Weekly Report - 3 February 2004

Hard as it is to hear beyond President Hugo Chávez 's loud denunciations of a wide range of perceived threats, several Venezuela watchers believe they can perceive a change of tone in his government's stances, possibly related to a growing conviction that it is now the opposition that is being viewed abroad with growing suspicion. One area where this is happening most visibly is in the effort to play down continuing incidents along the `hot' border with Colombia.