Venezuela marks year without Chavez amid protests

(AFP) Venezuela on Wednesday marked one year since Hugo Chavez died, with his successor set to lead ceremonies for the "eternal comandante" whose socialist revolution is now facing persistent opposition protests.

After a month of sometimes deadly demonstrations, President Nicolas Maduro will oversee a parade showing off the government's military might before a ceremony at the former barracks where the late leader is entombed.

But anti-government students and the opposition intend to rain on the parade, announcing new protests to keep pressure on Maduro's nearly year-old administration.

At least 18 people have died since early February in protests that Maduro has denounced as a US-backed plot by "fascists" to overthrow him.

Maduro urged Venezuelans to pay tribute to the man he dubs the "eternal comandante" in "peace and with love."

Three of Chavez's leftist allies in the region, Presidents Raul Castro of Cuba, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua flew to Caracas.

After arriving, Castro laid a white rose on Chavez's marble tomb in the Mountain Barracks which sit atop the hillside January 23 slum renowned as a government stronghold.

One of Chavez's Hollywood fans, US film-maker Oliver Stone, will premiere his documentary "My Friend Hugo" on the government-funded Telesur network.

After 14 years in power, Chavez lost his battle with cancer on March 5, 2013, at the age of 58, leaving behind a country sharply divided by his oil-funded socialist revolution.

His image is on billboards and walls throughout Caracas while his speeches can be heard on national TV or speakers blasting from the January 23 slum.

Chavez retains a religious-like following among his supporters. Maduro himself refers to his mentor's "physical departure" a year ago, suggesting that his spirit lives on.

While the protests have concentrated on the east side of Caracas, the western slums remain government bastions, but some Chavistas say Maduro's fate is linked to the revolution that Chavez started.

"As long as he fulfills the legacy that he (Chavez) left behind, I say that people will be satisfied and happy. If he doesn't keep it up, he won't go very far," said Angela Sandoval, a 35-year-old resident of the January 23 slum.

Chavez's handpicked successor was elected by a razor-thin margin in April last year, defeating opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who cried foul and refused to recognize the results.

The protests have posed the biggest challenge to Maduro's young presidency, though analysts say his government remains sturdy enough to withstand the protests.

"The government is stable, though not as strong as a year ago," said Carlos Romero, political science professor at the Central University of Venezuela,

"There is no counter-power that can be considered enough to transition to another regime," he said.

Thousands marched peacefully across the city on Tuesday. But as night fell, some 300 radical protesters threw firebombs at national guard troops who responded with tear gas in what has become a nightly ritual in the capital's middle-class Chacao neighborhood.

The protests spread after first erupting on February 4 in the western city of San Cristobal, where students demonstrated against the nation's runaway crime following the attempted rape of a young woman.

Maduro inherited problems that already existed under Chavez: one of the world's highest murder rates, shortages of food in supermarkets and soaring inflation.

Students led the initial marches and have since been joined by opposition figures, including Leopoldo Lopez, a former mayor of Chacao who was arrested on charges of inciting violence.

"This is a horrible situation. It was never like this with other governments," said Maria Uzcategui, a 50-year-old unemployed Caracas resident who was taking a picture in front of a barricade put up by radical protesters in Chacao.

"I've never seen this, so many food shortages and so much violence," she said.