Two Shot Dead in Venezuelan Clashes

Two people have died and several more were wounded after snipers fired at anti-government demonstrators, police shot back and protesters from both sides hurled rocks at each other, witnesses and officials say. Pedro Aristumono told Globovision televison two people died of bullet wounds in hospital following the violent clashes between supporters and foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Globovision earlier quoted firefighters as saying six people suffered gunshot wounds, 12 people were injured by rocks and bottles and another 75 were treated for teargas inhalation. The reports came after Caracas metropolitan police fired live ammunition at snipers who shot into a crowd of anti-government protesters, while military troops repeatedly fired teargas and rubber bullets at pro and anti-government demonstrators. The clashes further fueled tension as a crippling strike aimed at forcing Mr Chavez from office entered its second month with no solution in sight. The incidents started after hundreds of thousands of people marched in protest to the Fuerte Tiuna military complex, where tens of thousands of Chavez supporters, known as "chavistas," staged a counter-demonstration. The chavistas hurled rocks and bottles at the protesters, some of whom responded in kind. The protesters threw themselves to the ground as a first shot hit an 18-year-old paramedic, who suffered a flesh wound. A little later an AFP reporter also saw a police officer fall to the ground after being shot in the knee. Late in the day, as most protesters dispersed, a few from both sides engaged in running streets battles, and at least two people fired revolvers from their windows toward the chavista camp. Demonstrators at one stage prevented heavily armed members of the staunchly pro-government political police from entering a building where armed anti-Chavez protesters were allegedly hiding. The opposition claimed 30 of its members were detained. Strike leader Carlos Ortega denounced what he called "this criminal attitude by the current government against peaceful demonstrations." At the protest, architect Delfos Lopez claimed Chavez supporters "have been paid to come here, to spread terror." A few meters away, Alberto Carrillas, a leader of the pro-Chavez Tupamaro vigilantes told AFP: "We will take to the streets with or without arms, masked or not, whatever it takes to defend the constitution." After 33 days of disruption, both sides were deeply entrenched in their positions. Mr Chavez raised on Friday local time, the possibility of calling a "state of exception" which would allow him to suspend certain constitutional rights, but said he did not intend to do so at this stage. "If they force me to do it, I will, let's hope that's not the case," he said. The latest anti-government rally was in protest at what the opposition called the illegal house arrest within Fuerte Tiuna of a dissident general, one of about 150 soldiers who have declared themselves in rebellion. Opposition leaders urged the armed forces to join their campaign, while oil industry employees expressed their determination to pursue the strike that choked the vital sector. Worries about the impact of the strike on US oil stocks pushed oil prices upward.