STAY THE COURSE. SHARE THIS PETITION UNTIL THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS WHAT IS HAPPENING IN VENEZUELA. LET'S RAISE OUR VOICES ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND SUPPORT THE GOOD PEOPLE OF VENEZUELA WHO ARE MARCHING FOR FOOD, FOR HOPE, FOR THEIR CHILDREN, FOR RUPERTA THE ELEPHANT. WE HAVE SURPASSED THE 2500 MILESTONE IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS AND ANOTHER MESSAGE HAS BEEN SENT TO THE VENEZUELAN AUTHORITIES ON BEHALF OF RUPERTA AND THOSE IN NEED OF FOOD. BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR MANY IN VENEZUELA AS THE INFANT MORTALITY RATE RISES (SEE BELOW) AND THE NUMBER OF DEATHS OF STUDENTS PROTESTING THE GOVERNMENT CONTINUE TO RISE (43 AND COUNTING AS YOU READ THIS UPDATE). PLEASE CONTINUE TO SHARE THIS PETITION AND SPREAD THE WORD. WE CAN NOT LOSE ANOTHER CHILD, ANOTHER LIFE, DUE TO THE CRISIS IN VENEZUELA. WHEN YOU PRAY FOR RUPERTA, THE ELEPHANT STARVING IN THE CURACUAO ZOO, YOU PRAY FOR ALL OF VENEZUELA'S CHILDREN. WE CAN NOT JUST LOOK AWAY AND ALLOW 20 THOUSAND MORE CHILDREN TO DIE. WE CAN NOT LET RUPERTA, SYMBOL OF VENEZUELA, STARVE TO DEATH. President Maduro of Venezuela fired Health Minister Antonieta Caporale last week, after she released a report showing a 30% rise in the deaths of children under the age of 1 (2016). From this data it can be gleamed that over 20K children age 1 or younger have died in the 2015-2016 times span. SOURCE: Maduradas.com En el boletín sanitario se reportó un aumento del 30 % de mortalidad infantil en niños menores de un 1 año de edad, balance que calcula en 11.466 muertes (8.812 fallecimientos en el 2015).