Leopoldo Lopez: A Venezuelan Dissident

Latin American politics has been indelibly marked by its history of strongmen. Often referred to as Caudillos in the Spanish speaking world, Latin American strongmen typically come to power utilising a perfect storm of populism, authoritarianism and, most importantly, military backing.

Yet, as much as Latin American politics is known for its strongmen, it’s also known for its dissidents. Behind every strongman there are dissidents and sometimes the dissidents become so dissident that they eventually see themselves become the strongmen. A perfect example of this being Venezuela’s late Hugo Chavez, his Bolivarian Revolution and the conception of Chavismo.

Fast-forward to June 2019, Chavez’s successor, Nicolas Maduro, and opposition leader, Juan Guaido, still vie for the presidency in a country that has been marred by years of poverty and displacement.

It’s been just over a month since Juan Guaido staged a coup to oust Maduro once and for all. Coming to very little in end, Guaido’s failed US-backed coup did manage to bring one Venezuelan dissident firmly back into the international limelight – Leopoldo Lopez.

Appearing alongside Guaido in a video posted just before his attempted coup in late April, many saw his presence besides the young politician as a sign that the opposition’s moment had come.

Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society, said:

“Lopez is a natural leader of the opposition and will have a very important role in a free Venezuela… His public appearance outside house arrest will galvanize the street, even beyond what Guaidó has been able to do, and shows a unified opposition to Maduro’s continued rule.”

So, who is Leopoldo Lopez and what role has he already played in the country’s rapidly unfolding political upheaval?

Who is Leopoldo Lopez?

Leopoldo Lopez is a divisive figure in Venezuelan politics and his background is particularly obscure. For some time within the country, he’s been branded as a rebel, a radical and a right-wing revolutionary. Outside the Chavista camp however, he’s admired as a charismatic, Harvard-educated member of Venezuela’s opposition movement.

Born into a prominent family with a distinguished lineage, Lopez grew up in an affluent district of Caracas during the early 70s. López is the great-great-great-grandson of the country’s first president, Cristóbal Mendoza, and he is the great-great-grand nephew of Simón Bolívar – the iconic South American liberator who Chavez named his own revolution after.

Lopez spent much of his youth in the United States, where he studied at prestigious educational institutions such as The Hun School of Princeton, Kenyon College in Ohio and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (where obtained a Master of Public Policy in 1996).

With a glittering education achieved in the USA, it was always Lopez’ aim to return to Venezuela and begin his political career. He was working in Venezuela during the time that Hugo Chavez was overhauling Venezuelan society from top to bottom.

Yet, Chavez’ rise to power didn’t hinder Lopez’ own political aspirations at first. From 2000 to 2008, Lopez was the Mayor of the Chacao Municipality, one of the five administrative subdivisions of the city of Caracas. Elected in 2000 with 51% of the vote, he was elected again in 2004 with a colossal 81% of the vote.

Although, it was in the early 2000s that Lopez is believed to have orchestrated and organised a series of protests against Chavez. It is even contended that Lopez played a role in an attempted coup to oust Chavez in 2002.

Lopez & Chavismo

As tensions grew between Hugo Chavez and Leopoldo Lopez, the latter started to become more of a target of political violence. In one instance, he was involved in a hostage situation and another time his bodyguard was brutally murdered with the assailant believing him to be Lopez.

In late 2009, Lopez co-founded the political party Voluntad Popular, or Popular Will. López described the new party as “a social and political, pluralistic and democratic movement” that would champion “the rights of all Venezuelans.”

Lopez founded Voluntad Popular alongside a number of other Venezuelan politicians including the young, and relatively unknown, Juan Guaido.

Following the death of Hugo Chavez in early 2013 and the inauguration of his successor Nicolas Maduro, Lopez began to ramp up the pressure on Chavismo and the legacy of Hugo Chavez.

Leopoldo Lopez at the mass protests in Caracas in 2014.

Yet, it was the protests in 2014 that would see Lopez become the fully-fledged dissident that he is today. Initiated by the country’s growing rate of inflation and heightened levels of crime and violence, the mass protests lasted for several months and saw a series of clashes between protesters and government forces that resulted in nearly 4,000 arrests and 43 deaths.

