Posted on 11/13/2002 1:59:14 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Clashes between Venezuelan troops and supporters of President Hugo Chavez killed one person, wounded 20 and prompted an appeal for peace from the head of the Organization of American States.
National Guardsmen and police on Tuesday battled dozens of pro-Chavez activists who had surrounded city hall, trapping the mayor and opposition leaders inside for several hours. The opposition is calling for a referendum on the president's continued rule.
Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters, but they repeatedly regrouped to throw rocks, fire shots and burn tires in the streets.
A National Guard soldier and police officer try to remove a supporter of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez from the exit of the city mayor's office where they were protesting in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2002. Police and National Guard fired tear gas to free dozens of people, including the mayor, from armed protesters surrounding City Hall. The mayor blamed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's supporters for the violence. (AP Photo/Cesar Lombardi, El Globo)
Alcides Rondon, a city security official, said police shot rubber bullets and protesters used live ammunition, shooting at officers and passers-by. He identified the dead man as Edwin Flores, 23. Thirteen people were wounded by bullets and seven were injured by rubber bullets, Rondon said.
The violence raised tensions at peace talks between Chavez's government and Venezuela's opposition. The negotiations were being mediated by Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the Organization of American States.
Gaviria urged the government to punish those responsible, saying he was worried about a growing "climate of impunity" in Venezuela. He referred to a brief April coup in which more than 60 people died; no one has been prosecuted for the slayings.
Education Minister and government negotiator Aristobulo Isturiz condemned Tuesday's violence - and accused the opposition of plotting a coup.
Isturiz accused opposition leaders of holding a gun to the government's head by threatening to call a general strike if their demand for early presidential elections isn't met.
A general strike preceded April's coup, along with protests by executives at Venezuela's state owned oil monopoly. Oil executives resumed protests this week, citing a politicization of the company under Chavez.
Venezuela's constitution says the earliest a vote on Chavez's rule can be held is August 2003. Chavez's term runs to 2007.
An angry opposition negotiator, labor leader Manuel Cova, demanded after Tuesday's talks that Chavez either resign or allow Venezuelans to decide his fate in an early nonbinding vote. Venezuela's opposition hopes to embarrass Chavez into resigning.
"What we're pursuing - a consultative referendum - isn't negotiable in these talks," Cova declared.
The government sent a letter Tuesday to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan deploring an opposition pact with dissident military officers who have been protesting against Chavez since Oct. 22. Monday's pact calls for a "restoration of democracy" in Venezuela.
"It is incomprehensible that leaders of the (Democratic) Coordinator participate in the dialogue meetings on the one hand ... while others sign a pact with coup-plotting military officers," the letter said.
Venezuela's state news agency, Venpres, accused police officers who report to Greater Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena of sparking Tuesday's violence by disrupting a peaceful city hall protest. The demonstrators said Pena was inside plotting a coup against Chavez.
Pena, a Chavez critic, said that he, Miranda state Gov. Enrique Mendoza and members of the opposition Democratic Coordinator political movement were trapped inside city hall for several hours by the angry "chavistas," as the president's street supporters are known.
On Nov. 4, chavistas attacked an opposition march, wounding and injuring more than 60 people. Chavez has said he no longer controls violent radicals, many of them members of his so-called "Bolivarian Circle" neighborhood groups.
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