Franklin Brito
Encyclopedia
Franklin José Brito Rodríguez (5 September 1960 – 30 August 2010) was a Venezuela
n agricultural producer and biologist who gained national and international prominence over a land ownership dispute with his neighbours. He carried out a series of legal challenges and dramatic public protests from 2004, often coinciding with other protests such as the 2007 Venezuelan demonstrations
. Brito's protests culminated in his death due to a hunger strike
. Legal rulings, and inspections by the Instituto Nacional de Tierras
(INTI), repeatedly found that the land titles INTI had issued to his neighbours did not overlap his land. Brito's death, which came in the highly charged pre-election atmosphere of the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010
, led to widespread domestic and international media coverage.
, Bolivar State
.
In 2002 Brito submitted a project to the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana
(CVG) to combat a disease that was affecting the yam
plantations in Sucre Municipality
, Bolívar State. However, his proposal entered in conflict with another one adopted by Sucre's Mayor, Juan Carlos Figarella, a member of the political party, Fifth Republic Movement
. Brito also alerted the CVG about the supposed existence of a risk of the misappropriation of the funds in case that Figarella's proposal was accepted. Finally, Sucre's Mayor project was rejected, but Brito lost his post in Sucre Mayoralty's Agricultural Institute shortly after. Also, he was fired from his job as a secondary school teacher, and his wife from her job as a teacher at another public school. In both cases, the Britos claimed that their longevity and severance benefits were not paid.
Since March 2003, Brito claimed that some land titles issued to neighbours overlapped with parts of his farm. The government said that the neighbours had occupied the relevant lands before Brito's title had been assigned to him, and verified the property borders to ensure that there was no overlap between the land titles.
According to Brito, his dispute began when a 59 acres (238,764.7 m²) part of his 716 acres (2.9 km²) farm (numbers vary) in Bolívar State was taken over by neighbours. According to Brito, he later found out that the neighbours had been authorised by the INTI. INTI, a land reform
agency of the Venezuelan government. Brito said that the takeover was orchestrated due to a grudge by a local mayor (of Sucre
), whom he believed corrupt.
The government denied this, and said that Brito's lands had never been expropriated. The government said that Brito's title to 716 acres (2.9 km²) had been assured, and that there was no overlap of title with that of his neighbours, as repeated INTI inspections showed, initially in November 2003, and again in 2005, and confirmed by a local court in December 2006 and by the Supreme Tribunal of Venezuela
in March 2007.
turned down his case. In 2008, in the face of another hunger strike, according to Agencia Venezolana de Noticias, the president of INTI again intervened over Brito's attempt to invalidate his neighbours' ownership titles, donating agricultural supplies and a tractor, and deforesting 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of Brito's land. According to The Economist
, the government had a habit of reneging on its promises after he ended his hunger strikes. At one point Brito turned down almost all of a government settlement of $230,000 on the grounds that he believed it could be seen as illegal and potentially lead to his incarceration for corruption.
In July 2009 he began another protest in front of the Organisation of American States building in Venezuela, which lasted until December 2009, when INTI revoked the disputed land titles for humanitarian reasons due to Brito's continuing hunger strikes. Brito however rejected this as not firmly legal, and began another protest in front of the OAS building, leading the OAS to offer mediation. In January 2010 the Venezuelan Attorney General applied to a court to have Brito moved to a hospital. He was initially cared for by the Venezuelan Red Cross and later transferred to a military hospital under the supervision of the Red Cross. The government said that the hospitalisation was for his own protection. Agencia Venezolana de Noticias cited Red Cross and United Nations
support for the move, and quoted the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Venezuela, Alfredo Missair, as saying that "I had never seen a State so much worried for the defense of the rights of a single man as it is the case of Franklin Brito". Family members visited regularly and kept the media informed of Brito's health. From June he was attended at the hospital by Red Cross doctors. The government said that during Brito's hospitalization the Attorney General's office visited him 79 times. On 23 August the Minister for Agriculture, Juan Carlos Loyo, visited Brito in hospital and spoke there with his family members about possible resolution of the dispute, with the media reporting that discussions between government representatives and family members had been ongoing for several days.
