Protest Delays Venezuelan Peace Talks - Anti-Government Protest in Caracas Blocks Resumption of Venezuela Peace Talks

abcnews.go.com The Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela Feb. 26 —

A march by thousands of anti-government protesters forced the suspension of talks aimed at ending Venezuela's political turmoil Wednesday, while the U.S. Embassy beefed up security following "credible" threats.

Marching just days after the arrest of a leader of a crippling two-month strike, the demonstrators dared President Hugo Chavez's government to jail them, waving placards reading "Chavez, your mask is off, dictator!" and "Put us all in prison!"

Talks between government and opposition delegates were scheduled to begin mid-afternoon Wednesday, but the marchers' route passed by the negotiations venue, forcing their rescheduling until Thursday.

Protest leader Carlos Fernandez has been ordered under house arrest to face rebellion and other charges for leading the 63-day general strike against Chavez. Police are searching for strike co-leader and labor boss Carlos Ortega.

The protesters marched past the Fedecamaras business chamber of which Fernandez is president and ended at the labor confederation headquarters where Ortega is president. There were no reports of violence.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy closed Wednesday after receiving "credible information of a threat to its security," a statement said. The closure came a day after two bombs ravaged Colombian and Spanish diplomatic missions, injuring four people and generating fears that the nation's political crisis was entering a more violent phase.

At a U.S. request, Venezuelan officials said they sent more than a dozen federal agents, national guardsmen and municipal police to boost security around the embassy, which wasn't expected to reopen until Friday.

"Practically all the security, protection and surveillance measures have been taken," said Dany Azuaje, police coordinator for the interior ministry.

No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday's bombings, which blew out ceilings and twisted metal street signs. Both sides in Venezuela's conflict blamed each other and the finger-pointing threatened to undermine Organization of American States-sponsored negotiations.

"Negotiations, it seems, are becoming less and less viable as the days go on," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank.

Leaflets supporting Chavez were found near both blasts. They were seized on by the opposition as evidence that the attacks were carried out by government sympathizers.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel ridiculed these suggestions and said opponents of the president might have been involved.

Fernandez's arrest came just days after the sides signed an agreement rejecting violence and provocative language.

"The government is violating and walking all over the agreement that we signed when the ink has not even dried," said Americo Martin, one of the opposition delegates at the peace talks.

The opposition leader said he would fight the detention order. "I'm a political prisoner," he said from his home.

Chavez called Fernandez and Ortega "terrorists" on Sunday for commanding the opposition movement that paralyzed much of Venezuela and cost more than $4 billion, hitting the oil industry hardest.

He also lambasted representatives of the Spanish and Colombian governments, together with the United States and OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, for "meddling in Venezuela's affairs." These comments, say opposition leaders, directly provoked the embassy attacks.

In a statement, government negotiators said they rejected any attempts to take Venezuela's internal politics to an outside arena. They warned of a "clear break within the opposition and the emergence of an ultra-radical sector which has definitively taken the shortcut of terrorism and risk."