Chavez's military takeover of police provokes clashes

A new wave of popular anger against Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, has intensified with clashes between troops and demonstrators in Caracas.

The pitched battles on Monday night were followed by a demonstration yesterday that threatened to turn equally ugly as thousands of people, watched by troops, converged in the eastern part of the capital and marched on the National Assembly.

After weeks of rumbling discontent, the showdown has taken on new proportions because of a decision by Mr Chavez over the weekend to orchestrate a military takeover of the Caracas police force, ostensibly to force an end to a long-running labour dispute. Yesterday, troops were manning roadblocks and keeping watch over police stations, with armoured cars parked outside.

The police have been split by the takeover, which is seen as the consequence of a power struggle between President Chavez and the anti-Chavez Mayor of Caracas, Alfredo Pena. Several hundred police officers have refused to recognise their new military masters, and were out on the streets yesterday to protect the marchers.

On Monday night, the army sought to clear demonstrators off a highway in eastern Caracas that they had occupied in protest at the police takeover. Hundreds of people, some of them on motorcycles, set fire to rubbish and tyres and hurled pieces of debris and firecrackers at the troops. The army responded with standard anti-riot tactics – rubber bullets and tear gas – rather than the gunfire and explosives whose use has become increasingly common in recent weeks.

Last week, a pitched battle between pro-Chavez militants and the police led to two deaths and dozens of injuries. On Sunday, a grenade exploded outside a television station, destroying three cars.

The US State Department has condemned the escalating violence, urging "genuine dialogue to achieve national reconciliation in Venezuela". Washington's power to mediate is limited, however, because of its open support of an anti-Chavez coup in April that quickly backfired.

The Venezuelan opposition is fighting Mr Chavez on several fronts. Mr Pena has appealed to the Supreme Court to end the military takeover of the police, accusing the President of fomenting chaos as an excuse to suppress what is left of democracy and continue his rule through martial law.

The opposition has demanded a referendum on Mr Chavez's rule, but he has made clear he will contemplate no such thing.