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Venezuelans Protest Cuba Crackdown, Meddling - Show solidarity with repressed Cuban people *** "We don't want Venezuela to be turned into another Cuba and that is what we are heading for. We have to show solidarity with the repressed Cuban people," said Marielena Adrianza, a consulting firm employee joining the opposition protest. Opponents of Chavez, a left-wing former paratrooper elected in 1998 on a populist platform, brand him a fledgling dictator and fear he will drive Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism. He scoffs at their claims.

Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage riled foes of Chavez over the weekend when he criticized Venezuelan opposition leaders during a conference in Caracas. Friday's small demonstration came a day after Venezuela voted against a United Nations resolution urging Cuba to accept a visit by a human rights commission following the arrest of scores of Cuban dissidents. ***

Chavez likened to Saddam by some - `Caraqueos' keep eyes on Iraq war *** A former colonel in the National Guard and one of the dissident military officers at the Plaza Francia de Altamira saw similarities between Saddam and Chavez. "Saddam Hussein and his persecution of his own people is the same as Venezuela's president and his so-called revolution," said Manuel Jesus Carpio Manrique.

By calling for the armed forces and armed civilians to unite, Chavez has created a personal military, not unlike Hussein's Republican Guard, Carpio said. The former colonel accused Chavez of turning his political enemies into common criminals and wanting to bring the country to economic ruin so that he could establish a regime of hunger that he controls, such as Saddam did in Iraq.

Chavez has long enjoyed a friendly relationship with Saddam. In 2000, Chavez became the first Western head of state to visit Saddam since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Both are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Venezuela, the world's third-largest oil supplier, provides 13 percent of U.S. oil needs. Chavez has been a vocal opponent of the U.S. war against Iraq, citing civilian casualties, but has promised to honor oil contracts with the United States.***