Venezuela

On the 3rd and 4th there were violent clashes in Caracas between supporters and opponents of President Chavez. On the 12th, tens of thousands of anti-Chavez demonstrators were stopped by security forces when they tried to march on Fuerte Tiuna military headquarters.

By the 11th, oil production was around 450,000 BPD.1 On the 19th, Chavez claimed production had reached 1.2 million BPD; striking PDVSA executives said it was around half that amount.2 On the 23rd, the strikers said production was at 812,000 BPD, about 25% of normal levels.3

On the 18th over 100,000 people demonstrated against Chavez in Caracas. On the 19th, Chavez named Gen. Lucas Rincon as interior and justice minister and Gen. Jorge Garcia Carneiro as the new army chief. On the 20th, there were violent clashes in Caracas between Chavez supporters and opponents. On the 23rd, Chavez held a rally of hundreds of thousands of supporters in Caracas (Reuters).

Military affairs

On the 11th, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ordered the deployment of 60,000 troops plus warships and military aircraft to the Persian Gulf region. On the 20th, British Secretary of State for Defense Geoffrey Hoon commanded the dispatch of 26,000 British troops and 100 combat aircraft to the region.4

1 JANUARY 2003

Ivory Coast

Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP) rebels took Neka, near the Liberian border (Reuters).

5 JANUARY 2003

Lithuania, Politics

In the presidential runoff, Rolandas Paksas defeated President Valdas Adamkus 54.9% to 45.1%. Paksas said foreign policy would not change and that he fully supported joining the EU next year (Reuters).

Israel

Two suicide bombers killed 22 people in Tel Aviv. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility; the Palestinian Authority condemned the attack (Reuters).

7 JANUARY 2003

Rwanda, Civil Affairs

President Paul Kagame decreed the release of 40,000 prison inmates, including thousands of genocide suspects. The intention is to ease the strain on the overcrowded jails while continuing criminal proceedings against the accused (Reuters).

Democratic Republic of Congo

A military court sentenced 26 people to death for involvement in the January 2001 assassination of President Laurent Kabila, including Colonel Eddy Kapend, his closest personal aid. Western human rights groups were critical of the trial (Reuters).

9 JANUARY 2003

Iraq

UN inspectors gave an interim report to the Security Council. Hans Blix, reporting on the search for prohibited chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missiles, said, "we have been covering the country in ever-wider sweeps, and we haven't found any smoking guns." But he expressed dissatisfaction with the declaration Iraq submitted in December, saying, "We think that the declaration failed to answer a great many questions" about suspected stocks of VX gas, imports of missile engines, ingredients for production of missile fuel and chemical munitions.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, in his report said, "To date, no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear-related activities has been detected, although not all of the laboratory results of sample analysis are yet available."

A White House spokesman said, "We know for a fact that there are weapons there." Secretary of State Powell said the US was giving the UN inspectors intelligence on where to find banned weapons but had withheld some of its most sensitive information (Reuters).

10 JANUARY 2003

North Korea

The country's KCNA news agency said, "The government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in a statement today declared its withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its total freedom from the binding force of the safeguards accord with the International Atomic Energy Agency....Though we pull out of the NPT, we have no intention to produce nuclear weapons and our nuclear activities at this stage will be confined only to peaceful purposes such as the production of electricity." The agency said the withdrawal was immediate (Reuters).

Asia and the Pacific, Diplomatic Affairs

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. They discussed economic cooperation and the Kurile Islands dispute (Reuters).

12 JANUARY 2003

Argentina

Former military dictator Leopoldo Galtieri, leader of the 1976-83 military junta, died. The junta, which led the country into war with Britain over the Falkland Islands in 1982, was also later found responsible for the 'Dirty War' deaths and disappearance of up to 30,000 people (Reuters).

14 JANUARY 2003

Cyprus

About 70,000 Turkish Cypriot demonstrators in Nicosia called on Rauf Denktash to negotiate a UN peace plan for the island or resign (Reuters).

15 JANUARY 2003

Ivory Coast

Peace talks began in Paris. Political parties represented included President Laurent Gbagbo's ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), the Democratic Party (PDCI) of former president Henri Konan Bedie, and the Rally of the Republicans (RDR) linked to ex-prime minister Alassane Quattara. Rebel groups included the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI), the main rebel delegation, and two western factions, the Ivorian Patriotic Movement of the Far West (MPIGO) and the Movement for Justice and Peace (MJP) (Reuters).

