CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: More pressure is mounting against Venezuela's embattled president. A 13-day national strike has thrown the country into turmoil. And today, hundreds of thousands of protesters spilled into the streets of Caracas demanding President Hugo Chavez resign. CNN'S Harris Whitbeck has more.</s>HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With hundreds of thousands of supporters in the streets of Eastern Caracas, the Venezuelan opposition once again showed it is serious about forcing President Hugo Chavez out of power. The so-called siege of Caracas inspired new calls for Chavez's resignation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been poverty for four years, okay? The situation was supposed to be better, but it's much worse. You just have to see around and see what is going on.</s>WHITBECK: For the opposition, Saturday's demonstration was another opportunity to flex its muscle, despite fears it would turn violent. (on camera): Organizers say this is one of the largest protest marches ever seen in the Americas. Hyperbole aside, it is the latest attempt by the opposition to intensify the pressure on the government of President Hugo Chavez. (voice-over): But not all the residents of Caracas feel the same way. A few kilometers away from the site of the demonstration, in the poor neighborhoods that are the bastions of support for the president, people say the opposition is not being sincere. On one hand, they talk about negotiating a democratic solution," says this woman, "but on the other, they call for a military coup." Residents here fear for the future of their government. "We are threatened by an unscrupulous and irreverent sector of society," she says. "They think only of themselves." It is that degree of polarization that will make it so difficult to find a solution to the crisis, a crisis that continues to intensify in the streets. Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Caracas.
Pressure Mounts Against Venezuela's Embattled Leader