The unions of students, teachers and graduates of the Simón Bolívar University (USB) They demanded this Wednesday the calling of elections to renew the authorities of the institution, by questioning the management of the interim authorities and demanding greater transparency in the management of resources.
During a joint press conference, Wilmary Venal, president of the Federation of Student Centers (FCE), said that the university is going through a process of deterioration that is also reflected in the reduction of its enrollment. According to him, the institution went from having about 20,000 students to less than 3,000.
“And I am here because, as you can see, the Simón Bolívar University is alone and empty. And it is alone and empty because we do not have the conditions to have new students here, because we do not have teachers. We went from having an enrollment of 20,000 students to almost 3,000 students,” he said.
Venal also questioned the lack of accountability of the interim authorities and questioned the destination of the resources that enter the university, as well as the funds obtained through activities carried out on campus.
“So, what are we going to expect? I would like to know how many shows are going to be done at the Simón Bolívar University, how many more concerts are going to be done at the Simón Bolívar University without any transparency? Because the question that has always been is where that money goes. Where do the resources that reach the Simón Bolívar University go?”, expressed the university leader.
The student leader He stated that the way out involves recovering the institutionality of the USB through an electoral process that allows new authorities to be chosen and, depending on their position, return legitimacy to the leadership of the university.
Teachers denounce that the government refuses to call elections in USB
For his part, Omar Pérez Avendaño, president of the USB Professors Association, assured that the call for elections was also raised before the Minister of University Education, Ana María Sanjuan. According to him, the government’s response would have been contrary to the holding of these elections.
“The interim, they have simply broken the law. To be frank, I spoke with the current minister and one of the things I told her: If we are going to get to work, what you have to do is call elections and they are happy. No (…) elections, no (…),” he assured.
University representatives linked the absence of elections with the loss of students and professors and demanded a process that would allow the next authorities of the Simón Bolívar University to be defined by vote.
With information from a press release.
