DistantNews
🇻🇪 Venezuela /Economy & Trade

Empty Classrooms and Protests: University Strike in Venezuela Reaches 90% Compliance

From El Nacional · (9h ago) Spanish Critical tone

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • University professors and staff in Venezuela went on strike, with an estimated 90% participation in major public universities, protesting a frozen minimum wage of 130 bolivars.
  • The strike, called by the Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Venezuela (Fapuv), saw academic and administrative activities suspended.
  • University workers are demanding a salary increase, citing the government's failure to adjust wages for over four years, leading to precarious conditions despite claims of controlling inflation.

The Venezuelan university system is grinding to a halt as professors and staff across the country joined a 24-hour strike, demanding a living wage. Reports indicate an overwhelming 90% compliance in key public universities, a clear signal of the deep dissatisfaction within the academic community. The current minimum wage, frozen at a meager 130 bolivars since 2022, is simply untenable in the face of rampant inflation and currency devaluation.

This action, spearheaded by the Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Venezuela (Fapuv) and supported by various worker unions, has led to empty classrooms and suspended operations. Universities like the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), the University of Zulia (LUZ), and the University of the Andes (ULA) have ceased all academic and administrative activities. The stark images of deserted campuses are a powerful visual representation of the crisis gripping higher education.

Dicen que no aumentan para no generar inflación o para no depreciar la moneda, pero la realidad los contradice: sin aumentos salariales, la inflación ha seguido creciendo y el bolívar se ha devaluado frente al dólar y al euro. El sacrificio lo está haciendo solo el trabajador

— José Gregorio Afonso, President of ApucvCritiquing the government's reasoning for not increasing wages and highlighting the economic hardship faced by workers.

University leaders are holding the government responsible, rejecting justifications that wage increases would fuel inflation. They argue that the opposite has occurred: salaries have stagnated while inflation has soared, and the bolivar has continued to lose value. This places the burden of economic hardship squarely on the shoulders of workers. The recent meeting with the Minister of University Education, where the minister allegedly stated there was no money for salary increases, has only intensified the anger and resolve of the striking workers, who feel their basic needs are being ignored.

El paro universitario convocado en Venezuela para el miércoles 22 de abril, en rechazo al salario mínimo de 130 bolívares, congelado desde 2022, registró un acatamiento cercano a 90% en las principales universidades públicas del país, según reportes de gremios docentes.

— El NacionalReporting on the high participation rate of the university strike.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog