AP, CARACAS
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his government could deny permits for opposition-led protests because of violence during demonstrations against proposed constitutional amendments that would let him run for re-election indefinitely.
"The next time they announce one of these marches, we'll have to evaluate whether to grant permission," Chavez told thousands of supporters during a rally on Sunday in favor of the reforms.
PHOTO: AP
He accused his opponents of planning to spur widespread political upheaval ahead of the Dec. 2 referendum on the 69 proposed constitutional changes.
"We're not going to allow them to fill Venezuela's streets with blood," Chavez said.
Human rights groups, the Roman Catholic Church and other critics say Chavez is seeking the changes in order to consolidate power, pointing to the proposed elimination of presidential term limits. Opponents warn that amendments allowing authorities to detain citizens without charge and censor the media during a state of emergency would violate civil liberties.
The president's stern warning came in response to violence last week during street demonstrations by university students protesting the proposed constitutional overhaul. On Friday, two students were killed and four others were injured by gunfire during a protest outside a university in the western state of Zulia.
Chavez condemned the killings and urged political rivals to settle their differences democratically. University students plan more protests this week.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez said Venezuelans would continue protesting against the sweeping reforms, but called for peaceful demonstrations.
"There won't be any police, National Guard troops or armies capable of stopping the country's transformation," he said. "They won't be able to stop Venezuelans who want democracy."
The reforms were overwhelmingly approved last week by the National Assembly, which is controlled by the president's allies. Chavez -- a former paratroop commander who was first elected in 1998 -- denies the amendments threaten freedoms.
The amendments would also give Chavez the power to create provinces governed by federally appointed officials, allow the government to expropriate private property without having to first seek court authorization, create new types of property managed by cooperatives, end the Central Bank's autonomy and extend presidential terms from six to seven years.
Chavez, who won re-election last year with promises to transform Venezuela into a socialist state, says the changes would actually expand democracy by empowering neighborhood-based assemblies.
"It's power for the people," he told cheering supporters. "That's the essence of the constitutional reform."
Venezuela -- a major supplier of oil to the US -- is deeply divided over Chavez's rule, with government opponents fearing an impending dictatorship. But a weak opposition has repeatedly failed to derail his initiatives at the ballot box.
Waving flags and wearing the red of Chavez's ruling party, thousands of "Chavistas" -- as the president's backers call themselves -- shouted pro-reform slogans in a march that stretched for several kilometers before reaching Sunday's rally in downtown Caracas, where Chavez greeted them.
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