Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Tuesday that he would take action against another private television station if it incites violence and promotes student demonstrations against his government.

The warning came as thousands of students were protesting for the second consecutive day in the capital Caracas over the removal on Sunday of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) from terrestrial broadcasting.

Speaking at a public event on Tuesday in Vargas state, north of Caracas, Chavez said that TV station Globovision, one of the few channels that is still harshly anti-government, had called on viewers to kill him.

In his speech, Chavez recommended Globovision's bosses to take a tranquilizer and asked for the opposition to abandon their destabilization plans, warning that, if not, "I will apply my own tranquilizer."

Chavez noted that his Information Minister William Lara would ask the Attorney General's Office to investigate a Globovision program.

William Lara condemned broadcaster Globovision for showing a Mexican demonstration against the murder of a journalist in the port city of Acapulco, labeling it as a march against Chavez and in support of RCTV.

Chavez also praised the Metropolitan Police and the National Guard, saying they had withstood attacks with firearms, stones and bottles during Monday's demonstrations.

Venezuela's oldest and most popular television station RCTV was shut down at midnight Sunday and replaced by a new government-controlled channel.

Chavez justified his government's decision not to renew RCTV's licence, saying that the popular TV station had supported a short-lived coup in April 2002, which removed him from power for two days.

Source: Xinhua