Leopoldo López

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Leopoldo Mendoza, a Venezuelan politician and former political prisoner, was born on 29th April 1971.

He co-founded the political party Primero Justicia in 2000, alongside Henrique Capriles Radonski and Julio Borges, and was elected mayor of the Chacao Municipality of Caracas in the national elections held in July 2000.

He is the National Coordinator of another national party, Voluntad Popular, a Socialist International affiliate group of the Socialist International Front in 2009, which he established in 2009.

López has been recognized by NGOs and other groups for his activism. Following allegations of nepotism and misappropriation of funds, administrative sanctions were levied against López by Venezuela's Comptroller's Office in 2004, disqualifying him from serving public service for six years (beginning in 2008, shortly after his term as mayor, 2014).

Venezuelan opposition organizations had sluggish allegations, which had been dismissed as fabrication.

López supporters insist he was never charged with a criminal, attempted, or permitted to refile the charges; he sued Venezuela and was granted a unanimous decision in his favour.

Venezuelan authorities dismissed the decision in February 2014.

He was arrested on February 18 and charged with arson and conspiracy; murder and terrorism charges were dropped; murder and terrorism charges were dismissed.

Human rights organizations expressed fear that the allegations were politically motivated.

His detention in Ramo Verde was turbulent; the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ordered that those detained in connection with the detentions.

According to opinion polls released in late 2014, López had become Venezuela's most popular politicians following his detention.

He was found guilty of public incitement to violence through ostensible text messages, being affiliated with the criminal association, and was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in jail in September 2015.

After being incarcerated for more than three years, he was moved to house arrest on July 8, 2017.

He was taken from his house by SEBIN agents on August 1 and was briefly arrested in Ramo Verde for a short time.

Since then, López has returned home and remained under house arrest from 5 August 2017 until it was announced that López had been released on April 30, 2019.

Political life

Julio Borges cofounded Primero Justicia (Justice First) in 1992 with López. He later moved away from Justice First, having a more centrist-leaning political ethos, and founding the Voluntad Popular Party, a Socialist International affiliate.

The Venezuelan government seemed to have "a full campaign" against López throughout his political career in the country, according to the Los Angeles Times. Kenyon College has described him as "hardworking and unpretentious" with "movie-star good looks and a tender approach with people who have made him extremely popular in Chacao, the most wealthy of Caracas' five municipalities," he said.

López was elected mayor of Chacao Municipality in 2000 with 51% of the vote and re-elected in 2004 with 81%. Constituents lauded him for improving the public health care system and creating new public spaces. The Juan de Dios Guanche Academy and the Centro Deportivo Mendoza, a sports center, were both inaugurated during his term of office. Several key building projects, including the Palos Grandes plaza, the new Mercado Libre's new headquarters, and a massive underground parking facility, were started under López. Lopez attempted to reorganize the Chacao police force around a new CompStat policing scheme, which has been used with apparent success in his neighboring city of Catia, Caracas, but the attorney general did not have the necessary resources to carry out these changes, according to a 2010 Businessweek article. He was described as "earned a reputation among local voters and Venezuelans for open, effective governance," according to the Atlantic.

López, the country's most honest and effective municipal government, was given first-prize honors by Transparency International in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, he took third place in the World Mayors Awards, which honors the "world's most outstanding mayors." The City Mayors Foundation, which sponsors the competition, said that "it will be straightforward to portray him as the scion of the country's wealthy elite" and that it will stand in the way of Chávez' social justice movement. However, López' activism has demonstrated a dedication to advancing political equality, and his constituents have vociferously about a mayor who has focused on public services and investing new infrastructure."

During events surrounding Venezuela's coup d'état bid in 2002, NPR announced Lopez "orchestrated the public demonstrations against President Hugo Chávez and played a key role in Chavez's detention of Chavez's interior minister" from the public prosecutor. Lopez later attempted to distance himself from the incident, insisting that his activities were supposed to shield Chacn from an outraged crowd.

López did not sign the Carmona Decree when he was arrested on the day after the 2002 Venezuelan coup attempt.

"We here do not discuss infrastructure, quality of education, or staffing of schools," López said in August 2009; we Venezuelans want our children to quality schools, where they will not only learn Spanish or math, but also acquire values and be molded as fully human beings."

To ensure the consistency of schools and the education received by children and youth, he called for the formation of grassroots groups similar to a PTA in every school. "The best way to fix the Venezuelan crisis is to have community association, and only by encouraging culture, sport, and jobs," López said.