17 JANUARY 2003

South Korea, Foreign Policy

President-elect Roh Moo-hyun said recent anti-US demonstrations were "voices aspiring for a more mature relationship....The demonstrations were staged on the premise that the US troops would continue to stay in Korea." Even after peace on the Korean peninsula, "US forces in South Korea will still play an important role in achieving a balance of power in the Northeast Asian region", he said (Reuters).

18 JANUARY 2003

Ivory Coast

Thousands demonstrated in Abidjan against making concessions to rebel groups at the Paris talks (Reuters).

21 JANUARY 2003

United States, Foreign Policy

President Bush, referring to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, said, "It's clear to me now that he is not disarming....He's been given ample time to disarm....Time is running out." By this time, US military strength in the Gulf area had reached about 150,000 personnel (Reuters).

22 JANUARY 2003

Netherlands, Politics

In general elections, the ruling Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) won 44 of the 150 seats in the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer). The Labor Party (PvdA) won 42, up from the 23 it won in the May 2002 elections. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) won 28, up from 23. The Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) won only 8, down from 26 (IFES, Reuters).

25 JANUARY 2003

Ivory Coast

Agreement was reached between the parties at the Paris talks on a power-sharing arrangement with rebel groups. The agreement called for President Gbagbo to name a prime minister to assume some duties of government; Gbagbo chose former premier Seydou Diarra. It also reportedly called for two of nine key ministries to be given to the RDR, and two to rebel groups.5

The same day, tens of thousands violently protested against the agreement in Abidjan. In the following days there were numerous additional protests, with many of Gbagbo's supporters feeling the concessions made by the government were too great (Reuters).

Israel, Gaza Strip

Israeli forces raided areas in and near Gaza City, including the Zaitoun neighborhood (Reuters).

27 JANUARY 2003

Iraq

Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei reported to the UN Security Council. Blix said Iraq had not fully disclosed the status of its chemical and biological weapon and ballistic missile programs and had not come to a "genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it." ElBaradei said he "found no evidence that Iraq has revived its nuclear weapons program since the elimination of the program in the 1990s."

Later, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "Iraq's time for choosing peaceful disarmament is fast coming to an end" (Reuters).

28 JANUARY 2003

Israel, Politics

General elections were held. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party won 37 seats in the 120-member Knesset, up from 19. The Labor Party, led by Amram Mitzna, won 19 seats, down from 25. Sharon had said he would not negotiate with PA president Yasser Arafat, nor with any other Palestinians until terrorist attacks stopped, though he had also said that painful concessions would be needed to make peace. Mitzna had called for an immediate resumption of talks. The Shinui Party, opposed to the military exemptions and other priviledges that have been won by orthodox Jews, won 15 seats, up from six. The orthodox Shas party won 11 seats, down from 17 (Reuters, IFES).

United States, Foreign Policy

President Bush, in his State of the Union address, said, "the gravest danger facing America and the greatest danger facing the world...is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons....These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror and mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to their terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation" (Reuters).

Britain, Foreign Policy

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, referring to Iraqi compliance with UNSC 1441, said, "As of today, according to the reports we have received, Iraq is now in further material breach. So it is profoundly serious for Iraq" (Reuters).

29 JANUARY 2003

Diplomatic Affairs

The Prime Ministers of Britain, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain reportedly issued a joint declaration appearing to support America's Iraq policy. "The relationship between we Europeans and the United States has stood the test of time....It should not become a victim of the persitent attempts of the current Iraqi regime to threaten world security", the declaration said.6

Cambodia

There were anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh. Rioters torched the Thai embassy and attacked Thai-owned businesses (Reuters).

Notes

1. Patrick Markey, "Venezuela's Chavez Firm, Foes Seek Overseas Backing", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 11 January 2003.

2. Pascal Fletcher, "Venezuela's Chavez Taps Generals to Fight 'Oil War'", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 19 January 2003.

3. Pascal Fletcher, "Blast During Chavez Rally Kills One in Venezuela", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 23 January 2003.

4. John Keegan, The Iraq War, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2004, p. 100.

5. Matthew Tostevin, "Anti-French Mobs in Ivory Coast Protest at Accord", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 25 January 2003.

6. Randall Mikkelsen and Hassan Hafidh, "Washington Pledges Last Push to Avoid Iraq War", Reuters (www.reuters.com), 29 January 2003.