Venezuela

According to striking oil workers, as of the 4th, oil production was at 1.2 million BPD.1 On the 6th, they estimated output at 1.3 million BPD.2 By the 10th, they said output was at 1.42 million BPD.3

On the 8th, over 100,000 people demonstrated against President Chavez in Caracas (Reuters).

On the 10th, opposition negotiator Timoteo Zambrano said the opposition now agreed to debate a 19 August referendum on Chavez's rule. Zambrano reiterated demands that the over 9,000 fired PDVSA employees be reinstated, something Chavez has refused (Reuters).

On the 20th, a judge ordered industrialist Carlos Fernandez and union leader Carlos Ortega detained for rebellion against the state, sabatoge and other charges. Fernandez was arrested that evening. Ortega apparently went into hiding (Reuters).

1 FEBRUARY 2003

United States

The American space shuttle Columbia broke apart 40 miles above Texas state as it was descending through the atmosphere for a landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida state. An investigating board later concluded that a breach was created in the heat shielding on the shuttle's left wing by a piece of foam that struck it upon liftoff. This made the shuttle vulnerable to the extreme heat of re-entry (Reuters).

5 FEBRUARY 2003

Diplomatic Affairs

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking to the UN Security Council, presented evidence of Iraq's failure to cooperate with UN inspections. His presentation included voice intercepts of Iraqis discussing hiding prohibited weapons, aerial photographs of a chemical weapons storage bunker before and after being cleaned up prior to a UN inspection, and reports from informants that Iraq was hiding missile launchers and biological warheads in western Iraq. Iraq's UN ambassador, Mohammed Aldouri, accused Powell of manufacturing the evidence (Reuters).

7 FEBRUARY 2003

Colombia

A car bomb exploded at Club Nogal in Bogota, killing 33 (Reuters).

8 FEBRUARY 2003

Germany

Over 12,000 demonstrators attended a rally in Munich held under the slogan "No War in Iraq". The rally coincided with a visit by US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (Reuters).

10 FEBRUARY 2003

Iraq

The government informed the UN of its unconditional acceptance of U-2 overflights (Reuters).

Europe, Diplomatic Affairs

Russian President Vladimir Putin met French President Jacques Chirac in Paris to discuss Iraq. Afterward, Chirac read a joint declaration that said, "Russia, Germany and France favor the continuation of the inspections and a substantial reinforcement of their human and technical capacities through all possible means and in liaison with the inspectors....Russia, Germany and France are determined to ensure that everything possible is done to disarm Iraq peacefully" (Reuters).

China, Civil Affairs

An Intermediate People's Court in Shenzhen sentenced political activist Wang Bingzhang to life imprisonment for "organizing and leading a terrorist group", according to the official Xinhua news agency (Reuters).

11 FEBRUARY 2003

Iraq

CIA Director George Tenet, during testimony on al Qaeda before the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the US had "held nothing back" from UN weapons inspectors about suspected weapons sites (Reuters).

12 FEBRUARY 2003

Paraguay, Politics

The Senate acquited President Luis Gonzalez Macchi of corruption charges. The vote was 25 in favor of removing Gonzalez Macchi, 18 against and one abstention, five votes fewer than needed for impeachment (Reuters).

Diplomatic Affairs

The governing board of the IAEA declared North Korea in breach of atomic safeguards and refered the matter to the UN Security Council (Reuters).

Bolivia

Violent protests in La Paz against an unpopular tax bill led to clashes between army forces and the police, who were sympathetic to the protestors. President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada later announced he was withdrawing the bill (Reuters).

14 FEBRUARY 2003

Asia and the Pacific

About 16,000 people demonstrated in Canberra against a prospective US-led invasion of Iraq, beginning a day of peace demonstrations around the world. There was a smaller demonstration in Jakarta, Indonesia (Reuters).

Europe

Here the largest demonstrations took place. About a million people demonstrated in Rome. There were at least a half-million demonstrators in London, and half a million attended a rally in Berlin. In France the government estimated at least 300,000 demonstrated across the country. There was a generally peaceful protest of some 50,000 in Athens, Greece (Reuters).

Western Hemisphere

Authorities estimated 100,000 demonstrated in New York City against a US invasion of Iraq. Also in the US there were protests of several thousand each in Chicago, Philadelphia and Santa Fe, plus smaller protests in California. About 100,000 people demonstrated in Montreal and 25,000 did so in Vancouver. About 30,000 demonstrated in Mexico City (Reuters).

