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Movimiento Estudiantil (Venezuela)

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The Student Movement
Movimiento Estudiantil
Formation2007
TypeStudent organization
PurposeActivism
Location
Region served
National
Official language
Spanish
Key people
Yon Goicoechea
Freddy Guevara
Juan Andrés Mejía

Movimiento Estudiantil (English: The Student Movement) is a Venezuelan student movement started in 2007, made up of students who organized in opposition to the government of President Hugo Chávez. According to several analysts, it had a decisive effect on the rejection of the 2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum.[1]

History

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RCTV closure protests

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This movement is active in Venezuela since the protests by the end of the concession of RCTV, which began on May 27 of 2007, when the government of Hugo Chávez shut down the television channel RCTV.[2]

At the height of the protests, the movement applied to intervene in the National Assembly of Venezuela. The request was granted and a debate between opponents and other college students affects students left government was organized. However, the leaders of the opposition movement refused to discuss and withdrew after a brief intervention.[3][non-primary source needed]

Referendum protests

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In late June, RCTV managed to continue producing unofficial daily broadcasts by posting them on YouTube and running on a severely minimized staff. However, the government refused to sway in their decision not to renew the channel's license. National protests calmed and quieted down as Chavez and his government continuously failed to address or acknowledge any of the protest activity.

The momentum that the student movement had picked up after the closing of RCTV was channeled into protests against Chavez's proposed national referendum, as the students believed that the 69 amendments on the ballot would give the president too much power over the government and the country. The referendum was rejected in the December elections, and RCTV's alternative broadcasting continued smoothly for the next two and a half years until 2010, when the channel did not air a speech made by President Chavez and therefore ran into trouble with laws that required Chavez's speeches to all be shown by cable companies and broadcast channels.

In November 2007, demonstrations arose in Caracas, Venezuela and six other cities over the proposed constitutional changes. "Tens of thousands" of "Yes" voters marched in Caracas after the referendum had finally been approved on 2 November.[4] An 8 November riot at the Central University of Venezuela resulted in clashes between students and several masked gunmen, with several injuries;[5] footage was caught on tape. In late November 2007, just days before the referendum, tens of thousands marched in Caracas for both the "Yes" and "No" votes.[6] An opposition politician estimated the crowd marching for the "No" vote at 160,000.[7] Protests were largely peaceful, and only one pro-government worker's death has been reported.[8][9]

Some of Chávez's supporters expressed concerns and disagreement with his proposals to change the constitution.

Many voters abstained in the vote, rather than cast a "No" vote against Chávez.[10][11] The student movement played a crucial role in consolidating this position[12] and in organizing numerous rallies.[7][13] The student movement has played a large role in the Venezuelan political process, having gained a prominent position during the RCTV broadcast license expiration protests.[14] Although the student movement is not limited to the opposition,[15] it has been the opposition students that have gained the largest support, in part because they are not officially affiliated with any political cadres.[10]

University crisis protests

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Student representatives speaking to the crowd during a college march in Caracas, Venezuela in 2013.

Student Representatives are directed to the crowd during a college march in Caracas, Venezuela. 2013. The authorities of the autonomous universities of Venezuela have claimed budget increases Venezuela's government since the end of the first decade of the century. The government, meanwhile, has demanded increases in these institutions the number of admitted students.

In early 2013 the professors of various universities, grouped in the Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Venezuela ( FAPUV ) began the Venezuelan government pressure for increased wages and benefits, as well as increases the budget of public institutions in which they work. In June, after a hunger strike by students of various houses Studio.[16] The FAPUV calls for a national strike of university professors, which intensified the conflict, launching a series of student protests, supported by some teachers and university employees . The protests marches consisted headquarters of various public agencies, obstruction of major roads in major cities, concentrations in places, among others.

