Tue Jan 20, 3:26 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela – Police used tear gas, plastic bullets and a water cannon on Tuesday to break up a protest by university students against President Hugo Chavez's attempt to eliminate term limits.

Officers in anti-riot gear scattered more than 2,000 students after they set out from a Caracas plaza to demonstrate against a proposed constitutional amendment that would lift term limits for all elected officials, including Chavez.

No injuries were reported. Several dozen students later regrouped nearby and tossed rocks at police before fleeing.

"We didn't provoke the police. We've been victims of violence just as Chavez ordered," said student leader Juan Mejia. "We are not going to stop. We will stay in the streets."

The president recently ordered authorities to break up student protests if they turn violent.

                                                          

Tue Jan 20, 3:31 PM ET

The opposition-sided student protesters, who are becoming the foremost challenge to Chavez's plan to eliminate term limits, argue that the amendments would weaken democracy. They urged Venezuelans to reject the proposal in a Feb. 15 referendum.

It is the second bid by Chavez, who is currently barred under the constitution from seeking re-election in 2012, to amend the charter to run for office again. In December 2007, voters narrowly rejected a package of measures including one that would have scrapped presidential term limits.

Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said the students did not have permission for Tuesday's protest, and police arrested four of them for allegedly attacking a police officer. He said police had also used force to break up a protest Monday in the western city of Merida, which left one officer with a gunshot wound.

Caracas Police Chief Carlos Meza told state television authorities detained the driver of a sound truck used by the students and impounded it. Meza said police found bottles and gasoline, allegedly for making Molotov cocktails, inside the truck.

Student leaders said their demonstration was peaceful and accused police of planting the bottles and gasoline in the truck.

Officers in the city's Chacao district, which is controlled by an opposition mayor, arrested 10 Chavez supporters as they approached the student protest on motorcycles, police said in a statement. Two of them were allegedly carrying firearms.

The anti-Chavez student movement emerged roughly two years ago when protesters took to the streets to oppose his decision not to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Television. It later swelled as students began leading large street demonstrations ahead of the 2007 referendum.

Chavez denounced the protests in a speech, calling the movement's leaders "children of the bourgeoisie" and accusing them of trying to provoke violence.

"We aren't going to allow it," he said.

___

Associated Press writer Fabiola Sanchez contributed to this report.






Article: HERE

                                                          

Tue Jan 20, 3:37 PM ET

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A police officer fires rubber bullets during a protest in Caracas, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. Venezuelan police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon to break up a protest by students against President Hugo Chavez's latest attempt to eliminate term limits.

(AP Photo/Howard Yanes)

                        

Tue Jan 20, 3:28 PM ET

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Demonstrators raise their hands in front of police officers during a protest in Caracas, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. Venezuelan police have used tear gas, plastic bullets and a water cannon to break up a protest by students against President Hugo Chavez's latest attempt to eliminate term limits.

(AP Photo/Howard Yanes)

                         

Tue Jan 20, 5:07 PM ET

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Police officers detain supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, allegedly for carrying weapons near the site where an opposition protest was taking place, in Caracas, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. Students protested against a proposed referendum for constitutional amendment that could allow Chavez run for re-election indefinitely.

(AP Photo/Howard Yanes)

                                               

Tue Jan 20, 5:09 PM ET

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Police officers detain supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, allegedly for carrying weapons near the site where an opposition protest was taking place, in Caracas, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. Students protested against a proposed referendum for constitutional amendment that could allow Chavez run for re-election indefinitely.

(AP Photo/Howard Yanes)

                                  

Mon Jan 19, 3:33 PM ET

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Students protest in front of police after tear gas containers were thrown in three locations in Caracas, Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. Unidentified aggressors hurled tear gas canisters at a gathering of university students, the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Venezuela and the home of a media executive on Monday, the latest in a series of attacks against critics of President Hugo Chavez.

(AP Photo/ Howard Yanes)

                                               

Mon Jan 19, 3:27 PM ET

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Students protest after tear gas containers were thrown in three locations in Caracas, Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. Unidentified aggressors hurled tear gas canisters at a gathering of university students, the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Venezuela and the home of a media executive on Monday, the latest in a series of attacks against critics of President Hugo Chavez.

(AP Photo/ Howard Yanes)

                                                  

Mon Jan 19, 2:50 PM ET

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Venezuelan police clash with students during a protest against constitutional reform in Caracas, January 14, 2009. University students scuffled with police and government supporters during a protest against the constitutional reform package that would let President Hugo Chavez run for re-election indefinitely, among other reforms.

(Edwin Montilva/Reuters)

                                                                                       

Sat Jan 17, 7:36 PM ET

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Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez speaks at a campaign meeting to support the reform of the constitution in the Poliedro de Caracas in Caracas January 17, 2009. Venezuelans vote next month in a referendum that would allow President Hugo Chavez to govern for as long as he wins elections, but he must convince a reluctant electorate to give him the chance. Banner reads: "The reform YES with Chavez".

REUTERS/Edwin Montilva (VENEZUELA)