Demonstrator dead in Venezuela clashes

May 1, 2003 10:00 PM  By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=www.swissinfo.org>Swissinfo.org-Reuters) - One man has been shot dead by a gunman who fired on opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez after tens of thousands of demonstrators jammed Caracas streets in rival Labour Day marches over his populist rule, officials say.

In confused running skirmishes on Thursday, police fired tear gas after the shooting to disperse rival bands of demonstrators who clashed in the centre of the capital with volleys of rocks, bottles and fireworks.

Witnesses and officials said the gunman opened fire at one opposition labour leader and then fled to a nearby building, where state security police fought back angry demonstrators clamouring for justice.

The man's body lay draped in a flag on the street. "They fired at point-blank range three times. He didn't stand a chance," Hector Alcala, 33, told Reuters.

The violence was the most recent since February when the opposition ended a two-month strike and protest campaign that stoked tensions but failed to oust Chavez, a former paratrooper who foes say rules like a corrupt autocrat.

In a huge fluttering sea of banners, placards and national flags, thousands of Chavez opponents earlier snaked along a Caracas highway in what they billed as a renewed campaign for a referendum to unseat the leftist president.

"Everyone on the streets again to democratically resolve this crisis. We will defeat him ... From today the people will take the streets," barked Manuel Cova, an anti-Chavez union chief and opposition leader.

More than a year after Chavez survived a brief military coup in April 2002, his South American nation is mired in economic crisis and bitter political strife. At least seven people have been killed and dozens more wounded during street protests in the last few months.

A loose alliance of parties, unions and private sector heads, the opposition remains without clear leadership while Chavez appears determined to press ahead with the self-styled revolution he says aims to ease the plight of the poor.

Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, is battling one of the worst economic recessions in its history and as much as 80 percent of the population still lives in poverty despite its huge oil wealth.

Opposition leaders hope to trigger a referendum after August 19 when the constitution allows for a poll on the president's mandate halfway through his current term in office, which ends in early 2007.

"We will have a referendum this year; we will have a new president this year," opposition negotiator Timoteo Zambrano said at the rally.

But internationally backed negotiations over the referendum remain deadlocked after the government backed away from signing an accord that would have paved the way for a vote.