Hunger strike of teacher Viana do Castelo questioned for health reasons

The continuation of the hunger strike started by teacher Luis Sottomayor Braga at 00:00 on Tuesday, in Viana do Castelo, in defense of the public school, will be evaluated this Friday after the teacher suffered a new hypoglycemia crisis.

This Friday, the Lusa agency contacted Cesar Brito of the group of teachers who accompanied Luis Sottomayor Braga and said that a blood sample had been taken from the teacher for analysis, the result of which would determine the continuation of the protest.

Cesar Brito, a teacher at Montserrat High School, assured that “animally” Luis Sottomayor Braga is “very committed and very willing to go on an indefinite hunger strike because he is mentally very clear.”

“Everything will depend on the results of the tests and the assessment of the doctors who support us,” Cesar Brito said, adding that “this morning” Luis Sottomayor Braga “had a hypoglycemic crisis again.”

“If these episodes are repeated, you will not be able to survive on injectable glucose. These crises indicate that the body is not able to produce glucose to withstand this shock, and this is very dangerous,” Cesar Brito explained.

On Thursday evening, more than a hundred teachers took part in a demonstration in support of Luis Sottomayor Braga.

The teacher, who was treated on Thursday afternoon due to a hypoglycemic crisis, left the motor home where he is holding a protest set up next to Santa Maria Mayor High School in Viana do Castelo to thank his colleagues , saying: a few words to them.

Luis Sottomayor Braga received applause and words of encouragement from the teachers holding a sign reading: “Mr. Minister, treat those who are still here well.”

In chorus, they chanted “We don’t stop” and “The United School will never be defeated” and sang the national anthem.

Speaking to reporters, sitting in a chair in a campaign tent set up next to a motorhome and wearing a red carnation on his chest, the 51-year-old teacher told reporters he was “in good health” despite feeling “somewhat tired.” , assuring that he is not going to go on a hunger strike in order to “take too many risks.”

“There is a goal to designate a position, but there is concern for the preservation of life,” he stressed.

Asked if he had already received an answer to the appeal he made on Monday to the President of the Republic not to pass the law on competitions, the teacher said that he was “not waiting for a phone call” but that Marcelo Rebelo de Souza was “acting politically” to stop what he called an “extremely violent act” towards teachers, which is a “very embarrassing situation”.

“The President can even ignore me, and I will be satisfied if he gives a very clear signal. [sobre] if he has a clear political position in relation to the competitive diploma,” he stressed.

He also mentioned that he does not “feel alone”, that he has received numerous “words of appreciation and support” and that it is “a fight for teachers to stay mobilized so that this time education is seen as a problem”. for the future, a structural problem in the country”.

Professor for 28 years Luis Sottomayor Braga declared that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa “has the political and constitutional legitimacy to take action on the educational issue”.

Asked if the dismissal of the Minister of Education would be a solution to teachers’ problems, Luis Sottomayor Braga replied: “I don’t think it’s a bad decision, because what has happened recently does not indicate that he is doing a great job, but if after that, the same political vision of education will be preserved, which dragged on some issues for many decades, we will solve absolutely nothing.”