Student strike in Venezuela against the taking of political prisoners by President Hugo Chavez

From the Telegraph-Journal, "Student activist Angel Arellano said Wednesday that 163 people - mostly students - have joined the protest since last week, when 10 students set up cots outside the OAS offices in Caracas and vowed to consume only water until the Washington-based group's Interamerican Commission of Human Rights promises to launch a probe. " The strike is in protest after President Hugo Chavez has arrested nearly 40 students for protesting the government...it is estimated that in the last seven years, over 2000 people have been arrested for protesting against the government.

This is after some mayors and governors complained to the Organization of American States about Hugo Chavez's violations of the constitution. The mayor of Caracas (Antonio Ledezma) even went as far as having a hunger strike of his own for 5 days until he was hospitalized (picture below is from El Universal, July 10, 2009) ...

While we pride ourselves on encouraging freedom of speech, Venezuela is arresting anyone who disagrees with the viewpoint of their president...OAS secretary general, Jose Miguel Insulza, has said that he sympathizes with the students and believes that the IACHR should visit Venezuela (http://english.eluniversal.com/2009/09/30/en_pol_esp_insulza-pleads-for-i_30A2819291.shtml), but, alas, Hugo Chavez has denied several requests for IACHR to visit the country to review their policies and investigate the human rights complaints...

The official comment on this is that, "Attorney General Luisa Ortega says Chavez adversaries who have been arrested committed crimes ranging from disturbing the peace to assaulting police officers. "

Protesting against someone who has no concern for the law (especially when they are the leader of the nation) is a natural part of democracy...but at some point, there needs to be an investigation into whether Chavez has committed these acts...an investigation that needs to be carried out by an external source (namely the IACHR)...it is about time they get their say...