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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Clashes between police and thousands of protesters pressing for the recall of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez overshadowed the opening of a summit of developing nations, with at least one man killed and several injured. The confrontation came Friday as Chavez opened a two-day summit with the leaders of 18 other developing nations in Caracas, urging them to reject free-market policies imposed by industrialized nations. "Globalization has not brought expected independence. It has increased dependence. ... It has extended poverty," Chavez said. "Free market ideology was created by the North to serve its own interests." Near the...

Chavez accused his political opponents of "seeking blood" by marching on the summit, where leaders of poorer countries demanded that industrialized nations dismantle protectionist trade barriers. "If I have to turn tanks on the city police, I will do it," Chavez said as the summit of the Group of 15 concluded Saturday. "I am not going to allow the police to turn into a subversive force." One person died and at least 41 were hurt when opposition marchers clashed Friday with National Guardsmen providing security for the summit. The Caracas police are controlled by Mayor Alfredo Pena, who is sided...

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan troops firing tear gas and plastic bullets Friday stopped opposition protesters from marching to a summit of Third World leaders to demand a recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez. The clashes broke out as hundreds of National Guard troops backed by armored vehicles barred the path of the demonstration by thousands of opposition supporters advancing toward the summit venue in Caracas. A Reuters correspondent said he saw National Guard troops fire round after round of tear gas canisters, scattering the demonstrators, who threw stones. Television footage also showed the soldiers firing shotgun pellets. Several of...

Caracas - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, under fire at home and abroad for his intimidation of domestic opponents, was feted as a "warrior of freedom" on Thursday by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. The 80-year-old African leader, who is barred from traveling to the European Union by EU sanctions, was warmly received by left-winger Chavez after he arrived in Caracas to attend a two-day summit of developing nations. "You are and always will be a true warrior of freedom," Chavez said as he presented Mugabe with a replica of the sword of Simon Bolivar, the Venezuelan-born independence hero of Latin America....

CARACAS - Argentine President Néstor Kirchner skipped the morning session of the G-15 summit in Caracas on Saturday, meeting instead with principal leaders of Venezuela's opposition. The encounter with President Hugo Chávez's opponents was the weekend's second blow for the embattled Venezuelan leader, who opened the summit Friday to mass protests that left two people dead and 26 injured. Chávez closed the two-day conference of 19 countries with just two heads of state at his side -- including the controversial leader of Zimbabwe. ''One of the only presidents who stayed in Venezuela for a few extra hours with his entire...