Venezuelan Students Say ‘Better Naked Than Without Liberty’

Venezuelan students are getting naked on Twitter
to
protest the stripping and beating of an anti-government
protester at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) last
week. Using the hashtag
#MejorDesnudosQueSinLibertad, which translates to “better naked
than without liberty,” the campaign aims to draw attention to the
ongoing repression and police brutality under
President Nicolas Maduro.

Last Friday, an anti-government march at Caracas-based UCV, the
country’s largest university, was interrupted by armed and masked
assailants. The intruders prevented student protesters from leaving
campus and publicly stripped and beat one (unidentified) young
man.

According to
Fox News Latino, these masked assailants were pro-government
militants, known as “colectivos,” who are responsible
for violence and intimidation across Venezuela (including the
March beating of at least 12 UCV students). President Maduro, who
succeeded Hugo Chavez, “has done nothing to publicly discourage the
violence,” according to Fox.

According to
Reuters, the colectivos “view themselves as the defenders of
revolutionary socialism but are denounced by opponents as
thugs.” 

After the violence at UCV on Friday, Ricardo Cie, vice president
of a Venezuelan marketing firm,
tweeted: “If you are the one whom they tried to humiliate
by taking off your clothes, I hope you see this social media
initiative,” along with a nude photo of himself and the hashtag

#DesnudosConLaUCV.

Since then, Venezuelans have been posting their own nude photos
to Twitter and Facebook, using the hashtags
#MejorDesnudosQueSinLibertad,
#DesnudosConLaUCV, and #MejorDesnudosQue
(“better naked than”).