Subtitles don't show properly in VLC, how to fix it? (Debian 7)

[Mario Castelán Castro <marioxcc.MT@yandex.com>]

Hello.

When I try to watch a video with external .srt subtitles in VLC, I get 
strings like "98 --> 00:00:11" (which are strings part of the .stt file) 
instead of the proper text. The problem is the same whether I open the 
subtitles with the "Open (advanced)" menu option, or name both files the 
same (except for the extension) and use the "Video"->"Subtitles Track" 
menu to select the subtitles.

How can I fix or work around this problem?.

Thanks in advance.