Venezuelan Opposition Leader Ends Alleged Hunger Strike

Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez ended the hunger strike he claimed to have started 30 days before – although no evidence such as photos have substantiated the strike.

Sectors of the Venezuelan opposition have frequently used public hunger strikes to get international attention, and are known for not actively hunger striking.

The information came from Lopez’s wife, Lilian Tintori, who read out a letter from him in a press conference earlier on Tuesday.

In the letter, Lopez asked his supporters who had also allegedly gone on hunger strike in recent weeks to end their strike. One of Lopez’s demands had been that national assembly elections be called. On Monday the National Electoral Council announced the date for those elections, almost six months before they are due to be held on Dec. 6. The date announced was when the elections were expected to be held, and the time period they were announced in is typical in Venezuela.

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Lopez, leader of political party Voluntad Popular (Popular Will), was detained in February2014. Lopez was leading violent blockades called “The Exit” (“La Salida” in Spanish) which resulted in 43 deaths.

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