Former pro-Chávez leaders Hermann Escarrá (center) and Luis Alfonso Dávila (center-right) after reading the statement in which they criticized the Venezuelan President (Photo: Gil Montaño)

Politics
A group of President Hugo Chávez's former colleagues in the Army, former ministers and members of the Constituent Assembly in 1999, who comprise a group called Polo Constitucional, urged the Venezuelan ruler to resign. They claimed that Chávez "has neither moral nor material authority to rule the country, since he can not meet people's demands satisfactorily."

At a press conference held on Sunday, Luis Alfonso Dávila, former Congress Speaker, former Minister of the Interior and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, read the statement where the group voiced their demands.

"Everything you said before you took office has turned you into an illegitimate president. People suffer from personal insecurity, undermined freedoms, legal and social insecurity; poverty is deepening; public utilities such as water, electricity and garbage collection are a mess. Lack of productivity has led to food shortages, the country's infrastructure has deteriorated due to the lack of maintenance; the Venezuelan economy is experiencing one of its more serious crisis despite oil prices (...) Corruption has reached obscene levels," the statement read.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

Juan Francisco Alonso
EL UNIVERSAL