Venezuela deputies brawl in parliament over reforms

05 Jun 2003 00:25:09 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela, June 4 (Reuters) - Supporters and foes of President Hugo Chavez traded insults and shoved each other in Venezuela's National Assembly on Wednesday in a noisy brawl over what opposition deputies said were government plans to force through legislation without debate.

The violent scuffles broke out when opposition deputies prevented leading pro-government members of parliament from taking their seats in the National Assembly, where Chavez supporters hold a slim majority.

The incident reflected simmering political tensions in the world's No. 5 oil exporter a week after Chavez's government and its opponents signed a peace agreement recommending that a referendum on the president's rule after Aug. 14.

Shouting "clowns" and throwing papers into the air, anti-Chavez deputies demonstrated their objections to the government's plans reform assembly procedures by eliminating quorum requirements in committees and other debating rules.

National guards in riot gear stood by as a small crowd of militant Chavez supporters gathered outside the National Assembly, shouting pro-government slogans and insults against the opposition. Opposition deputies complained they were being intimidated and said they were afraid to leave the building.

National Assembly president Francisco Ameliach suspended the day's session and called a new extraordinary session for Friday to discuss the proposed reforms. He announced as the venue a nearby monument, El Calvario, which is in a fiercely pro-Chavez district close to the presidential palace.

Opponents of the populist president, who was elected in 1998 six years after failing to seize power in a botched coup, accuse him of ruling like a dictator.

They are contesting a number of government-sponsored draft laws, including one regulating the content of television and radio broadcasting which the opposition says is an attempt to censure the press and muzzle criticism.