Hunger Striker Dies in Military Hospital

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Franklin Brito had gone on several hunger strikes since 2005.  (Photo courtesy of El Universal)
Hunger striker Franklin Brito. (Photo courtesy of El Universal)

CARACAS, Venezuela—A man who had been protesting President Chavez has died of a hunger strike.  His supporters accuse Chavez of human rights abuses and call the death state-sponsored murder.

Franklin Brito, who was 49 and a father of four, died of a heart attack Monday in a military hospital.  He had been there since last December when authorizes took him away from a protest.  When he died, he weighed 77 pounds.

His protests, ranging from food strikes to cutting off a finger and sewing his mouth shut on live TV, stemmed from government seizure of his property in 2003.

Brito’s yucca and watermelon farm had been taken by the government during a land reform drive.  Brito repeatedly demanded compensation and petitioned the president after being denied by other officials.

Tal Cual editor Teodoro Petkoff wrote, “But the president did not have time to bother with what must have seemed an insignificant matter, a bother which he couldn’t waste precious time on.  So he let him die.”

Many laud Brito as a hero.  Chavez has had a history of seizing property and his foes claim that the nation is becoming a socialist dictatorship.  About 2.5 million hectares (6 million acres) have been nationalized in what the government says is an effort to reverse rural inequality.   This reform has caused widespread food shortages.

The government has been unimpressed with accusations against its reform and Brito’s death.  In a statement, the government blasted opposition leaders for crying “hypocritically” over Brito.

Brito’s relatives plan to sue government officials in the International Court of Justice for “cruel, inhuman and humiliating treatment.”  Brito’s death is considered the result of a series of unconstitutional acts.  He was denied his own doctor, and police violated due process by putting him in the military hospital last year.  “I see little chance that [Brito’s rights] and his heirs can be respected in the country,” lawyer Gonzalo Himiob said.

In a statement, Brito’s family wrote: “Franklin Brito lives on in the struggle of the Venezuelan people for the right to property, access to justice, for liberty and the respect of governments for human rights, both collective and individual.”

For more information, please see:

Reuters-Venezuela says opposition sought protester’s death-2 September 2010

El Universal-Relatives of late Venezuelan striker to take his case to international courts-1 September 2010

Irish Times-Hunger striker dies in Venezuela-1 September 2010

Miami Herald-Hunger-striking Venezuelan farmer dies at 49-1 September 2010

Author: Impunity Watch Archive