Here’s something that doesn’t happen every day: the Mayor of Caracas is on hunger strike, in an attempt to convince the Organization of American States to investigate corruption and “power grabbing” allegations lodged against the government of President Hugo Chávez. Mayor Antonio Ledezma is locked inside the OAS offices and is refusing to eat until his demands are met.

The secretary general of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza, responded to the mayor in a phone conversation Tuesday, Ledezma adviser Milos Alcalay said in a news conference. Insulza agreed to meet with a group of mayors and governors of Venezuela who have made similar allegations against the Chavez government, Alcalay said.

“Respectfully, but categorically, [Ledezma] described a series of instances … of increasing harassment in a systematic manner by the central power against the metropolitan mayor,” Alcalay said.

The video above shows that along with Antonio Ledezma, others are also striking outside of the OAS offices. His wife, the first lady of Caracas, also describes the motivation behind the Mayor’s decision: according to her, the Chávez government has made it virtually impossible for him to work.

Via / CNN