economic situation and discuss a possible aid package with the government. 

A group of protesters tried to block Singh's motorcade from leaving the airport. Demonstrators also rallied at his hotel to protest the IMF's policy on Argentina. 

Singh is joining an IMF delegation that arrived in Argentina last week for two weeks of talks. The mission is expected to clarify the reforms Argentina must undertake to qualify for renewed financial aid. An IMF spokesman has said the team is not expected to decide on additional lending, but a decision may be made after the IMF's annual meeting later this month. 

Argentina is seeking upwards of $20-billion to help its troubled economy recover from a four-year recession. The IMF says Argentina must implement a viable economic reform plan to qualify for renewed assistance.

In December, the lending agency withheld more than $1 billion from Argentina, saying the government failed to control spending. Last month, however, the Inter-American Development Bank made $694 million available to the government in new loans.
 

Couple face probe
in daughters’ death

Agents have arrested a man and a woman as suspects in the death of their daughter, 7, who died Sunday of a fractured skull in the Hospital de Niños.

The child suffered other fractures and was in an advanced state of malnutrition, said investigators. Doctors said that some of the child’s fractures were older.

They said the couple is Walter Méndez Jiménez, 32, and Roxana Varela Blanco, 24.

Saturday physicians diagnosed the child as being brain dead. The child had come to the hospital Friday about 8 p.m.

The parents told police that the child had fallen, but investigators discarded that theory, they said, after inspecting the home in La Trinidad de Moravia and conducting interviews.