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Chavez supporters, foes clash in Caracas

By Matthew Robinson

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez clashed with his supporters on Saturday during an opposition march to demand electoral reform before parliamentary elections later this year.

Six people were injured after hundreds of opponents of the populist leader marched from western Caracas to the centre of the capital, where they skirmished with Chavez sympathisers in a volley of smoke bombs, rocks, bottles and fireworks.

The street clashes were the most serious violence in months between supporters of Chavez and his opponents, who believe Venezuela's electoral board is biased and must be overhauled before National Assembly elections in December.

Emergency crews whisked wounded away on motorbikes as the two groups whipped rocks and bottles at each other in a chaotic battle in downtown Caracas streets normally packed with vendors.

"A woman hit me hard in the head from behind with a stick. The metropolitan police were beside me and they did nothing," said Marisela Riera, a 50-year-old ballerina and opposition supporter, holding out her bloody hands.

Venezuela has been relatively calm since August 2004 when Chavez won a referendum on his rule after two years of political violence. But foes of the populist president claim the referendum vote was tainted by fraud and that the electoral council is stacked with Chavez supporters.

Opponents say Chavez has become increasingly authoritarian in his rule of the world's No. 5 oil exporter. They say he has packed institutions like the Supreme Court and the electoral council with loyalist appointees and is driving the country towards Cuban-style communism.

"We are protesting, marching to the National Assembly to protest the fraud perpetrated by the CNE (National Electoral Council)," 54-year-old Guiseppe Santini said before the clashes halted the march blocks away from the national assembly.

Chavez supporters say his "revolutionary" programs are finally using the OPEC nation's vast oil wealth to help the poor after years of neglect by previous governments.

Reuters