Roughly 1,000 demonstrators were marching through the capital to demand that officials on the National Election Council, which is seen as pro-Chávez by government opponents, are replaced before upcoming congressional elections.
Six people were injured when alleged Chávez supporters attacked the march, launching fireworks and throwing glass bottles, rocks and tear gas canisters, Caracas Fire Chief Delio Martínez said.
The violence broke up the march several blocks from congress. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, the Globovisión television news channel reported.
''This government is all about lies,'' said Rómulo Zambrano, a 50-year old publicist, as he marched toward the National Assembly in downtown Caracas. ...........***
Mr. Quiroga charged that Mr. Chavez and Mr. Castro had a "regional plan" to "destabilize" South America.
Mr. Morales lashed back by accusing Mr. Quiroga of "following orders from [President] Bush."
Charges of Venezuelan interference are based in part on a meeting last month in Caracas between Mr. Morales and Mr. Chavez. The talks also were attended by Felipe Quispe, the extremist head of the Pachakutec Indigenous Movement (MIP).
While MAS and MIP cooperated in the sometimes-violent protests that have ousted two Bolivian presidents since 2003, Mr. Quispe and Mr. Morales are rivals for the support of Indian constituencies in the high Andes. Yet, shortly after their return from Venezuela, Mr. Morales named a one-time close aide to Mr. Quispe, Alvaro Garcia Linera, as his running mate.
In accepting the nomination, Mr. Garcia vowed to campaign for full nationalization of Bolivia's oil and gas resources and for a new constitution favored by MAS.
While he recently has become known as a socialist opinion leader and television pundit, Mr. Garcia faces legal charges involving past activity with the terrorist Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army (EGTK).
One of the leading conservative candidates, businessman Samuel Doria Medina, once was kidnapped by the EGTK, which obtained a $5 million ransom negotiated through the London firm Control Risks.
Some of the money is thought to have gone to finance leftist parties in Bolivia, as well as the 1996 armed takeover of the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru, by the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.................***