Leopoldo López

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Leopoldo López
López in 2012
National Coordinator of Voluntad Popular
Assumed office
5 December 2009
Preceded byPosition established
Mayor of Chacao
In office
July 2000 – 9 December 2008
Preceded byCornelio Popesco
Succeeded byEmilio Graterón
Personal details
Born
Leopoldo Eduardo López Mendoza

(1971-04-29) 29 April 1971 (age 52)
Caracas, Venezuela
Political partyVoluntad Popular
Spouse(s)Lilian Tintori
Children3
Alma materThe Hun School of Princeton, New Jersey
Kenyon College
Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government
OccupationEconomist[1]
Websiteleopoldolopez.com

Leopoldo Eduardo López Mendoza (born 29 April 1971) is a Venezuelan politician.[2] He co-founded the political party Primero Justicia in 2000 with Henrique Capriles and Julio Borges. He was elected mayor of the Chacao Municipality in 2000. He is a known critic and political enemy of President Nicolas Maduro.

He was arrested in 2014 in which many saw as a politically motivated move by President Maduro. The European Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and several human rights organizations have condemned the arrest and defined it as politically motivated.[3][4] He was convicted on violence and sent to prison for 13 years. He was later transferred to house arrest on 8 July 2017.[5]

On 1 August 2017 he was taken from his home by SEBIN agents and was briefly taken to jail again.[6] During the 2019 Venezuelan uprising, López took refuge as a guest in the Spanish Embassy in Caracas. He fled Venezuela in October 2020.

References[change | change source]

  1. Vinogradoff, Ludmila. "Leopoldo López y los otros dos líderes emergentes de la oposición en Venezuela". ABC. No. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  2. "Venezuela's Guaido leads military uprising". Associated Press. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  3. "Muchas dudas y rechazo genera condena contra Leopoldo López". Noticias Caracol (in Spanish). 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  4. "ONU denuncia que opositor venezolano Leopoldo López está aislado en la cárcel". La Tercera. EFE. 11 March 2014. Archived from the original on 30 September 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  5. "Venezuela's Leopoldo Lopez being released from prison to house arrest". CNN. 8 July 2017.
  6. "Líderes políticos reaccionan ante traslado de Ledezma y López a Ramo Verde". La Patilla (in European Spanish). 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.