Venezuelan students clash with police in constitution demo
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| Published on Friday, November 2, 2007 |
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CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP): Venezuelan students clashed with police Thursday during a demonstration demanding a two-month delay for a referendum on a new constitution that would expand the powers of President Hugo Chavez.
Police dispersed the crowd with tear gas and water cannons while the students pelted the officers with stones as thousands marched in Caracas to demand that the vote take place in February instead of December.
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| A student is arrested by riot policemen during a demonstrate against the constitutional reform promoted by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in Caracas. AFP PHOTO |
Police also stopped a group of students from chaining themselves to the railing of a stairwell in the headquarters of the National Electoral Council, which is charged with organizing the referendum.
The students had met with election officials before trying to chain themselves to the stairwell. Before the meeting, Chavez supporters threw rocks and bottles at the students as they entered the building, said Vicent Diaz, an election official.
Another election official, German Yepez, said the council told the students that they did not have the authority to postpone the referendum.
The unicameral National Assembly, stacked with Chavez supporters, approved the constitutional reform in its third reading last week, paving the way for the referendum, which officials plan to hold on December 2.
The students want the referendum to be delayed until February to provide more time for a nationwide debate on the constitution, which would abolish presidential term limits and increase the president's mandate to seven years from six.
The president's opponents accuse Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, of seeking to follow in the footsteps of his mentor, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, by trying to stay in power forever through the new constitution. | | | | Reads : 137 | | | |
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