Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan riot police broke up demonstrations opposing President Hugo Chavez's plan to overhaul the constitution, using tear gas and water cannons to send student protesters fleeing through downtown Caracas.

Thousands of students and other citizens tried to push through lines of shield-wielding police to reach the elections regulator building, demanding Chavez delay a referendum expected next month on his constitutional plan. The proposal would increase the president's power and help implement socialism.

A group of students made it into the regulator's office and tried to chain themselves to a staircase to demand a meeting with government officials, according to images broadcast on Globovision cable news. Others sought to break through a barricade of Humvees and riot police outside. Globovision showed one student with a bloody face held down and being searched.

``We're playing with our country's future,'' said Luis Rodriguez, a law student at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, in comments broadcast by the cable news station. ``All youth, all Venezuelans who believe in democracy, have to stop this.''

Chavez yesterday backed off an earlier proposal to have all 69 amendments decided in an up-or-down vote, giving in to opposition from political parties, students and even some lawmakers who historically supported him. Chavez said he will un-bundle the amendments for the national vote.

'Revolution'

The Chavez-controlled national assembly is slated to send its final version of the modifications to the elections regulator tomorrow, which will then formally call the referendum within 30 days. Chavez sent 33 amendments to the lawmakers, who added another 36.

Chavez says the modifications to the constitution are needed to further his so-called ``Bolivarian revolution,'' which he says aims to transfer power directly to citizens and to redistribute income as oil prices soar.

Opposition parties say the proposal amounts to a power grab because it would eliminate presidential term limits, abolish central bank autonomy, and give the government the right to bypass due process during states of emergency.

About 3,000 people participated in today's protests, and five police and at least one student were injured, according to the interior and justice ministry.

`Spectacle'

Tarek Al Aisammi, vice minister for citizen security, said the students' violent behavior was to blame for the escalation.

``After they entered the elections regulator they tried to create a spectacle, and outside, too, so that tomorrow it will come out in all the papers that they were assaulted,'' Al Aisammi said, according to state the newsier Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias.

Chavez has met growing resistance to the constitutional overhaul in recent weeks from political opponents and students. Earlier this week, business association Consecomercio asked the president to retract the proposal.

The Podemos political party, a backer of Chavez since his election in 1999, has refused to support the new constitution because it eliminates checks and balances, Ismael Garcia, the party's secretary general, said in an interview Oct. 29.

'Increased Rifts'

``Chavez wants to go a little bit further than the country is prepared to go along with,'' said Michael Shifter, vice president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. ``You're likely to see increased rifts and fissures within the Chavista coalition, much more so than a traditional opposition.''

Today's march was the second protest in recent weeks. Venezuelan riot police fired tear gas to disperse a march in Caracas on Oct. 23.

Interior and Justice Minister Pedro Carreno congratulated Caracas's metropolitan police and the national guard for keeping the peace today during a televised press conference.

He said students hurled rocks and bars at police during the demonstration and showed showed seven plastic bottles filled with gasoline collected during today's protests. He said the fuel had been used to try to set police cars on fire.

``We're going to remain vigilant, so that the Venezuelan state can carry out this campaign peacefully,'' he said in comments broadcast by state television. ``We're not going to allow this to interrupt the country's harmony.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Walter in Santiago at mwalter4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 1, 2007 20:00 EDT

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