Foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, pressing for the leftist leader to resign, blocked highways this evening as they stepped up a strike that has crippled the nation's oil industry and pushed crude prices over $30 a barrel for the first time in two months.
Riot police lined one highway in Caracas to separate hundreds of anti-government demonstrators from Chavez supporters who carried iron bars, bottles and sticks. Police fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to disperse anti-Chavez protesters blocking another avenue.
"I voted for Chavez but he deceived us, he's turned into a dictator. I'm purging my guilt over voting for him," said Tony Hernandez, 49, an electrical engineer taking part in one of the Caracas protests. "We'll be here until he falls."
Despite reduced traffic because of the strike, the rallies caused major bottlenecks across the sprawling capital. Irate motorists pleaded with demonstrators to be let past.
Chavez, a former paratrooper elected in 1998 who survived a military coup in April, has ignored calls for an early vote from critics who accuse him of pushing the world's No. 5 oil exporter toward economic ruin and Cuban-style communism.
The opposition strike, which started December 2nd, has rattled oil markets and fueled tensions in the sharply divided South America nation.
With Venezuela supplying more than 13 per cent of US oil imports, the strike could also complicate Washington's preparations for a possible war in Iraq.
Oil prices surged on Monday, with US oil futures closing up more than a dollar at $30.10. International benchmark Brent crude prices touched the highest levels since mid-October.
The shutdown has slashed Venezuela's oil output to less than a third and virtually paralyzed oil exports, which account for half of government revenues. Production at other state industries, such as iron, steel and aluminum, have also been hurt by shortages.
But Chavez has dismissed the strike as an illegal attempt to topple his government. He has sent troops to secure gasoline supplies and take over one striking oil tanker, and is importing fuel and food to offset shortages.