Workers in public education and other state sectors have demonstrated this Monday for the third consecutive week to demand decent salaries in several Venezuelan cities.
In Caracas, the demonstrators marched to the Attorney General’s Office and the demonstrations were repeated in other states such as Mérida, Táchira, Trujillo, Zulia, Lara, Anzoátegui, Portuguesa, Apure, La Guaira, Amazonas, Nueva Esparta, Guárico and Monagas, reports the website of the Venezuelan newspaper ‘El Universal’.
«With hunger and misery there is no education», have been some of the teachers’ slogans during the demonstration. The president of the Teachers’ Association of the Central University of Venezuela, José Gregorio Afonso, explained that they are proposing that the salary be higher than the cost of the basic basket, more than 400 dollars, as stated in Article 91 of the Constitution.
However, he stated that they are open to negotiate with the authorities if they present a proposal for a lower amount. In any case, Afonso has assured that so far there is no willingness to negotiate on the part of the State.
Retirees and pensioners have also participated in the mobilization to demand a remuneration that guarantees them a dignified old age, in which they can acquire everything they need to live comfortably: food, medicines, footwear and clothing.
Thus, pensioners have denounced that the 130 bolivars –5.86 euros at the exchange rate– are not even enough to buy a kilo of meat or cheese. «We worked for many years and now we have to go begging in the street for that miserable salary which is not enough for anything. I can’t buy my medicines, and I’m sick. I haven’t eaten, but I still go out to march,» said Maria Nieves, a pensioner, speaking to NTN24.
Other organizations are making three demands: salaries indexed to the dollar rate, medical and funeral insurance, and repeal of the National Budget Office (ONAPRE) instructions.
The demonstration in Caracas was carried out under a large police deployment. Initially, the march was only authorized up to Plaza Morelos, but once it began, the authorities informed that the demonstration would be allowed to continue through Universidad Avenue. The protest ended normally.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
