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Photo of Philadelphia protest: Jesús Rincón

Venezuela calls out for unity of voices

Sporting a forced buzz cut, in uniform, without eating a bite, laying on a mat on the floor of a gloomy prison 450 miles away from home. That sums up the…

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Sporting a forced buzz cut, in uniform, without eating a bite, laying on a mat on the floor of a gloomy prison 450 miles away from home. That sums up the current lifestyle of Daniel Ceballos, political prisoner and former mayor of the Venezuelan city of San Cristóbal, who started a hunger strike May 22 asking three specific demands: the setting of a date for the upcoming parliamentary elections, freedom for the country's close to 70 political prisoners and an end to repression in Venezuela.

His fight started alongside one of the better-known faces of the Venezuelan opposition: Leopoldo López, another political prisoner — jailed 15 months ago — of Nicolás Maduro's government. The announcement of the joint hunger strike was made from his cell through a clandestine video. In that message, López asked for the Venezuelan people to show support by joining a national protest May 30.

And so they did. Casting aside ghosts of the 43 murdered during the protests held in February 2014, citizens dressed in white again flooded the streets of eight Venezuelan cities. Men and women shaved their heads in solidarity with Ceballos' new hair style, which was meant to be a punishment.

“Venezuela” has been progressively becoming more the nationality than a country itself. Therefore, a Venezuelan protest means a protest held around the world. Among the 10 cities that raised their voices  — though modestly— was Philadelphia.

Called by Emilio Buitrago, activist and founder of the Casa de Venezuela Foundation, on the afternoon of May 30 a group of around 100 Venezuelans gathered at Independence Mall in order to join the worldwide protest. Passersby gazed in curiosity, a few of them stopping to find out why there was so much yellow, blue and red near the Liberty Bell.

The demonstration echoed around the world and produced a direct result: the United Nations expressed concern for the living conditions of Venezuela's political prisoners. They even demanded freedom for anyone jailed because they exercised the right to protest. However, taking into account the depth of the Venezuelan crisis, more voices are needed to join this chorus.

There are plenty of reasons to protest. Recent investigations point to a drug-trafficking network hidden behind the government structure, which spans the better part of the continent. The claws of crime lurk in every corner of the South American nation. A yearly inflation rate of 68 percent puts Venezuela at the head of the race for the world's worst economy. Harassment of the media and the blindfold of censorship are daily strains for what little freedom of press still remains. A personal example: I have received direct threats for doing journalistic work.

It is an ideal moment for Latino activists in Philadelphia to shake hands and map a unified course of action to support Venezuela in this time of need, casting aside nationalities. It's an ideal moment for the scene of protests to be replicated in all the major cities in the world, calling out a government that revels in its outlaw stance.

For the Latino movement on U.S. soil, the task of uniting against the conflicts that take place on our continent is crucial in order to avoid a deadly peril: that become a series of isolated shouts rather than one voice raised in protest.

Roberto Torres is a Venezuelan writer and journalist. He is the co-author of "Fervor religioso en Venezuela"  and a contributor to CaracasChronicles.com.

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