Luis Franco, Luis Marval, Juan Mata, Francisco Noriega, Manuel Franco and Alcidio Mata are the names of six retired workers from Araya’s Saltworks, in the Cruz Salmerón Acosta Municipality in Sucre State. They began a hunger strike after seven days of peaceful protest waiting to be received by the Chavista government of this state.
This form of protest began at 8 in the morning on Tuesday, August 2nd, after seven continuous days of peaceful protest in the facilities of this production site.
The ages of the people involved range between 58 and 82 years. They all report having chronic diseases such as hypertension, bone pain and others.
It is worth mentioning that 252 retirees are affected, as reported, by the non-compliance of nine fortnights payments and other social commitments taken over by the regional government and the private company Dell Acqua.
“It is a measure that we did not want to take but we have no other choice and we will continue to fight. We want the national government to be the one to decide, because salt has become a profitable business for the government and the Dell Acqua company,” stated Aníbal Núñez, President of the Salinas de Araya Retirees Association, to the La Patilla team in Sucre.
Mr. Núñez confirmed the presence of firefighters at the scene to assist the protesters.
“Dell Acqua cannot come to have more rights than us. They made an alliance at their convenience. It is incredible that Governor Punto is 30 minutes from Araya by boat and allows us to protest for seven days,” he said.
Likewise, they complained that the problem is known to the Legislative Council of the State, the Attorney General’s Office and “they have become accomplices in this situation. They haven’t done anything for us.”
For his part, the manager of the Socialist Corporation for the Development of Sucre State (Corposucre), Delvis Graterol, argued before the media that the demands of this group do not have legal support, because when they retire they become dependent on the National Executive.
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