CARACAS -- Amid Venezuela's deep crisis, neighborhood associations in Caracas are forming vigilante groups and preparing to take up weapons to defend themselves in case things take a turn for the worse.

In a 104-apartment complex near the city center, residents were recently given a nine page document outlining what they should do in case of teargas attacks, explosions, shots and injuries.

The document was distributed on the eve of a major rally in support of embattled President Hugo Chavez last week, according to a resident of the Condo in the middle-class La Florida neighborhood who asked to be identified only as Patricia.

The Condo Association then called a meeting at which "security teams" were formed and residents' weapons were registered. Anyone who did not have a gun was told one could be procured for them. The document stresses that "the use of firearms will have to remain within legal norms of self defense and circumstances of extreme urgency."

That same night, the alert level in the building was upped from yellow to red, and no one was allowed to leave or enter between 9 P.M. and 7 A.M., said Patricia.

after eight weeks of strike and often violent clashes, no political solution to Venezuela's turmoil is in sight. Residents of the capital often live in fear of further violence, a fear that is sometimes justified.

"Some of the measures in this booklet may seem extreme, but it is preferable to be alarmist than naive," the authors of the document said.

The guidelines notably describe how to organize an evacuation, how to deal with fire, and how to treat someone who has been wounded.

They describe three alert levels and ask residents to establish a security zone in their apartments.

But they also indicate how to deal with stress, notably by attending "dance therapy" or prayer sessions organized by neighborhood groups.

Similar documents were distributed and "security teams" formed in other middle-class and largely anti-Chavez neighborhoods of Caracas.

The security teams are seen as a response to the pro-government "Bolivarian circles" vigilante groups.

The contingency plan Patricia received leaves little doubt as to the political convictions of its writers. The first telephone numbers listed in case of problems are those of the radio and television stations that have openly sided with the anti-Chavez campaign. Emergency services are listed lower down. "Whether you think differently or do not participate actively, the security measures must all be followed without exception," the document says. (AFP)