May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelans protesting President Hugo Chavez's refusal to renew the broadcast license of the country's most-watched TV network clanged pots and blew sirens as the clock ticked toward midnight when its signal goes off the air.

Thousands of demonstrators poured into streets around the National Telecommunications Commission headquarters in Caracas today chanting ``Free Speech!'' at hundreds of city and military police, who used water cannon to disperse crowds. Police officials said 11 officers were injured in the skirmish.

Protesters called Chavez's decision on Radio Caracas Television an act of political retaliation against a private TV network that transmits news coverage hostile to his government, along with soap operas, game shows and comedies.

``This is how everyone who walks the absolutist and authoritarian road begins, and it ends badly for all of them,'' Zulia state Governor Manuel Rosales, who won 37 percent of December's presidential vote, said in a televised speech.

Chavez's refusal to license RCTV, as the country's oldest network is known, boosts his control over Venezuelan media and will aid his daily battle to dominate political discussion. Many of Chavez's opponents retain ownership of established news organizations, using them as political platforms, while his government funds dozens of new community and national media outlets friendly to its cause.

`Full of Fear'

The government's rejection of RCTV's application marks the first time a broadcaster has lost its permit. The network, founded in 1953, had it most recent license renewed in 1987.

Telecommunications Minister Jesse Chacon last week said Venezuelan law doesn't require the government to articulate any specific reason for refusing to grant a broadcast license.

``This government is full of fear, it can't stand criticism,'' RCTV Chairman Marcel Granier said in a televised press conference tonight. ``We will fight this in the courts. We'll do what we have to.''

He urged protesters to ``show serenity and rally peacefully. We have to set an example.''

Chavez backers, who marched by the thousands in counter- demonstrations this weekend, argue that RCTV's newscasts incite his opponents to violence. Some point to the network's racy soap operas as evidence of its objectionable moral character.

``This TV network has become a threat to the country,'' Chavez said this weekend in a televised speech from Venezuela's Lara state, which interrupted live coverage of pro-RCTV marches for more than three hours. ``I base my decision on the specific behavior of this private station, its attitude and constant stepping on public morals.''

Rising Focus

The protests follow days of opposition demonstrations, last minute-Supreme Court rulings and a growing media focus on the dispute.

International observers including the European Parliament, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the shutdown of RCTV. Chavez's government circulated petitions in regional capitals from Nicaragua to Uruguay calling for support of its sovereignty.

The National Guard was called out to keep peace on the streets and step up protection at local radio and TV offices, a day after pro-Chavez vandals mobbed the headquarters of private cable news network Globovision. Chanting obscenities, scores of vandals spray-painted red revolutionary slogans on the network's outer walls, disappearing just before police arrived.

Venezuelan Information Minister Willian Lara called the vandalism ``anarchy'' and said it would help ``the right'' foment public conflict ahead of the network's shutdown.

Supreme Court

Claiming that the ``oligarchy'' is out to destabilize his government, Chavez said RCTV supporters are set to sabotage upcoming broadcasts by TVes, the state television channel created to replace RCTV, by hijacking the frequency.

``All we've done so far is not renew their concession, but if they respond by sabotaging the signal, we'll have to apply the full force of the law,'' Chavez said May 26. ``If some act of violence occurs, they're going to regret it.''

Venezuela's Supreme Court on May 17 dismissed a legal bid by RCTV's head Granier to preserve his network's access to the airwaves. A week later, the court granted the National Telecommunications Commission, known as Conatel, use of RCTV's electronic transmitters, ordering the Defense Ministry to monitor facilities with access to the public frequency.

Conatel separately announced May 26 that it had renewed public broadcasting licenses for four other networks, including state-run VTV and Venevision, RCTV's main rival, which is owned by Gustavo Cisneros, one of Venezuela's richest men.

Uncertain Future

RCTV is the nation's oldest and most popular network, known for beaming ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,'' soap operas and heated talk shows into millions of Venezuelan homes.

Chavez's government accuses the network of helping incite a coup that ousted him from office for two days in 2002. While RCTV papered airwaves with coverage of his ouster, it reportedly ran cartoons once Chavez was restored to office, declining to report his government's return.

RCTV executives have yet to announce if the network will sell its content elsewhere, although Granier tonight said the network may resume broadcasting via cable in the future.

To contact the reporter on this story: Theresa Bradley in Caracas at tbradley7@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 27, 2007 20:32 EDT