Corrects spelling of Whisky in Scotch Whisky Association in seventh graph and whisky in third and seventh graphs

CARACAS, April 2 (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's government may have banned liquor in the days leading up to Easter Sunday to cut road deaths, but "Blondie" the barman still pours a bracing "Coca Cola" for hard-drinking Venezuelans.

"Long live the dry law," he said with a grin as he handed out another round of Cokes with rum. Sales of booze after 5 p.m. are now officially prohibited until April 9.

Yet despite the ban, it is almost as easy as ever to get a drink in Caracas, although bartenders have to be careful. In restaurants, beer or whisky bottles are removed from tables, and some even serve wine in coffee cups.

"It is really ridiculous, like implementing a Muslim regime," said Jorge Dominguez, 36, leaving a liquor store at 4.55 p.m. with two chinking carrier bags full of beer.

Dominguez defended measures against drunk driving but said a dry law was not the answer. Two policeman ensured the store shut five minutes after he left.

The dry law is usually enforced in Venezuela during periods such as elections, not over major holidays when Venezuelans are planning to head to the Caribbean beaches and hit the bars.

Venezuelans are prodigious spirit drinkers and were the world's No. 7 Scotch whisky importers last year, according to the Scotch Whisky Association. Business lunches can often entail polishing off a bottle of Johnnie Walker scotch.

Chavez has attacked the whiskey habit as an affectation of his arch-enemy the United States.

Last year he ordered a crackdown on trucks that sell beer and rum in public. Although drinking on the streets is theoretically illegal, knocking backing bottles of beer on sidewalks outside liquor stores is a national pastime.

Interior Minister Pedro Carreno defended the law on Monday against charges it was an assault on free trade, saying it was an attempt to save lives.

"We need to raise people's awareness in general now that the majority of injuries and deaths during peak holiday season are in traffic accidents caused by drunk drivers," he said.

AlertNet news is provided by