Chavez raises new flag with symbols for indigenous people and labourers

Caracas: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez raised a new national flag with changes that he said pay tribute to independence hero Simon Bolivar but that critics called frivolous and wasteful.

The flag debuted on Sunday features a white horse galloping to the left instead of to the right, an additional star, a bow and arrow representing Venezuela's indigenous people and a machete to represent the labour workers, among other changes.

Thousands of Chavez supporters and soldiers marched in a parade dedicated to the new flag as army helicopters and F-16 warplanes swooped overhead. Floats, dancers and troops paraded past Chavez, while his opponents held a smaller, boisterous march to protest the new flag.

Chavez, who has been leading what he calls a "Bolivarian Revolution" to install socialism and help the poor, hoisted the flag, applauded and smiled as soldiers stood at attention during an outdoor ceremony on the 200th anniversary of Venezuela's tricolour flag.

"The white horse is now liberated, free, vigorous, trotting toward the left, representing the return of Bolivar and his dream," Chavez said. "Long live the fatherland!"

Critics call the changes a waste of money. The new flag and coat of arms will eventually be adopted in the currency, passports and government documents.

"It's a whim of the president," said Lilian Luces, 54, who marched among nearly 2,000 government opponents. "I think it's absurd for them to put on another star and turn around the horse."

When several Chavez supporters hung the new flag from light posts along the protest route, some opposition marchers pulled it down. The two groups briefly scuffled over the flag, shouting, until police separated them.

Opposition protesters held the old seven-starred flag, saying it will remain their national symbol.

Many Chavez supporters arrived at the parade in government buses, and formed a sea of red T-shirts and miniature flags. No official crowd estimates were available, but reporters estimated more than 20,000 people including participants and observers.

Some said the opposition appears to be grasping at straws to oppose the flag changes.

"What they're trying to do is sabotage everything the president does, but they don't have any support," said Nelson Rodriguez, 43, who receives a state stipend to help administer neighbourhood health programmes.