Government opponents protest in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela -- About 3,000 opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez marched through the capital on Saturday to protest a package of laws that expand his power and accelerate his push toward socialism.

Shouting chants and waving balloons reading "play fair," they complained that some of the laws resemble constitutional reforms sought by Chavez that voters rejected at the polls in December.

"We said no," university student Mariangel Rodriguez said. Chavez "says he's a democrat. I don't know what his concept of democracy is, but to me, this is not democracy."

Chavez approved the package of 26 laws on July 31, the last day of special legislative powers granted him by the National Assembly. He says the new rules _ which increase government control over food production and commerce and create civilian militias, among other things _ will strengthen the country's institutions.

The demonstrators also railed against a Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday that 272 officials suspected of corruption, including some key Chavez opponents, can be banned from running in upcoming elections.

Popular Caracas mayoral contender Leopoldo Lopez, one of the barred candidates, called the blacklist an "abuse of power."

"The government is scared of the people," he said.

In an interview published by Venezuela's state news agency, Jesse Chacon, the government's candidate for a Caracas mayoral post, denied that the blacklist is an attempt to sideline the president's rivals.

"President Hugo Chavez did not create the disqualifications against the opposition," Chacon said, noting that the law in question has been in effect since 1975.

The protesters _ who numbered about 3,000 according to journalists' estimates _ marched to the National Electoral Commission before dispersing peacefully on Saturday.

David Malave, a 47-year-old coordinator for one of the government's social programs, disagreed with the marchers and said the new laws are necessary to complete the country's transition to socialism.

"One way or another these laws need to be approved," Malave said, "for the benefit of everybody _ not for one group."

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Associated Press writer Ian James in Caracas contributed to this report.