, and led to widespread domestic and international media coverage. United States
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
Philip J. Crowley
said that the United States was saddened by Brito's death. Venezuelan Vice President Elías Jaua
also expressed regret, reiterating the government's position that Brito's land had never been expropriated. On the receipt of a private petition after his death, the Attorney General announced an investigation into whether Brito had been induced to commit suicide by continuing the hunger strike. The government also accused the Venezuelan opposition of acting like "vultures" and desiring Brito's death for their own political ends.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n agricultural producer and biologist who gained national and international prominence over a land ownership dispute with his neighbours. He carried out a series of legal challenges and dramatic public protests from 2004, often coinciding with other protests such as the 2007 Venezuelan demonstrations
2007 Venezuelan demonstrations
Venezuelan demonstrations for and against President Hugo Chávez's proposed 2 December constitutional referendum occurred after the National Assembly approved the referendum on 2 November 2007....
. Brito's protests culminated in his death due to a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
. Legal rulings, and inspections by the Instituto Nacional de Tierras
Instituto Nacional de Tierras
Instituto Nacional de Tierras is one of the Venezuelan governmental organizations overseeing the land distribution program . INTI is charged with identifying fallow plots of land, which via eminent domain it can buy from the owners. After acquiring the land, INTI gives land-use rights to other...
(INTI), repeatedly found that the land titles INTI had issued to his neighbours did not overlap his land. Brito's death, which came in the highly charged pre-election atmosphere of the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010
Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010
The 2010 parliamentary election in Venezuela took place on 26 September 2010 to elect the 165 deputies to the National Assembly. Venezuelan opposition parties, which had boycotted the previous election, thus allowing the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela to gain a two-thirds...
, led to widespread domestic and international media coverage.
Initial claims
In 1999 the Instituto Agrario Nacional gave Brito a tax-free title to a 717 acres (290.2 ha) property in La Tigrera, in SucreSucre Municipality, Bolívar
The Sucre Municipality is one of the 11 municipalities that makes up the Venezuelan state of Bolívar and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 27,218. The town of Maripa is the shire town of the Sucre...
, Bolivar State
Bolívar (state)
Bolívar State , is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital city is Ciudad Bolívar. Bolívar State covers a total surface area of 238,000 km² and in June 30, 2010 had an estimated population of 1,620,359....
.
In 2002 Brito submitted a project to the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana
Corporación Venezolana de Guayana
The Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana is a decentralized state-owned Venezuelan conglomerate, located in the Guayana Region in the southeast of the country. Its subsidiaries include the aluminium producer Alcasa....
(CVG) to combat a disease that was affecting the yam
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
plantations in Sucre Municipality
Sucre Municipality, Bolívar
The Sucre Municipality is one of the 11 municipalities that makes up the Venezuelan state of Bolívar and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 27,218. The town of Maripa is the shire town of the Sucre...
, Bolívar State. However, his proposal entered in conflict with another one adopted by Sucre's Mayor, Juan Carlos Figarella, a member of the political party, Fifth Republic Movement
Fifth Republic Movement
The Fifth Republic Movement was a left-wing, Socialist political party in Venezuela. It was founded in July 1997, following a national congress of the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200, to support the candidacy of Hugo Chávez, the current President of Venezuela, in the Venezuelan presidential...
. Brito also alerted the CVG about the supposed existence of a risk of the misappropriation of the funds in case that Figarella's proposal was accepted. Finally, Sucre's Mayor project was rejected, but Brito lost his post in Sucre Mayoralty's Agricultural Institute shortly after. Also, he was fired from his job as a secondary school teacher, and his wife from her job as a teacher at another public school. In both cases, the Britos claimed that their longevity and severance benefits were not paid.
Since March 2003, Brito claimed that some land titles issued to neighbours overlapped with parts of his farm. The government said that the neighbours had occupied the relevant lands before Brito's title had been assigned to him, and verified the property borders to ensure that there was no overlap between the land titles.
According to Brito, his dispute began when a 59 acres (238,764.7 m²) part of his 716 acres (2.9 km²) farm (numbers vary) in Bolívar State was taken over by neighbours. According to Brito, he later found out that the neighbours had been authorised by the INTI. INTI, a land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
agency of the Venezuelan government. Brito said that the takeover was orchestrated due to a grudge by a local mayor (of Sucre
Sucre Municipality, Bolívar
The Sucre Municipality is one of the 11 municipalities that makes up the Venezuelan state of Bolívar and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 27,218. The town of Maripa is the shire town of the Sucre...
), whom he believed corrupt.
