Venezuelan Hunger Striker’s Health Deteriorating
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The daughter of a Venezuelan farmer who has repeatedly staged hunger strikes over a land dispute with the government says his condition is worsening.
Angela Brito said Sunday that her father is barely able to speak after many days without food or water. She told the Venezuelan TV channel Globovision that his health is “very, very delicate.”
The 49-year-old Franklin Brito has said his protests are aimed at forcing the government to acknowledge it violated his property rights.
Santiago Cantón, the Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), thought that the Venezuelan State, in accordance with the precautionary measures issued by the IACHR, had allowed Franklin Brito to be assisted by doctors trusted by him.
However, wife Elena de Brito, told him on the phone that the Venezuelan government has ignored the request and holds him “hostage” at the Military Hospital.
Now, Brito’s family is working on a new report to file it with the Organization of American States (OAS) in Caracas. The purpose is that the IACHR should take a stance and facilitate the intervention of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help the biologist.
On Sunday morning, a group of people rallied in front of the hospital. They were headed by Elena de Brito, her daughter Ángela and Delsa Solórzano, the coordinator of the Human Rights Commission of Unity Team, the opposition coalition. Demonstrators requested the Executive branch of government to approve the ICRC visit to the hospital.
The Venezuelan opposition warned the day prior that the case of Franklin Brito against President Hugo Chavez’s government, “could end in tragedy.”