VENEZUELA

VENEZUELA: Students threaten to resume hunger strike

Venezuelan students last week threatened to resume their hunger strike if President Hugo Chavez did not take visible steps to support public universities within 24 hours, reports United Press International.

"I do not believe in empty words. I do not believe in promises," student spokesman Grey Hernandez told Venezuela's independent Globovision news channel. The 16 college students and professors who stopped eating solid food outside the UN office in Caracas on 23 February claim Chavez is purposely depleting public universities because they encourage free thinking and freedom of expression. They say the universities are starved of resources and professors receive low wages.

Higher Education Minister Yadira Cordova promised to discuss their concerns two weeks ago, they said, but they've seen nothing concrete since. "We want the time and date when they will act," Hernandez told the network. "We give them 24 hours," after which the students promised to resume their hunger strike.
Full report on the UPI site