MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina expects record tourist season

Argentina is expecting record numbers of tourists during the Southern Hemisphere's summer season, officials said Thursday.

Visiting Argentina has become considerably cheaper over the last 12 months, during which the peso shed about two-thirds of its value against the dollar.

A Tourism Secretariat report released Thursday said some 15.8 million tourists will visit the country during the 2002-2003 summer season, spending some 6.5 billion pesos ($1.9 billon) in the process.

The report was based on hotel reservations and occupancy levels and information provided by transportation companies, travel agencies and provincial and municipal tourism offices.

Tourism officials expect the sector to increase its contribution to the gross domestic product from a traditional average of around 5 percent to nearly 8 percent.

Venezuela opposition labels Brazil's Lula a "strike-breaker"

The Venezuelan opposition on Thursday labeled Brazil's leftist president-elect a "strike-breaker" in response to his offer to sell gasoline to Caracas, which is in the midst of a 25-day general strike that has crippled the crucial oil industry.

In a letter sent to the Brazilian Embassy in Caracas, the Democratic Coordinator opposition alliance asked Brazil not to send two tankers loaded with fuel to alleviate the fuel shortages caused by striking workers at Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA.

The strike was called in an effort to pressure President Hugo Chavez from office. Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has expressed a willingness to lend Caracas a hand by sending gasoline-laden tankers. He takes office Jan. 1.

As a result, Democratic Coordinator spokesman Timoteo Zambrano ironically labeled the veteran leftist politician a "strike-breaker" and the decision to sell gas "unacceptable." Lula, a former metalworker turned union boss, helped found Brazil's Workers' Party.