This is something I forgot to post about....

After the students marched to the National Assembly and placed a request to reply to accusations made by members of this goverment entity; the goverment replied by offering a televised "debate" on the National Assembly against students that "follow" the revolution.

A committee of 10 students that represent every university (selected by the members of each school) in the country accepted the offer from the goverment. While a debate was not what they were looking for, this was a chance to use their constitutional right to reply to the accusations made by members of the Naional Assembly a couple weeks before.

As they walked in everyone in the audience was dressed in red, as expected. What the audience did not expect was that THEY TOO WERE DRESSED IN RED.

After a short introduction, the students were given a chance to speak. The whole event was televised in what the Venezuelan goverment calls a "Chain" (every TV and Radio station must broadcast whatever the goverment wants). I guess the goverment planned on shutting down the student goverment by destroying their credibility.. the plan backfired.

Douglas Barrios, a young colleague from the Universidad Metropolitana took the stand and gave a speech that will last in the memories of Venezuelans for centuries to come.

After giving his speech he took of his red shirt (and so did every other one of the students in the committee) and said "We dream about a country where we can be validated without having to wear an uniform". Then he stepped down and allowed the pro-goverment students to reply, afterwards they thanked their audience and left with their head up high.

"We did not ask for a debate in the National Assembly, we are not going to put on a show for the goverment. The debate will happen, in the Universities, in the streets, in the schools.. where it is supposed to happen."

Julia, from "The end of Venezuela as we know it" has translated the speec h in english. (its worth a read)

"We, the university students, did not come today to this public arena to debate. The student movement's agenda is only defined by the student movement. We came here today to vindicate our civil rights. Make no mistake: the debate between and of the university students for the country will, without question, be carried out. The debate between the university students must be done in the universities, in the streets, in the slums ("barrios"), and in the towns of the country."


"We say; ¡Enough of this discrimination! We demand and promote national reconciliation. Let us express and demonstrate in a free way. Consider our propositions on issues of national interest because it will be our generation that will have to face the consequences. Do not criminalize the protest from the start. Do not underestimate and insult the student initiative, and free and give respect to those who have been unfairly persecuted and publicly humiliated as in the case of the student Nixon Moreno and the more than 200 detainees since the last protests; under these auspices we demand the immediate revocation of our court presentation orders."


"That right to choose whatever we consider best for us is what makes the man truly a man, truly free. And a life without elections, a life without decisions, has little freedom, little humanity, little life. That would be an robotic, singular existence, it would be, in the end, meaningless."

Douglas Barrios
Caracas, 2007.