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          Jailed Venezuelan Opposition Leader Calls Off Hunger Strike

   by Associated Press

   Jailed Venezuelan politician Leopoldo Lopez has ended a 30-day hunger
   strike after authorities set a date for legislative elections, a key
   demand of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro's socialist
   administration.

   "We're ending the strike, but our struggle continues,'' Lopez wrote in
   a letter written from jail and read Tuesday by his wife, Lilian
   Tintori, to journalists in Caracas.

   Lopez stopped eating in May, demanding that the government free
   opponents jailed during last year's anti-government demonstrations and
   set a date for the elections that the opposition is heavily favored to
   win. The protest quickly reinvigorated Venezuela's sometimes
   out-of-touch opposition, drawing the support of dozens of students who
   began fasting in solidarity with Lopez, who is on trial for inciting
   violence during last year's protests.

   The National Electoral Council on Monday said the congressional
   elections would be held Dec. 6, ending months of speculation by
   opponents and international observers that the vote would be canceled.
   The South American country's laws mandate that the balloting for
   National Assembly seats be held this year, but elections officials had
   delayed setting a date.

   The Obama administration, which has been quietly engaging the Maduro
   administration in high-level talks, welcomed the decision to set an
   election date.

   "This is a positive step for the Venezuelan people and their democratic
   institutions,'' State Department spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday in
   Washington.

   The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela currently holds a
   majority in the legislature, but polls indicate that if the election
   were held today, the opposition coalition would win in a landslide. The
   29-party coalition is benefiting from widespread discontent with
   Maduro, driven by mounting shortages, rampant crime and inflation
   estimated to be in the triple digits.

   Opposition parties have not captured a legislative majority since the
   late Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor and mentor, won the presidency
   more than 16 years ago. They have lost every recent national election,
   and currently hold about a third of the seats in the legislature.

   Lopez, who considers himself and the dozens of other people jailed in
   last year's unrest to be political prisoners, expressed optimism that
   the vote would channel Venezuelans' frustration with the ruling party.

   "We assumed this protest not to die but so all Venezuelans can live
   with dignity,'' Lopez wrote in the letter. "Venezuela has a date for
   change.''
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/jailed-venezuelan-opposition-leader-ends-hunger-strike/2834385.html