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Caracas (AFP) Feb 8, 2010 Venezuela is facing the worst drought in a century and needs to be placed under an "electricity emergency," President Hugo Chavez said Monday in his new, "any-time" radio program "Suddenly With Chavez." Electricity cuts last month were revoked after a bout of public outrage, but Chavez said the massive Guri Dam hydroelectric complex on the Orinoco River, which supplies 70 percent of Venezuela's power needs, is still falling well below critical levels. "Today it fell another 13 centimeters (five inches). It hasn't rained the whole year; it's Venezuela's worst drought in 100 years," Chavez said on what he called his new "guerrilla by radio" show that will air any time he chooses. "We're ready to declare an electricity emergency, because it really is an emergency," said the president. He said the decree would make it the government's top priority to seek ways of boosting the country's electric power supply. Chavez did not elaborate, but late last month he announced a special, one billion dollar fund to develop 59 power generating and distributing projects and 50 operating and maintenance projects in the country. Venezuela is flush with oil, the country's chief export, and natural gas, but meets domestic energy demand with electricity generated by its Guri Dam, which on January 31 was at a critical nine meters (30 feet) below normal. The government blames the drought on the cyclical El Nino climate pattern. Chavez' new radio program -- he already has a Sunday radio and television show called "Alo Presidente" (Hello Mr. President) -- will be broadcast, he said, whenever he feels it appropriate. "It's a new program... guerrilla by radio," Chavez told his listeners. "I recently came up with the idea for the program. We discussed it, we decided and here you have it... it can go out on the air at any time. "Sometimes I'm awake at 3:00 am, working or going over some papers, and if there are people at that time listening to the radio, listening to music or driving on the road... "Suddenly, we'll start singing to a guitar romantic songs," the colorful, populist president said. Besides his "Alo Presidente" weekly show, Chavez also gets full media coverage for any public event he takes part in. Chavez' speeches must be carried, by law, by the nation's major broadcasting outlets. Any infringement is sanctioned with closure, as it happened last month to opposition television RCTV.
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