Second day of violent anti-Hugo Chávez protests rock Venezuelan capital

Two people died in street battles between supporters and opponents of the socialist President Hugo Chávez before police used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse students blocking a highway in the east of Caracas, while elsewhere in the capital thousands of demonstrators marched to demand the reinstatement of the channel, removed after it refused to broadcast a speech by Mr Chávez, as laid down by new laws.

The protests come amid growing difficulties for the leftist leader, as Venezuelans suffer widespread water and power cuts, worsening crime and spiralling inflation expected to be worsened by this month’s devaluation of the bolivar. Large demonstrations on Saturday passed off peacefully, but the removal of RCTV from the airwaves appeared to finally blow the lid on long-simmering tensions.

Disturbances in the opposition stronghold of Merida on Monday left two dead as pro and anti-government groups faced off, with Marcos Diaz, the state governor, reporting that one 15-year-old Chávez supporter was killed by an explosive and a student opponent shot dead. Amid increasing rumours of widespread unrest, the firebrand leader warned the opposition that he would “sweep them away” if their campaign turned violent. He claimed to have intelligence of a plot to assassinate him, saying the Government had intercepted a number of phone calls between opposition figures and members of the Venezuelan military. The anti-US stalwart, who has encouraged the creation of Chavista militias to defend the revolution, claimed the “Yankees” would aid such an attempt. “I don’t know what would happen to the east of Caracas,” Mr Chávez warned, referring to the wealthier area of the city dominated by opponents he frequently refers to as “the squalid”. “They would have to leave there ... I don’t know where they would go.”

It had long been in conflict with RCTV, which was pushed from territorial television to cable in 2007 over its alleged role in a 2002 attempted coup against Mr Chávez. However Mr Chávez’s critics say the president is trying to silence dissent. The country “perceives that they are trying to shut up the media so that they do not transmit the truth of what is happening,” said Omar Barboza, the head of the opposition party Un Nuevo Tiempo (A New Era). The closure of RCTV drew international criticism, the governments of France and the United States both condemning the move, leading Mr Chávez to protest to France over “reprehensible meddling” in Venezuela’s internal affairs.

Though Mr Chávez retains strong support among many poorer Venezuelans for redirecting the country’s vast oil wealth towards social programmes, The government is also suffering internal strife with the surprise resignation of Vice-President Ramon Carrizalez, who also served as Defence Minister. The reasons for his resignation are unclear but are rumoured to be connected to conflict within the Cabinet and a possible corruption allegation against his wife, Yubiri Ortega, who also resigned as Minister for the Environment. The president of the Bank of Venezuela, Eugenio Vásquez Orellana, an ally of Mr Carrizales, also resigned in what Teodoro Petkoff, a former finance minister and editor of the newspaper Tal Cual, characterised as a “war of intrigue”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7005552.ece