Venezuelan police break up anti-Chavez protest
Police used tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannons to scatter hundreds of students protesting against the government Thursday, while President Hugo Chavez's supporters celebrated the 18th anniversary of his failed coup as an army officer.
"They don't have permission to march," Meza said.
Student leaders countered that they have the right to stage peaceful protests, and they said authorities loyal to Chavez frequently deny them permission to demonstrate. Before the protest was dispersed, students chanted: "We're students, not coup plotters!"
"This is one more demonstration of the government's abuse of power," student leader Roderick Navarro said.
Students started leading protests last week after the government pressured cable and satellite TV providers to drop an opposition channel. Students have organized demonstrations in cities across the country, accusing Chavez of forcing Radio Caracas Television International off the airwaves as a means of silencing his critics.
Chavez challenged the students to continue staging demonstrations, saying they won't weaken his socialist government. But he warned them against stirring up violence, suggesting authorities would break up protests that get out of control.
"Don't make a mistake with us. You'll get a firm response," Chavez said during a speech to his supporters at Venezuela's largest military fort.
A new slogan appearing on the T-shirts and banners of anti-government protesters in Venezuela sums up a growing sentiment about President Hugo Chavez after 11 years in power: "You struck out."
The list of strikes against Chavez keeps growing: Latin America's worst inflation, increased blackouts, runaway violent crime and a scandal involving bankers close to his government.
The socialist-inspired governing model that Chavez calls his Bolivarian Revolution - named after 18th-century independence leader Simon Bolivar - is weakened and hobbling. Chavez retains close ties with a bloc of leftist governments from Bolivia to Nicaragua.
Marking 11 years in power this week and with a decisive Parliamentary election scheduled for late September, President Hugo Chávez faces his greatest crisis since the brief coup against him in 2002.
``This year will be a very difficult one and an uphill [battle] for Chávez, and he has little maneuvering room, because he is coming up against a huge crisis,'' said political analyst Manuel Felipe Sierra in Caracas.
Student protests continued for a second week in Caracas and other cities, confronting a harsh response from police, amid new signs that Chávez plans to strengthen his position while facing serious economic problems, an alarming political polarization and growing popular discontent.
By FABIOLA SANCHEZ