Chavez vows to defend 'revolution'

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has vowed to defend his "revolution" despite an opposition strike that has throttled the country…

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has vowed to defend his "revolution" despite an opposition strike that has throttled the country's vital oil industry.

Chavez, who survived a coup in April and is resisting calls to resign, also vowed to purge state oil firm PDVSA of what he called "coup plotting oil elites" as he intensifies efforts to crack down on an 18-day-old strike that has blocked shipments from the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter.

"Behind the attempt to stop PDVSA there's nothing but a new coup attempt to topple the legitimate government," Chavez told government sympathisers at a rally that stretched into the early hours of Thursday. "Now the time to clean up PDVSA has arrived."

Chavez made his remarks hours after the Supreme Court ordered the government to relinquish its military takeover of the Caracas metropolitan police and return the force to the leadership of anti-Chavez Mayor Alfredo Pena.

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Analysts said the military takeover of the Caracas police, which helped trigger the strike, was an attempt by the government to neutralise a state armed force that has been hostile to Chavez and his leftist policies at a time when the president is fighting for his political life.

Struggling to restart exports, Chavez has sacked dissident oil executives who were leading the strike and has sent troops to take over idle state-run tankers, refineries and ports.

His threats to fire more PDVSA rebels appeared to signal a determination by the former paratrooper to carry a purge within the state's oil giant similar to the one he led in the armed forces after surviving a short-lived coup by rebel officers.

Opposition leaders, who on Wednesday announced they were extending the strike for an 18th day under the cry "Victory is ours," announced more marches, rallies and highway blockades.

Chavez has accused the opposition, an alliance of business groups, oil executives, unions and civic associations backed by the middle and upper class, of trying to topple his self-styled leftist "revolution" for the majority of poor Venezuelans.

His foes accuse the populist president of ruining the economy, stirring class warfare and imposing a "communist dictatorship" modelled on his friend's Cuban Fidel Castro.

Fears of shortages have sent Venezuelans scrambling to banks, supermarkets and gas stations, causing long lines. As no side shows signs of compromise, fears of street violence are rising. More than 60 people were killed during the chaotic April coup.

The military - often ultimate arbiters of disputes in South America -- has condemned the opposition strike as "sabotage," in a move which apparently bolstered Chavez.

The United States and other foreign governments are urging Venezuela's government and opposition to negotiate a deal on elections before the conflict escalates. Talks brokered by Organisation of American States have not produced results