A gunman shot and wounded four Venezuelan police officers and a bystander at a student demonstration yesterday in an Andean city in an escalation of violence at protests against President Hugo Chavez's plan to scrap term limits.
A demonstrator fired 12 shots, wounding the five men during a stand-off between students and police on the edge of a university campus in Merida, the city's police chief Alberto Quintero said in a telephone interview.
It was the second time this week people have been shot at demonstrations against Chavez, heightening fears violence will dominate campaigning in the OPEC nation for a December 2nd referendum on constitutional changes to expand the leftist's powers.
The wounded men were taken to the hospital and were in stable condition, the police chief said.
The shooting was the worst violence outside the capital in a campaign that has drawn hundreds of thousands to protests across the OPEC nation against the anti-US leftist.
Pollsters say Chavez is likely to win the referendum that will also give him control over currency reserves and allow him to appoint his regional picks over elected officials.
The violence has touched nerves in a nation still scarred by deaths at a march in 2002 that sparked a brief coup.
Mr Chavez, who has vowed to rule for decades, says the opposition is "trying to get somebody killed" to provoke widespread violence and another putsch.
The opposition says he instigates clashes with heated rhetoric to give himself an excuse to resort to repression, especially against the nascent student movement.
On Wednesday, hooded Chavez supporters shot at least two anti-Chavez students at Caracas' largest university.
The opposition, the Roman Catholic church and rights groups have joined the students in condemning the changes as a power grab by a man who calls Cuban leader Fidel Castro his mentor.
In power since 1999, Chavez wants more time to create a socialist state and says his proposed measures to funnel funds to community councils will bolster democracy. Sweeteners in the package such as reducing the workday and the former paratrooper's popularity among the poor majority should secure him a referendum win, pollsters say.