Jailed Venezuelan Opposition Leaders Begin Hunger Strike

Jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and another high-profile detainee began a hunger strike Saturday to protest political repression in the South American nation.

Lopez announced the action in a four-minute video that was surreptitiously filmed in his narrow prison cell and released on YouTube.

In it, he decries the economic and political situation in Venezuela and says he and fellow detainee Daniel Ceballos, a former student leader and ex-mayor of San Cristobal in Tachira state, would start fasting immediately.

"Ceballos and I have made the decision to today launch a hunger strike with very specific goals," Lopez says.

"The release of political prisoners; the end of persecution, repression and censorship; and for there to be definite dates for parliamentary elections that will be observed by the OAS (Organization of American States) and the European Union," he adds.

Lopez has been charged with inciting deadly violence against President Nicolas Maduro's government.

Held at the Ramo Verde military prison outside Caracas, Lopez has been on trial since July 24, accused of having advocated public protests as a means to pressure Maduro to resign.