The government offered a package of wages and benefits under the title One University Sector Collective Bargaining Agreement, which offered, among other things, a stepwise increase of wages.[17] The same was rejected by the FAPUV, because the contract was discussed without his presence, as it included items specifically socialist ideological tone, which in his opinion violated the constitution and freedom of thought that must exist in the university sector.[18]

The government called FAPUV and student federations at various negotiations, but did not get great results, managed to reduce conflict. In September, the teacher decides to raise FAPUV unemployment, with the caveat resume later if they felt that the negotiations did not have the desired progress.

2014 Venezuelan protests

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After a day of protests in Venezuela in 2014, which began on January 5 in the City of Mérida[19][20][21] and February 4 in the city of San Cristobal[22] after the death of Hector Moreno of ULA-Mérida and the attempted rape of a student-ULA Táchira, plus the street call made by national political leaders Antonio Ledezma, Maria Corina Machado and Leopoldo Lopez called La Salida or 12F, several student leaders decided to organize a political bloc with leaders of civil society which they called "Patriotic Meeting Student and Popular", which later christened under the eponym of "José Félix Ribas". Some student leaders decided not to annex this group maintaining its call under, including Juan Requesens of the National Student Movement FCU President of the Central University of Venezuela and Yorman Barillas, President of the University of Zulia .

Universities involved

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Autonomous National Universities
Experimental National Universities
Private Universities

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Movimiento estudiantil refrescó a la oposición en Venezuela - EcoDiario.es". ecodiario.eleconomista.es. February 12, 2009.
  2. ^ Comunicado/informe sobre la no renovación de la concesión a RCTV Archived 2009-09-01 at the Wayback Machine Embajada ante el Reino de España de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Madrid, 21 de mayo de 2007.
  3. ^ "Yon Goicochea en la AN y posterior reacción de Cilia Flores" – via www.youtube.com.
  4. ^ James, Ian (21 November 2007). "Thousands Rally for Chavez's Proposal". The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
  5. ^ Sierra, Sandra (8 November 2007). "Gunfire erupts at Venezuela university". newsvine.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  6. ^ Strange, Hannah (30 November 2007). "100,000 march against Hugo Chavez reforms". London: Times Online. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  7. ^ a b "Students stage anti-Chavez rally". BBC News. 30 November 2007. Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  8. ^ "One person killed in demonstration in Venezuela". El Universal. 26 November 2007. Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2007.
  9. ^ "Un muerto y 6 heridos durante protestas" (in Spanish). El Universal. 27 November 2007. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2007.
  10. ^ a b Gould, Jens Erik (3 December 2007). "Why Venezuelans Turned on Chavez". Time. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  11. ^ Romero, Simon (30 November 2007). "In Chávez Territory, Signs of Dissent". New York Times. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  12. ^ Kraul, Chris (4 December 2007). "Chavez revolution takes hit in election". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  13. ^ "Students want referendum to be hold (sic) on 3 February 2008". El Universal. 23 October 2007. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
  14. ^ Nunez, Elizabeth (4 June 2007). "Venezuela Students Spur Protest Movement". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
  15. ^ "Bolivarian students are marching to Chávez's government headquarters". El Universal. 21 November 2007. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2007.
  16. ^ Estudiantes en Huelga de Hambre no se doblegan. Archived 2014-03-23 at the Wayback Machine El Nacional, 19 June 2013
  17. ^ Convención Colectiva Única del Sector Universitario CAPÍTULO VIII: Tabla de salarios y beneficios sociaeconómicos. (pag. 43)
  18. ^ Universitarios Rechazan Convención Colectiva El Impulso, 3 de Julio de 2013.
  19. ^ "Diario de los Andes - A tiros mataron a estudiante de la ULA". diariodelosandes.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-08.
  20. ^ "Asesinado otro estudiante de la ULA por el hampa en Mérida". Archived from the original on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2015-07-16.
  21. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2014-05-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. ^ "5 claves para entender las protestas estudiantiles en Venezuela". ProDaVinci. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.