Pro-Chavez rally turns deadly - Gathering also marks end of Venezuela's last dictatorship

www.cnn.com Thursday, January 23, 2003 Posted: 7:09 PM EST (0009 GMT) Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez rally Thursday in Caracas, Venezuela.

  CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people from all over Venezuela converged on the capital Thursday in a show of support for the country's embattled president and to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the end of the country's last dictatorship.

Late in the afternoon, a bomb exploded near the main square where the demonstrators had gathered several minutes before a speech by President Hugo Chavez.

Two people were killed, including a homeless man, and at least three people were wounded, police told state-run television.

At the podium, Chavez made no reference to the violence. He gazed at the crowd through binoculars and appeared elated at the turnout.

"I have seen a lot of marches," he said. "But this is not a march. No, it's a flood of the people from all parts of the country. Long live the people! Long live the popular conscience!"

In the crowd, demonstrators held signs.

"Fascists and terrorists cannot hide!" read one. "The homeland is not for sale!" read another.

Some 5 million people participated in the demonstration, said one congressman. Independent estimates of the size of the crowd were not available.

Under a blazing summer sun, the demonstrators assembled at two downtown locations -- Parque del Este and La Bandera -- for the 6-mile march to Avenida Bolivar, where Chavez addressed them late in the afternoon.

The demonstration was intended to show support for Chavez, whose leftist regime has been the target of vehement, largely middle-class opponents.

Their call for a general strike that began December 2, intended to force him to step down or call for early elections, has crippled the country's economy.

Thursday's demonstrations also marked the anniversary of the fall of Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez, who was deposed January 23, 1958.

Though his rule was followed by democratic governments, many Chavez supporters say the twice-elected president is the only one who has fought for the rights of the country's poor.

Anti-Chavez marches to take place outside city

Before beginning their march, the demonstrators appeared festive, carrying pro-Chavez banners and milling about the streets peacefully, surrounded by police on motorcycles.

Fireworks were ignited in one area.

Opposition leaders said they were organizing anti-Chavez marches to take place in 23 locations outside Caracas, but urged their members in the capital to stay at home to minimize the chance of bloodshed.

Chavez supporters show Venezuela's constitution as they celebrate the Supreme Court decision Wednesday.

Thursday's demonstrations came a day after Venezuela's Supreme Court dealt a setback to the opposition by rejecting its motion to hold a nonbinding referendum February 2 on Chavez's presidency.

Opposition groups had put forward a petition signed by 2 million people for the referendum. Chavez's government opposed the move, sending it to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the referendum would not be legal.

The general strike has set off a flight of capital from the country and crippled the country's ability to export oil.

Before the strike, Venezuela was the world's fifth-largest exporter of oil and supplied 12 percent of U.S. oil imports. That has been reduced to a fraction -- resulting in long lines at gas stations in Venezuela and reduced foreign reserves.

In an effort to stem the outflow of money, Venezuela's central bank Wednesday closed the foreign exchange market for five trading days.

The bolivar is down 24 percent since the strike began.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who won last year's Nobel Peace Prize, is expected to speak Friday with the Group of Friends of Venezuela in Washington.

The group, which includes the United States, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Chile and Brazil, was created last week at the suggestion of Brazil's newly elected president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Carter has also met in Caracas this week with leaders of the Organization of American States, which has been brokering talks.