Gunmen Injure 8 After Chavez Protest Rally

Hooded thugs open fire on students returning from Caracas march
By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2007 6:18 AM CST
Gunmen Injure 8 After Chavez Protest Rally
A paramedic carries an opponent of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez who was injured by gunfire during clashes with Chavez supporters at Venezuela's Central University in Caracas, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007. Shots were fired during clashes where at least eight people were injured, including one by gunfire,...   (Associated Press)

A band of hooded gunmen opened fire and tossed tear gas cannisters into a crowd of college students returning yesterday from a massive rally protesting President Hugo Chavez' policies. At least eight were injured, but no one was killed, AP reports. Panicked students raced through campus as ambulances arrived. Students had led a peaceful march of 80,000 to protest Chavez' constitutional proposals that would abolish presidential term limits and expand his powers.

National Guard troops gathered outside the university, but are legally barred from entering the campus. The Venezuelan justice minister said the media was partly to blame for the violence because newspapers have been "filling the population with hate" through biased reporting. (More Hugo Chavez stories.)

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