Politics
Former police commissioners Iván Simonovis and Lázaro Forero along with Leocenis García, Eligio Cedeño and Juan Guevara went on hunger strike.

Yajaira Castro, the wife of ex-police commissioner Lázaro Forero, said that the group of political prisoners took the decision in support of the students who took the same action outside the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) office in Caracas.

Earlier, last Thursday, a group of more than 20 university students went on hunger strike as they are requesting the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to visit Venezuela in order to monitor government actions against political dissenters and verify if "there are political prisoners" in Venezuela.

Castro expressed, on behalf of the relatives of the prisoners, her concern about their health. "They are not prepared for an action like this, but they want to voice their support to the heroic action of dozens of students who are on hunger strike both in Caracas and Valencia."

Forero's wife hopes that the custodians of political prisoners who are at the Directorate for Intelligence, Security and Prevention (Disip) provide them with minimum conditions to carry out their protest. "Hopefully, they will give them water and saline solution. We must be patient to wait until Thursday and visit them. I hope they do not decide to suspend the visits."

Mrs. Forero made these statements along with her daughter Odalys; Bonny, the wife of Simonovis and other relatives outside the OAS headquarters in Caracas, where a group of university students went on hunger strike on Thursday to demand the freedom of political prisoners.

On Sunday, four students from the Universidad Bicentenaria de Aragua, one from the Universidad de Oriente's affiliate in the state of Bolívar and one from the Simón Bolívar University joined the students of the Universidad de Oriente. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday 18 university students had joined the original group.

In addition to new hunger strikers, the protest has been supported by several civil and political organizations, and individuals.

The area surrounding the headquarters of OAS, in the east of Caracas, received hundreds of people from the early hours of Sunday who showed up to back the cause of students.

At the same time, in various churches, the relatives of the political prisoners gathered to pray for the speedy release of their beloved ones. Some minutes after, they formed part of a convoy organized by the Democratic unified panel to cover the whole city. At the end of the route they marched to the headquarters of the OAS.

Javier Martuchi, secretary of the University Student Council (FCU), at the Central University of Venezuela, who joined the hunger strike on Sunday, announced that on Monday a group of students planned to visit the Office of the Ombudsman to demand Ombudswoman Gabriela Ramírez to monitor the condition of students outside the OAS office.

With reports from Vivian Castillo and Ernesto Ecarri Hung

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas