February 25, 2005
2004 Annual Report at the National Assembly

(El Universal) - " The Executive Cabinet presented the 2004 annual report at the National Assembly and during this event, Vice President José Vicente Rangel highlighted the government's stability and 70% popularity.

As Chief of the Executive Cabinet, Vice President Rangel presented a general overview of 2004's management. He said that the country's national reserves are now more than 24.000 million dollars and that unemployment dropped to 10,7% after reaching 30% during the oil strike. He also indicated that the Country Risk Assesment dropped "396.8 basic points", minimum wage was incremented 30% and the National Service of Tax and Customs Revenue (SENIAT) collected 47 million dollars.

Regarding the social aspect, he talked about the achievements of social programmes, which have employed 488.000 Venezuelans and highlighted the work done by the programme Barrio Adentro, providing 70 million medical consultations as well as the education programme Misión Sucre, which now covers 300 boroughs around the country.

He also mentioned the creation of 470 new unions and the official approval of pensions and backdated payments for 188 million dollars that will benefit more than 400.000 people.

Finally, he talked about the Trial Plan for Citizen Safety, which helped reduce crimes in 46,94% in the Metropolitan area of Caracas".