Politics
Sixteen students are holding a hunger strike since Saturday at the office of the Organization of American States (OAS) to demand the OAS Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, and the members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to send a delegation to observe the situation of political prisoners and the alleged violation of democratic freedoms.

Julio César Rivas, the coordinator of the NGO Juventud Activa de Venezuela Unida (United Active Youth of Venezuela, JAVU) insisted on saying that the students will not put an end to protests until the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights comes to Venezuela. He said that the strike will not be temporary such as the previous one and it will not finish after the first defections.

Rivas said that the group of students will raise the flags of those who can not protest such as Caracas prefect Richard Blanco; former commissioner Iván Simonovis, and Franklin Brito, a Venezuelan biologist. "(The Venezuelan government) has violated their rights to freedom, to private property and due process. We are on hunger strike to support all the Venezuelan people who do not have water, electricity or security," he added.

Although Rivas and a group of students met with Insulza and the IACHR Executive Secretary, Santiago Cantón, who committed themselves to take the appropriate steps, Rivas believes that the goal of the strike is "to begin an international pressure campaign" on the government, which will be forced to allow the visit of the commission and other international bodies.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas