Students Mobilize in Venezuela

Well, at least one does. A new student leader for the Federation of University Centers in Venezuela took power on Tuesday. His political sabor-rattling reminds me of the FUA and the FUBA (Federation of Universities, Argentina/Buenos Aires), the much more militant student organizations in Argentina. Although castrated in the 1970s, the Argentine universitarios provided a model for student rebellion. The University of Buenos Aires conducted one of the most influential Univeristy Reforms in 1918, a rallying point for higher education in Latin America during the 1950s and 1960s, when the ideas were actually implemented. I guess from attending the University of Buenos Aires (Puan and Ramos Mejilla) I assumed all Latin American students were at the least supporting a "fuck the government" attitude and mostly "fuck them hard." During the 1970s this anti-government campaign supplied the shock troops for the, arguably, most successful guerrilla movement in the region, the Montoneros. Yet no worries, likely Ricardo is as full of rhetoric as the Venezuelan icon, Mr. Chavez.

http://www.el-nacional.com/www/site/detalle_noticia.php?q=nodo/10741

Ricardo Sánchez: Student Movement Will Search for a Role in Politics

El Nacional, Venezuela
January 15, 2008

Ricardo Sánchez took power this Tuesday as President of the Federation of University Centers [in Venezuela], “This generation has arrived for good and will be moving into leadership roles,” he stated.

“No one’s retreating anymore, our student movement has been losing contact with the country and the people. This generation has arrived for good and will be moving into leadership roles, fighting for the freedom of the Venezuelan people. Our student movement wants to be part of this nation’s leadership, we want a voice,” announced Ricardo Sánchez during the induction ceremony at the Central University of Venezuela.

The student leader did not rule out the possibility of university students questioning political power. He explained in 2008 students will continue to take positions on issues of national importance.

In this way, he demanded that national authorities release Nixon Moreno from his diplomatic role to the Vatican as Apostolic Nunciature [a position akin to exile]. He indicated that the freeing of the politician and former ULA student [University of the Andes] will be a priority for the student movement.

Ricardo Sánchez also demanded new regulations in the university, such as sanctions against professors who do not fulfill academic responsibilities, raising the total of student scholarships and adding more buses for transportation.



All errors and interpretations are, ultimately, a failure of an atrociously overfunded and underachieving Spanish Department at Northwestern. Did I say that out loud?