CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela insisted that troops can occupy
                 state oil monopoly facilities if workers decide to strike, but a top executive
                 said militarizing the company won't prevent a production shutdown.

                 Oil Minister Alvaro Silva Calderon said Monday he didn't think a strike was likely at
                 Petroleos de Venezuela SA but "we're talking about a militarization because it's the
                 country's last resort in an emergency situation."

                 President Hugo Chavez said Sunday he wouldn't hesitate to sign an emergency
                 decree sending soldiers into the multinational oil company and firing hundreds of
                 managers who are protesting his appointment of five board directors February 25.

                 Troops might occupy installations, but they don't know how to run them,
                 responded Mary Lizardo, a vice president at PDVSA's petrochemical division.

                 "It would be very irresponsible to think that the National Guard or any other military
                 body could run our plants," Lizardo said. "The military can't take over the
                 operations at the oil industry because it took us years of preparation to take over
                 any operation that is not administrative."

                 Protesters claim the appointments are an attempt to politicize PDVSA. Chavez
                 insists the corporation, which employs 40,000 people, needs to cut costs and
                 eradicate corruption.

                 Production has not been affected by the protests. The Interior Ministry says the
                 protests are weakening, and 44 PDVSA executives last week called for a resolution
                 without work stoppages or slowdowns.

                 Oil provides 80 percent of Venezuela's export revenues, and Venezuela is the
                 third-largest provider of crude oil to the United States. Fedepetrol, the largest oil
                 union, has said it would support a general strike.

                 Also Monday, a doctors' association went on strike to demand raises for more than
                 20,000 doctors who work at 61 Health Ministry hospitals and clinics.

                 Doctors want a 40 percent raise, from 500,000 bolivars a month ($ 540) to
                 756,000 bolivars ($ 820). The government has offered a 4 percent raise, or
                 520,000 bolivars ($ 560), plus bonuses and overtime pay.

                 Health Minister Maria Lourdes Urbaneja said the strike was part of a campaign by
                 organized labor and opposition parties to destabilize the government.

                  Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.