By Andrew Cawthorne
CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's naming of a heavyweight Cuban official to help fix Venezuela's electricity crisis has fired up his opponents at a politically volatile time for the South American nation.
Power rationing since late 2009 has emerged as a major problem for the OPEC member nation of nearly 29 million people, threatening its ability to pull out of recession and weighing on Chavez's popularity ahead of a September legislative poll.
After days of protests last week in which two students died, thousands of government and opposition supporters again rallied on Thursday, the 18th anniversary of a failed coup by Chavez that launched his political career.
"Keep trying to topple our revolutionary government with your white hands," Chavez said in reference to students who paint their hands white in marches against the government.
"If you challenge us with arms, we are ready with Bolivar's sword," he said, wearing an army uniform and brandishing South American independence fighter Simon Bolivar's sword at a rally in a military base. Some of his supporters waved a Cuban flag.
The controversial Venezuelan leader said this week that Cuban Vice-President Ramiro Valdes, who has been a close ally of Fidel Castro dating back to his 1959 revolution, would head a committee to tackle Venezuela's power shortages.
"When the Cubans come the counter-revolutionary fury is immediately unleashed," Chavez, himself a close friend of Castro, said late on Wednesday. "I know the people pay no attention to these stupidities."
Chavez say he turned to the Cubans for help because they have a long history of serious electricity problems. Cuba already provides thousands of volunteer medics and is also advising on techniques aimed at artificial rain-making.
The government blames power shortages on a drought and soaring demand for electricity after five years of growth. But the opposition says it is evidence of incompetence in Chavez's government, which this week celebrates 11 years in power.
"NOT A DAY OF CELEBRATION"
Police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of students who tried marching to the National Assembly in Caracas, where they hoped to deliver a proposal to tackle the energy crisis.
"We came to demonstrate and tell the national government that today is not a day of celebration. ... There are many problems and the government is not attending to them," student leader Roderick Navarro said.
The appointment of 77-year-old Valdes, who is also Cuba's information and communications minister, to an electricity committee has incensed Chavez foes. They have long decried the "Cubanisation" of Venezuela, accusing the president of ruining their country by trying to copy Castro's communism.
Chavez created a state-run "socialist" supermarket chain on Thursday, adding to restaurants and markets where the government sells products at subsidized or cost prices.
Opposition leaders complained that Valdes, who was with Fidel Castro when he first took up arms in 1953, had more experience at censoring information than fixing power grids.
"Valdes has only governed Cuba with repression and a rifle in his hand, that's all he is good for. He has never managed engineering issues," said Enrique Marquez, a spokesman for opposition party Un Nuevo Tiempo.
Valdes's portfolio, however, includes supervising the Basic Industry ministry, which covers electricity.
Already, thousands of Cubans live and work in Venezuela at the state's invitation, many as doctors and social workers in poor neighbourhoods, others advising the Chavez government. For Chavez die-hards, they symbolize a spirit of cooperation and self-sacrifice that only socialist governments can espouse.
But for the opposition, which is sensing a window of opportunity to cut Chavez's majority in the National Assembly, the Cubans put a face on their worst fears for Venezuela.
Most analysts expect Chavez, whose popularity level is hovering around 50 percent, to keep his majority in the September election, though with a reduced number of seats.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Rondon; Editing by Brian Ellsworth, Will Dunham and Eric Beech)
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