Venezuela police repel Chavez militants, 7 wounded

13 Jun 2003 22:12:18 GMT (Recasts with details, updates with more wounded) By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela, June 13 (Reuters) - At least seven people were wounded on Friday, four by gunfire, after Venezuelan police clashed with militant supporters of President Hugo Chavez who threatened to attack an opposition rally.

Police fired volleys of gas canisters, sending white stinging clouds wafting through the streets of the eastern Petare neighborhood after a few hundred Chavez sympathizers pelted them with bottles, stones and fireworks.

Seven people, including three police officers, were injured, four with bullet wounds, Caracas Fire Services Chief Col. Rodolfo Briceno told Reuters.

It was the first outbreak of serious violence since the end of May when the government and opposition signed a peace deal recommending a referendum on Chavez's rule. Both sides quickly blamed each other for the fresh street clashes.

Political conflict over the government of populist Chavez has troubled Venezuela for more than 18 months. At least 50 people have been killed in street clashes and violence since April last year when Chavez survived a short-lived coup.

Ambulances evacuated patients from a nearby hospital to escape the tear gas as protesters and local residents scurried for cover. National guard troops in armored vehicles later stood by as pro-Chavez demonstrators ransacked and set fire to a small police post.

The violence erupted as a few thousand opposition party supporters rallied a block away to demand the referendum against Chavez, whom they blame for driving Venezuela into political and economic ruin.

"Chavez has to go. He's done nothing but trick us. He talks but never delivers," said Nelida Sanoja, an unemployed secretary carrying a huge green flag of the Copei Christian Democratic party.

His opponents accuse the president of dragging Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism. But the fiery leader brands his foes rich elites bent on scuttling the reforms he says are aimed at tackling poverty in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Chavez, who weathered a two-month opposition strike ended in February, has vowed to press on with his self-styled revolution. Opposition leaders hope to cut short his mandate with a referendum after Aug. 19 -- halfway through his current term, which is due to end in early 2007.

"It's either bullets or votes and we want the solution to be through votes," Copei president Eduardo Fernandez said.