López was affected by violent protests throughout his political career, including ones involving gunshots targeting him. López's car was shot and left empty of bullet holes in one attack. A group of armed people stormed a university where López was speaking at and created a hostage crisis for about six hours. López' bodyguard, who was in López's regular seat, was shot several times and killed a month later in March 2006. After López returned from a visit to Washington, D.C., he was apparently arrested and assaulted by the state intelligence service, according to the Venezuelan National Guard, who named López as the perpetrator of the assault and released a video as evidence.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor and then upheld by a court decision, López and several hundred other Venezuelans were barred from running in the November 2008 elections due to suspected misconduct. Eighty percent of those refused were members of the opposition. The Venezuelan government's decision found that in 1998, López, the company's public affairs manager, and his mother, the company's general affairs manager, were granted a grant by the Primero Justicia Civil Association, an association of which López was a member. López, the country's most popular banned politician, fought the fine, claiming that the right to serve as the chief of a civil or criminal trial could only be suspended in the event of a civil or criminal trial. Because the government knew they might win, he said the government had barred opposition candidates ahead of the November 2008 regional elections.

In June 2008, López filed his complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Washington, D.C., alleging that none of those punished had been charged, prosecuted, and found guilty by virtue of law, directly in breach of treaties signed by the Venezuelan government and the Venezuelan constitution. The Commission accepted his complaint in July, finding that the two years that had elapsed since López' filing a motion urging the Court to cancel the ban was a "undue delay."

Lopez "should be allowed to run for office," the IACHR found unanimously. The Supreme Court of Venezuela (TSJ) declared the decision "unenforceable," meaning that the disqualification from serving public office was a administrative rather than a political one, and that Lopez was still eligible to run as a candidate and run in elections. This decision barred López from running against Chavez in the upcoming election, although polls showed López would have won.

Even though López and others suspected of misconduct were never tried or convicted, the Venezuelan government maintained that administrative disqualification from holding public office was based in Article 289 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which allows the comptroller general general authority to investigate and regulate public agencies, detect fraud, and enforce administrative fines against employees holding those positions, as well as Article 105 of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic. The Supreme Tribunal's Constitutional Chamber found that the penalty against López and others was constitutional in August 2008.

Following the Venezuelan government's decision, a number of organizations blasted the government's decision as a sign of the country's judicial system's inability. Six of the seven Supreme Court justices, according to the Wall Street Journal, are "sympathetic to the president." The Wall Street Journal also announced that the ban "has triggered comparisons to Iranian government measures excluding opposition politicians from running in elections in the region" and that López was voted out as "a popular opposition politician with a good chance of becoming the mayor of Caracas, one of the country's most influential newspapers." The list of people barred from office, according to BBC News, there was "nothing" that Mr López and others" could do to run in the November 2008 elections.

Even though no one has been found guilty by the court, the Economist said that López was the "most significant victim" of the auditor-general's decision to prohibit hundreds of candidates from running in the state and municipal elections for suspected misconduct. The Carter Center expressed disappointment that the Venezuelan Supreme Court did not find it appropriate to follow the IACHR's decision. "Described political discrimination as a defining feature of Mr. Chávez's presidency," the Human Rights Watch notes, "the act that disqualifies candidates from running for public office despite legal complaints against them." The case against López was one of the "factors that contribute to the deterioration of law and democracy in Venezuela," the Organization of American States cited as one of the "factors that contribute to the weakening of the rule of law and democracy." According to the Associated Press, Chavez used the charges to disqualify López "is a tactic critic," and Chavez uses to put his opponents' political aspirations on hold indefinitely."

During a protest, López and others protested the decision until they were barred in front of a government department.

López submitted a lawsuit again, this time against the Human Rights Commission of the international Mercosur Parliament, requesting Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, which also has observer status, as well as Venezuela's. Two members of the commission went to Caracas to investigate, but they were unable to come to an end because Venezuelan officials refused to meet with them. López was cleared of all of the accusations of misconduct three years after the scandal began.

"What we want is to build a new majority from the bottom up, not just through negotiations and agreements between elites," López founded Voluntad Popular on December 5th, 2009. It's a longer road, but for us, it's the only road that gives us a chance of winning." Voluntad Popular was described by López as a "social, political, pluralistic, and democratic movement" that fought for "the interests of all Venezuelans."

According to WikiLeaks, US diplomatic cables (one labelled "The López Issue") had a section titled "The López Problem") warn López from opposition members.

Although Henrique Capriles led the moderate wing of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) – Venezuela's opposition party alliance, the alliance of Venezuelan opposition parties – "the more confrontational wing" dominated, according to the Economist in February 2014. Both promoted nonviolence, while López, unlike Capriles, "believe[d] that protests will lead to a change of government." Venezuelans marched against the Venezuelan government peacefully on February 12, 2014, according to López. Venezuelan prosecutors were arrested on charges ranging from instigation of delinquency, public nuisance, arson of a public institution, severe injury, "incitement to riot" and terrorism on the same day.

López addressed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Twitter the day after the warrant was issued: "Don't you have the courage to arrest me?" Are you waiting for Havana's orders? The truth is on our side, I tell you." "Maduro ordered López to surrender himself "without a show," according to Reuters, who said he had refused pressure from Washington to drop the lawsuit against him. Maduro "ordered three U.S. consular officers to leave the country for plotting against his government," he said, adding, "Venezuela does not take orders from anyone."

