soldiers and their demobilization and reintegration into society. The civil war, which began in 1975, has killed thousands of Angolans and taken much of the government's revenues from Angola's substantial oil production and exports. (NYT) April 5: Thousands of workers at Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA stay home, close gates of facilities, and engage in protests. This is the largest disruption of PdVSA's operations in 2002, though it is not a full-blown strike by all PdVSA workers. Oil production and refining slows, and two of Venezuela's five main oil export terminals are unable to operate. The government of President Hugo Chávez threatens to militarize PdVSA's operations. (AP) April 8: Iraq announces that it will halt its "oil-for-food" exports for 30 days as a "gesture of support" for the Palestinians' struggle with Israel. Iraq also requests that other OPEC countries do not raise production to make up for lost Iraqi exports. Iraqi "oil-for-food" exports had averaged about to date in 2002. Major Arab OPEC exporters Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar have expressed unwillingness to join in any embargo. (WSJ) April 9: A general strike begins in Venezuela, shutting down many stores and factories and nearly halting oil production, refining, and export terminals. On April 12, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is ousted by the country's military after three consecutive days of general strikes during which oil production, refining, and exports — the mainstays of the Venezuelan economy — were seriously affected. Pedro Carmona is named interim President of Venezuela by the military high command. PdVSA operations that had been halted start up again, but rioting begins again the following day. On April 14, Interim President Carmona announces that he has resigned following large, and sometimes violent, pro-Chávez protests and a lack of support among many military officers. Several hours later, Hugo Chávez returns to power in Caracas and states that he never resigned the presidency. (WP, WSJ, Reuters, AP) April 24: A summit of the leaders of the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea ends without an agreement on how to divide the Caspian's resources among the five countries. (Reuters) May 8: Iraq starts pumping crude oil to its export terminals, following the country's announcement on May 5 that it would end its oil export embargo after one month, i.e., May 8. Iraq also submits price proposals for May crude oil loadings to the United Nations for approval. (Reuters) May 14: