CARACAS,  (Reuters) – A Venezuelan farmer who died after  a hunger strike to protest President Hugo Chavez’s land takeover  policies was denied his own doctor and has become a symbol for the  oppressed, his mourning family said.

In a politically sensitive case just weeks before a  parliamentary election, Franklin Brito, 49, died on Monday at a  Caracas military hospital where he had been taken against his will  after demonstrating in a public square.

“Franklin Brito’s struggle continues,” his family said in a  statement. “He has left his human form to become a symbol and  flag for all those oppressed by the arrogance of power.”

The government has in the past said Brito was mentally  unstable and that he had rejected their efforts to guarantee  his land rights. It said officials had done everything possible to  save his life and accused opposition parties of exploiting his  case for political motives.

Some 59 acres (24 hectares) of yucca and watermelon  plantations on Brito’s land in southern Bolivar state were  seized and occupied by neighbours in 2003, beginning a  complicated saga of protests, claims and counter-claims over  the case.
Before being taken to the military hospital at the end of  last year, Brito camped for months outside the Caracas office  of the Organization of American States, sewed his mouth shut  and even chopped off a finger in front of television cameras.

His death came at a time of high political passions in the  South American nation ahead of a Sept. 26 vote for parliament  where the opposition hopes to slash the majority of Chavez and his  Socialist Party.

Some Chavez critics had compared Brito’s case to that of  Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata, who died in February after an  85-day hunger strike demanding better prison conditions. That  drew international condemnation of Havana’s rights record.

Before his death, Brito had been taking some fluids in the  hospital through injections to fend off dehydration, but  relatives said he had not been allowed to see a doctor of his  choice.

“He wanted to be with his own trusted doctor,” his daughter  Angela Brito told reporters, accusing the state of “torture”.

The precise cause of death was unclear, with some media  saying he had a heart attack.

A government statement said Brito’s vital organs were  severely damaged and he had a general lung infection.

“The institutions of the Venezuelan state tried by all  necessary actions to try and preserve his life,” it said.

The statement said Brito’s property rights had been ratified  years ago but that opposition parties had “used his good will for  political means.”
Amid a torrent of condemnations from opposition groups, the  the First Justice party said Brito’s death was symptomatic of  Venezuela’s “sick” society.

“The absence of dialogue and understanding makes the most  vulnerable people take drastic decisions like a father prepared  to die in defense of a right consecrated in the National  Constitution: private property.”

Still largely popular among the poor, Chavez says he is  reversing decades of injustice by redistributing wealth in the  South American OPEC member along more equitable lines. Some 6.2  million acres (2.5 million hectares) have been expropriated.

Opponents say Chavez, 56, is turning Venezuela into a  Cuban-style regime and wrecking the economy.