Venezuelans block highway in protest against police takeover

The Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Demonstrators blocked a busy highway in Venezuela's capital with cars and flaming piles of trash to protest the government's militarization of Caracas' police.

Smoke clouds billowed over the Francisco Fajardo highway Tuesday only hours after opposition Mayor Alfredo Pena led a march to Congress to protest President Hugo Chavez's appointment of a new police chief.

National Guard troops fired tear gas and pellets to prevent Chavez supporters from clashing with the opposition marchers.

Chavez's order to take over the capital's police force has sown confusion in Venezuela and led army troops to be stationed outside precincts.

Police Chief Henry Vivas refuses to step down and recognize Chavez's appointee, former police Sgt. Gonzalo Sanchez Delgado. Police patrols have been drastically cut.

Pena and other opposition mayors say Chavez is provoking violence that could allow him to declare martial law -- and avoid opposition demands for an early election.

Chavez dismissed the complaints Tuesday, reiterating that he ordered the takeover because Pena had lost control of the 9,000-strong police department, which was mired in a labor dispute.

All eyes turned to Venezuela's Supreme Court, which is considering whether to issue an injunction against Chavez's order. Congress is also to debate the takeover.

Once stacked with Chavez loyalists, the court has handed down several rulings against his government in recent months. On Monday, it dismissed a bid by Chavez to void an elections law. The decision could pave the way for a nonbinding referendum on his administration next month.

The National Elections Council is verifying petitions with 2 million signatures demanding the referendum, which would ask Venezuelans whether Chavez should resign.

Venezuela's constitution says a binding referendum can be held halfway into a president's six-year term -- in Chavez's case, next August. Chavez argues it doesn't allow for a nonbinding vote.

"You just can't say 'elections now.' You have to follow a timetable," he said.

Chavez also questioned the veracity of the opposition petition. "That list of signatures is tainted. It must be thoroughly checked," he said.

Army Gen. Gen. Enrique Medina Gomez, leader of 100 officers who are demanding Chavez's resignation, criticized some civilian politicians for refusing to call a general strike.

In an interview, Medina Gomez said a nationwide strike is the opposition's last chance to remove Chavez. He urged management at Venezuela's state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela oil monopoly "to shut down the country's economy."

"There's no other way to put pressure (on Chavez)," Medina Gomez said, clutching a gold-tipped military baton.

He also blasted the Democratic Coordinator, a coalition of civic groups opposed to Chavez. He said some Coordinator leaders were willing to wait for an August vote on Chavez's administration.

"There are some actors in the Coordinator with hidden political agendas," Medina Gomez said in a posh hotel that serves as the dissident officers' headquarters.