Iraq

Blix and Elbaradei gave another report to the UN Security Council similar in substance to the one on 27 January. Blix's overall tone appeared to be less critical of Iraq this time, but he accused Iraq of omissions in its arms declaration concerning chemical agents and anthrax stocks and said the al Samoud violated range limits for Iraq's ballistic missiles. ElBaradei said his inspectors found no evidence Iraq had resumed its nuclear weapons program but some areas still needed to be investigated.4

16 FEBRUARY 2003

Cyprus, Politics

In a presidential election, Tassos Papadopoulos defeated veteran Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides. Like Clerides, Papadopoulos has accepted a UN proposal as a basis for negotiating a political settlement with the Turkish Cypriots, but has been more vocal about certain perceived weaknesses, such as restrictions on the return of refugees to their homes (Reuters).

17 FEBRUARY 2003

Israel, Gaza Strip

There was a massive funeral of about 100,000 people for six Hamas militants killed in a blast on the 16th that was blamed on Israel (Reuters).

17-18 FEBRUARY 2003

Europe, Diplomatic Affairs

On the 17th, EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss Iraq. Afterward they issued a joint statement saying, "War is not inevitable. Force should be used only as a last resort. It is for the Iraqi regime to end this crisis by complying with the demands of the Security Council....Baghdad should have no illusions: it must disarm and cooperate immediately. It has a final opportunity to solve the crisis peacefully." French President Chirac said his government did not support military action at that time. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said Germany would not support or participate in military action even if the UN Security Council backed it.

The next day, Russia said it had lined up with the EU statement (Reuters).

18 FEBRUARY 2003

Canada, Foreign Policy

Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Canada would not participate in an attack on Iraq that was not approved by the UN Security Council (Reuters).

20 FEBRUARY 2003

Israel

Prime Minister Sharon, speaking to visiting US Jewish leaders, reiterated his opposition to East Jerusalem being the capital of a future Palestinian state and to giving Palestinian refugees displaced since 1948 the right of return to Israel. "There will be no compromise when it comes to Jerusalem....The right of return of Palestinians? Israel will never accept that danger to occur, never", he said (Reuters).

21 FEBRUARY 2003

Iraq

UNMOVIC Chairman Hans Blix ordered Iraq to begin destroying its al Samoud ballistic missiles by 1 March (Reuters).

Also on the 21st, US officials said there were about 170,000 US military personnel in the Gulf region near Iraq, including 99,000 Army and Marine personnel in Kuwait.5

23 FEBRUARY 2003

Morocco

About 30,000 people demonstrated in Rabat against US policy (Reuters).

25 FEBRUARY 2003

South Korea

Roh Moo-hyun was inaugurated as President. In his speech he said, "The suspicion that North Korea is developing nuclear weapons poses a grave threat to world peace, not to mention the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia....It is up to Pyongyang whether to go ahead and obtain nuclear weapons or to get guarantees for the security of its regime and international economic support." Roh has opposed the use of economic sanctions to compel the North to desist from developing nuclear weapons, and has said the use of military force should be ruled out (Reuters).

26 FEBRUARY 2003

United States, Foreign Policy

President Bush, speaking on Iraq, said, "A liberated Iraq can show the power of freedom to transform that vital region, by bringing hope and progress into the lives of millions" (Reuters).

Saudi Arabia, Foreign Policy

The government reportedly decided to allow the US limited use of airbases and airspace in the event that it invaded Iraq. Saudi Arabia has said in the past it would not allow an attack from its territory not approved by the UN.6

North Korea, Military Affairs

The US said North Korea had restarted its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon within the last 24 hours. It did not appear that they had restarted the fuel reprocessing facility there (Reuters).

27 FEBRUARY 2003

Bosnia

The Hague tribunal sentenced former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic to 11 years imprisonment. She had pleaded guilty to one count of crimes against humanity during the 1992-95 war (Reuters).

Israel, Politics

The Knesset approved by a 66-48 vote Prime Minister Sharon's proposed coalition of Likud, Shinui, National Union and the National Religious Party. Silvan Shalom was named foreign minister; Benjamin Netanyahu was to take his place at the finance ministry (Reuters).

28 FEBRUARY 2003

Iran, Politics

In local elections, reformists suffered a major reverse as conservative candidates swept council seats in major cities. The 49 percent turnout was lower than expected (Reuters).

Notes

1. Pascal Fletcher, "Venezuela's Chavez Threatens Foes with Forex Curbs", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 4 February 2003.

2. Pascal Fletcher, "Venezuela's Chavez Wields Forex Curbs in War on Foes", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 6 February 2003.

3. Patrick Markey, "Foes of Venezuela's Chavez Try to Pin Down Vote", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 10 February 2003.

4. Evelyn Leopold, "Blix Report Results in Setback for U.S., Britain", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 14 February 2003.

5. Evelyn Leopold and Ralph Baulton, "US Anti-Iraq Force Ready; Blix Sets Missile Demand", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 21 February 2003.

6. Carol Giacomo and Mariam Isa, "Saudi Arabia Said Offering U.S. More Cooperation", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 26 February 2003.