Lopez and his Voluntad Popular party used these protests to promote their own political goals – the overthrow of the Maduro regime. In February 2014, Venezuelan prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Lopez. The charges included “instigation of delinquency, public intimidation, arson of a public building, damage to public property, severe injury, “incitement to riot”, homicide, and terrorism”.

Taking to Twitter, Lopez said, “Don’t you have the guts to arrest me? Or are you waiting for orders from Havana? I tell you, the truth is on our side.” Just days after the warrant was issued, Lopez handed himself in. Although he did so before a crowd of cheering supporters, cementing his status as a revolutionary.

Lopez handing himself in in February 2014. Protesters wore white as a symbol of non-violence, undermining the government’s charges.

Joe Parkin Daniels in The Guardian wrote: “the move backfired on Maduro, as López became a cause célèbre, his face emblazoned on posters and T-shirts at future anti-government protests.”

Sentenced to 14 years in a maximum-security prison outside Caracas, Lopez is reported to have spent at least eight months in solitary confinement. In 2017, Lopez was moved to house arrest, where he remained until April 30th 2019.

The Significance of Leopoldo Lopez

Many believe Leopoldo Lopez to be more influential and decisive to the opposition movement than Guaido himself. After all, Daniels contends: “It was López who ensured Guaidó would lead the national assembly when Maduro began his second term in early January, placing his man at the centre of a geopolitical storm when the US and a host of other democracies recognised him as the country’s legitimate president.”

So, just how influential is Lopez? How much authority does he have and is he pulling the strings behind the less divisive figure of Guaido?

Lopez’ wife, Lilian Tintori, who would relay messages for her husband during his time in prison, has said: “Leopoldo’s in contact with everyone, every day, constantly. He’s been sewing together an opposition that’s totally united and strong and pushing in the same direction, which is what we are seeing now.”

Tintori also went to Washington D.C. on behalf of Lopez to win the support of the Trump administration. Achieving this, Venezuela’s opposition essentially brought about the stalemate that the country is currently enduring.

Venezuela should allow Leopoldo Lopez, a political prisoner & husband of @liliantintori (just met w/ @marcorubio) out of prison immediately. pic.twitter.com/bt8Xhdo7al — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017

On the day of Guaido’s attempted coup, Lopez tweeted: “I have been freed by military men of the constitution, and of President Guaidó. I’m at the La Carlota Base. We have to mobilize. It’s time to conquer freedom. Strength and Faith”

Venezuela: ha iniciado la fase definitiva para el cese de la usurpación, la Operación Libertad. He sido liberado por militares a la orden de la Constitución y del Presidente Guaidó. Estoy en la Base La Carlota. Todos a movilizarnos. Es hora de conquistar la Libertad. Fuerza y Fe pic.twitter.com/Awm6P09ZM0 — Leopoldo López (@leopoldolopez) April 30, 2019

Following the failure of the events of the 30th April, Lopez and his family sought refuge at the Spanish embassy in Caracas. He remains there to do this day, but his wife and two daughters have since left for Spain.

Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, has said that Lopez is a “guest” but “Spain won’t allow its embassy to turn into a centre of political activism”. He went on to say, “we are also confident that, under these conditions, Venezuela will respect diplomatic immunity”.

It’s particularly difficult to say what Guaido, Lopez and other members of the opposition have planned now. It certainly feels like the narrative has changed somewhat in the last few months with a greater focus now on what the US have planned for Venezuela.

Leopoldo Lopez is an interesting political force in the country. A kingmaker, a rebel and a dissident, his life has certainly taken more than a few dramatic turns. Yet, his actions should not be taken as wholly positive and this article should not be seen as support for Lopez.

Venezuela is still very much under the threat of a US invasion and it could be argued that, by drumming up support from the USA, Lopez has in some way brought about the stand-off that is currently taking place.

Covert dissident or strongman in the making, with his house-arrest now over, it will be interesting to see how Lopez confronts the country’s political deadlock.