The government denied this, and said that Brito's lands had never been expropriated. The government said that Brito's title to 716 acres (2.9 km²) had been assured, and that there was no overlap of title with that of his neighbours, as repeated INTI inspections showed, initially in November 2003, and again in 2005, and confirmed by a local court in December 2006 and by the Supreme Tribunal of Venezuela
Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela)
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice is the highest court of law in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is the head of the judicial branch.The Supreme Tribunal may meet either in specialized chambers or in plenary session...
in March 2007.
Legal challenges and public protests
After Brito (in his version of events) lost part of his farm, he staged a range of public protests in order to raise public support for his cause, including a total of six hunger strikes. His first hunger strike took place on 24 November 2004, and another in 2005, and as a result he received compensation for alleged damages. In 2005, when a court decided against him, Brito amputated a finger for the television cameras. In 2006 an appeal to a higher court was ruled inadmissible. A second hunger strike followed, in response to which the president of INTI attended to his case. INTI said that a December 2006 inspection by it found that there was no overlap with neighbours' claims, and new access roads and other improvements made to his property, carried out and financed by INTI. In 2007 the Supreme Tribunal of JusticeSupreme Tribunal of Justice (Venezuela)
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice is the highest court of law in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and is the head of the judicial branch.The Supreme Tribunal may meet either in specialized chambers or in plenary session...
turned down his case. In 2008, in the face of another hunger strike, according to Agencia Venezolana de Noticias, the president of INTI again intervened over Brito's attempt to invalidate his neighbours' ownership titles, donating agricultural supplies and a tractor, and deforesting 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of Brito's land. According to The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, the government had a habit of reneging on its promises after he ended his hunger strikes. At one point Brito turned down almost all of a government settlement of $230,000 on the grounds that he believed it could be seen as illegal and potentially lead to his incarceration for corruption.
In July 2009 he began another protest in front of the Organisation of American States building in Venezuela, which lasted until December 2009, when INTI revoked the disputed land titles for humanitarian reasons due to Brito's continuing hunger strikes. Brito however rejected this as not firmly legal, and began another protest in front of the OAS building, leading the OAS to offer mediation. In January 2010 the Venezuelan Attorney General applied to a court to have Brito moved to a hospital. He was initially cared for by the Venezuelan Red Cross and later transferred to a military hospital under the supervision of the Red Cross. The government said that the hospitalisation was for his own protection. Agencia Venezolana de Noticias cited Red Cross and United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
support for the move, and quoted the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Venezuela, Alfredo Missair, as saying that "I had never seen a State so much worried for the defense of the rights of a single man as it is the case of Franklin Brito". Family members visited regularly and kept the media informed of Brito's health. From June he was attended at the hospital by Red Cross doctors. The government said that during Brito's hospitalization the Attorney General's office visited him 79 times. On 23 August the Minister for Agriculture, Juan Carlos Loyo, visited Brito in hospital and spoke there with his family members about possible resolution of the dispute, with the media reporting that discussions between government representatives and family members had been ongoing for several days.
Death
Brito died, age 49, in the hospital on the evening of 30 August, having intensified his hunger strike in mid-August. His family said that Brito had become a "symbol and standard bearer for all those who have been stepped on by power and government arrogance." The government stated that opposition politicians and media were trying to exploit his protest for political gain; his death came in the highly charged pre-election atmosphere of the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010
The 2010 parliamentary election in Venezuela took place on 26 September 2010 to elect the 165 deputies to the National Assembly. Venezuelan opposition parties, which had boycotted the previous election, thus allowing the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela to gain a two-thirds...
, and led to widespread domestic and international media coverage. United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Public Affairs within the United States Department of State. Typically, the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs is also the official spokesperson of the State Department...
Philip J. Crowley
Philip J. Crowley
Philip J. “P.J.” Crowley is the former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, having been sworn into office on May 26, 2009. He resigned on March 13, 2011, following comments he made about the treatment of Bradley Manning. Crowley was named the 2011-2012 recipient of the...
said that the United States was saddened by Brito's death. Venezuelan Vice President Elías Jaua
Elías Jaua
-External links: "", World Investment News, 11 September 2006...
also expressed regret, reiterating the government's position that Brito's land had never been expropriated. On the receipt of a private petition after his death, the Attorney General announced an investigation into whether Brito had been induced to commit suicide by continuing the hunger strike. The government also accused the Venezuelan opposition of acting like "vultures" and desiring Brito's death for their own political ends.