"I have to remind the U.S. one more time that they have no right to express their opinion ... we are an independent country not a colony of North America," the president told thousands of cheering supporters during a street rally.
Chavez, who survived a coup in 2002 and later outlasted a two-month opposition strike, now faces a campaign for a recall referendum from foes who accuse him of dictatorial rule in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
The outspoken ex-army paratrooper elected in 1998 has often riled Washington with his fierce populist, anti-capitalist rhetoric and close ties with states such as Communist Cuba.
His comments followed remarks made by State Department spokesman Richard Boucher urging the government and opposition to respect an accord they signed in May on the possible referendum on Chavez's rule.
The Venezuelan constitution allows for a referendum on the president's rule after August 19 -- halfway through his current mandate. But the opposition says Chavez is trying to block and stall the vote.
Government officials have said they will accept a referendum but only after the opposition has completed the legal requirements. They say the National Assembly or the Supreme Court must first appoint a new National Electoral Council to oversee the vote.
Boucher said Tuesday a decision on the referendum lies "with the courts, the National Electoral Council and the people of Venezuela, rather than with the executive branch of the government."
He also said the United States expected the government to investigate the kidnapping of former Tachira State governor and opposition leader Sergio Calderon. The opposition charges the government is involved in his disappearance from his farm at the weekend. Officials say they are still investigating. [End]
"In lots of cases, teachers forbid their students to discuss politics, but the solution to the problem is not to sweep it under the table," says Mr. Perrera. "Children, just like adults, need to learn how to communicate in ways that are healthy."
In the absence of a nationwide effort, child-welfare organizations have joined with educators and child psychiatrists in an ad hoc effort to depoliticize the classroom. CECODAP sponsors workshops for students as well as teachers. >[? A handful of nonprofit groups are at work training teachers around the country in the basic tenets of dispute-settlement: focus on the problems, not the participants; learn how to listen; look for "win-win" solutions that are free of judgment. Role-playing is suggested, and instructors are encouraged to incorporate peacemaking into their curricula.
At Alberdi elementary, where children play soccer in a dusty field next to a mountain of rusted chairs and desks, values are taught every day.
In a drab second-floor classroom, sixth-grade teacher Danny Camaripano stands in front of his 60 students, pensively rolling a piece of chalk between his fingers.
"What would you do if someone wanted to fight you?" he asks the classroom.
Norma Acosa, a beaming extrovert, raises her hand.
"I wouldn't do it," she says.
"What would you do?" Mr. Camaripano asks her.
"I'd talk with him, and find out what the problem is," Norma says.
Over the course of the 50-minute class, Camaripano lectures about values and peppers his students with hypotheticals, coaxing tentative answers from quiet types and back-row pranksters alike.***