López volunteered to the Guardia Nacional (National Guard) in the presence of thousands of cheering supporters who, like him, wore white as a symbol of nonviolence. In a brief address, he said that he wished his arrest would awaken Venezuela to the chaos and economic disaster caused by socialist rule. He said standing on a statue of Jose Marti, "leave the country, and I will never leave Venezuela." Maduro said he would not tolerate "psychological warfare" by his opponents and that López must be held accountable for his "treasonous conduct" hours after his detention. "Last night, López's wife told CNN that "López was in good spirits behind bars" and that "don't forget why this is happening." He is calling for the release of political prisoners and students as well as an end to repression and violence.

Supervisory Judge Ralenis Tovar Guillén issued a pre-trial detention order against López in reaction to formal charges of conspiracy, incitement to commit offences, arson, and harm to public property, according to public prosecutor Franklin Nieves' charges. López was officially arrested at an arraignment that occurred inside a military bus parked outside the jail, a process that Gutierrez described as "very bizarre."

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Personal life and early career

López Mendoza was born on 29 April 1971 in Caracas, into a prominent family; his mother Antonieta Mendoza de López was vice president of corporate affairs at the media conglomerate, Cisneros Group, while his father, Leopoldo López Gil, held an executive editorial position at El Nacional and became a Member of the European Parliament in 2019. He has two sisters, Diana and Adriana López.

López is descended from prominent Venezuelans, including a former president. His mother is the daughter of Eduardo Mendoza Goiticoa, who was Secretary of Agriculture for two years during the Rómulo Betancourt years (1945 to 1948). Through her, López is the great-great-great-grandson of the country's first president, Cristóbal Mendoza. He is also the great-great-grand nephew of Simón Bolívar. Bolivar's sister, Juana Bolivar, is López's great-great-great-great-grandmother, making him one of Bolívar's few living relatives. His great-uncle Rafael Ernesto López Ortega was Minister of Education during the presidency of López Contreras. His grandfather Leopoldo López Ortega and great-uncle Rafael Ernesto López Ortega were both doctors, founders of the Centro Medico of San Bernardino in Caracas. López's cousin is Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation.

López studied at Colegio Los Arcos and Colegio Santiago de León de Caracas and graduated from boarding school in the US at the Hun School of Princeton, where he was captain of the crew and swim teams, and vice president of the student council. In 1989, López told the student newspaper at the Hun School, The Mall, that "Being away from home created an awakening of the responsibility I have towards the people of my country. I belong to one percent of the privileged people, and achieving a good education will hopefully enable me to do something to help my country." A fellow student described him as being "very good at getting people psyched" on the swimming and crew teams, and added: "I am sure these qualities will help him lead Venezuela out of the third world some day." The article noted that López, after graduating from Kenyon, hoped to attend graduate school, and then return to his country "where he hopes to go into politics and improve Venezuela".

In 1993, López graduated from Kenyon College where he received degrees in Economics and Sociology. A college friend said in 2014 that during their student days López had founded a student group called Active Students Helping the Earth Survive. He attended Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government where he obtained a Master of Public Policy in 1996.

In 2007, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Kenyon.

On 19 April 2007 he married Lilian Tintori. They have three children: Manuela Rafaela, born in 2009; Leopoldo Santiago, born in 2013; and Federica Antonieta, born in 2018.

López worked as an analyst and consultant for the chief economist to the Planning Vice-President of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) between 1996 and 1999; he was a professor of Institutional Economy in the Economics Department at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.

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Awards and honors

• 2007 – Kenyon College Honoris Causa Doctorate Law.
• 2007, 2008 – Premio Transparencia Award, to the most transparent city mayor of Venezuela, granted by the Venezuela branch of Transparency International.
• 2008 – Third place, World Mayor Project, for being a "hands-on mayor as well as a national politician fighting for democratic openness and fairness in Venezuela".
• 2009 – The Most Innovative People Award for Resiliency from the Future Capitals World Summit.
• 2014 – Harvard University Alumni Achievement Award for the support of democracy and transparency in Venezuela.
• 2014 – Foreign Policy listed López in its Leading Global Thinkers of 2014 publication.
• 2015 – National Endowment for Democracy awarded López its Democracy Award in May 2015.
• 2015 – Cádiz Cortes Ibero-American Freedom Prize was awarded "given the unblemished defense of freedom in your community and minimum requirements of the realization of human rights in the same, which has led them to be subject to public rebuke of their government, including the flagrant situation of imprisonment or the cutting of your minimal civil rights".
• 2015 – One of Spain ABC's Ten Faces in the World in 2015.
• 2016 – Courage Award, Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, shared with Antonio Ledezma, "for inspiring the world with their extraordinary courage in the defense of liberty and universal human rights".
• 2017 – Florida Medal of Freedom awarded by Governor of Florida, Rick Scott.
• 2017 - Sakharov Prize, along with the Venezuelan opposition.
• 2018 – Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize