Bogotá, Colombia — The murder of a Venezuelan student leader opposed to the policies of President Hugo Chávez has renewed tensions and fears among the country’s student organizations.

Julio Soto, president of the Federation of University Centers at the University of Zulia, a public institution in the western Venezuelan state of the same name, was shot to death on Wednesday afternoon after leaving a ceremony in which he and other student leaders were formally inducted into office.

The governor of Zulia State, Manuel Rosales, a leader in the opposition to Mr. Chávez, called the killing “very strange.”

“You can’t say that it had a normal motive,” he said, “but rather there are hidden motives which must be clarified.”

Venezuelan authorities promised a thorough investigation.

According to news reports, two men intercepted Mr. Soto’s car on a highway and killed him with multiple shots. Some reports said that a second passenger in the car had been injured. Mr. Soto belonged to the COPEI political party, which is opposed to the government of Mr. Chávez.

Venezuela’s student organizations are highly politicized because of their leading role in protests against a referendum last year that would have greatly expanded Mr. Chávez’s powers, as well as against a government decision to terminate the broadcasting license of a leading opposition television station.

The killing feeds into concerns about violence, amid a soaring crime rate that critics blame on Mr. Chávez’s policies.

In the wake of the killing, opposition student organizations called for an impartial investigation, while student groups allied with the government said the murder should not be politicized. —Mike Ceaser