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CARACAS (AFP) - Thousands of angry protesters rallied Saturday in Caracas in support of Venezuela's largest private television station and against President Hugo Chavez for forcing it off the air.

Stars of RCTV's prized soap operas mounted a stage outside the station, which opposes Chavez and is set to go off the air on Sunday after he refused to renew its license.

"This is Venezuela, not Cuba!" protesters chanted. "We have what it takes to fight!"

The rally outside RCTV studios is reminiscent of protests that led to Chavez's two-day ouster in a 2002 coup, for which he partly blames RCTV.

Chavez has not forgotten RCTV's cheerleading for that brief coup, and vowed soon after he was re-elected in late 2006 to close the station down.