11.   Venezuelan officials are investigating to see if there are any ties between Iranian diplomats and the truck bomb attack here.

12.   Venezuelan officials on Thursday accused both Ford and Bridgestone of conspiring to hide tire defects that caused dozens of deaths.

13.   Venezuelan officials are very much hoping futures will boost trading on its market as well.

14.   Venezuelan officials are most concerned at the moment with inflation, Casas Gonzalez said.

15.   Venezuelan officials are seeking to take advantage of an improving credit rating, especially given rising oil revenue and an improving economy.

16.   Venezuelan officials will make a formal presentation to the International Monetary Fund next Tuesday in Washington.

17.   Venezuelan military officials said that they had never ordered or received the weapons from Argentina and that it was not their practice to use an arms dealer.

18.   Venezuelan officials have repeatedly denied reports that the country was exceeding its oil-production quota.

19.   Venezuelan officials say they will resist the temptation to use a windfall in oil revenue to delay painful economic reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund.

20.   OPEC members are willing to extend production cuts beyond March as a way of maintaining high international prices, a top Venezuelan official said Friday.