Thousands protest against 'authoritarian' Chavez

Tens of thousands marched through Venezuela’s capital to protest at what they called growing authoritarianism by President Hugo Chavez.

A few thousand of the president’s backers held a separate counter-rally to express support for the government’s policies.

Anti-Chavez protesters, many of them wearing white, filled the streets of Caracas, condemning recent arrests of opposition members for alleged violence during protests and a new education law that critics fear could lead to indoctrination in schools.

“It’s very concerning because education is Venezuela’s future,” said 23-year-old engineering student Carlos Delgado, who also complained of soaring inflation and rampant crime after more than a decade under Mr Chavez.

“We have 11 years with the same faces, the same problems, and the truth is that we don’t see any solutions.”

But Carlos Garcia, a 41-year-old administrative worker who attended the pro-government march, said Venezuela’s poorer sectors had achieved greater equality under Mr Chavez.

He dismissed the opposition’s claims about the education law, saying it aimed to make the system more inclusive, and defended the recent jailing of opposition demonstrators.

“If a person is provoking violence, they should be punished,” Mr Garcia said.

:: Venezuela’s telecommunications chief announced a new probe into a television station opposed to Mr Chavez’s government and said 29 broadcasters would soon face closure.

Diosdado Cabello said the most recent investigation into Globovision, the sixth in eight months, was opened because the channel allegedly broadcast a ticker strip of text messages from viewers calling for a coup.

“If you call for a coup d’etat, if you call for an assassination, assume the responsibility,” Mr Cabello said.

Venezuela’s government has increasingly clashed with private media Mr Chavez accuses of conspiring against him. The series of investigations into Globovision, the only fiercely anti-Chavez channel remaining on the open airwaves, could lead to its closure.

Globovision director Alberto Federico Ravell said the announcement “does not surprise us”.

“We live in a state of confusion and anguish, but Minister Diosdado will not scare us with a new threat,” he said.

Mr Cabello said 29 unspecified broadcasters under investigation by regulators “will soon leave” the airwaves. Since July, regulators have shut down 32 radio stations and two small television stations while opening probes of more than 200 others.

Media groups and human rights activists accuse Mr Chavez’s government of trying to stifle dissent, but the government denies it is targeting the media for political reasons, saying the stations under investigation have broken broadcasting regulations.