Venezuelan Hard Right Opposition Leader Leopoldo Lopez Flees to Spain

Venezuelan Hard Right Opposition Leader Leopoldo Lopez Flees to Spain

Long seen as one of the most prominent anti-Chavista figures, Lopez had been in the Spanish Ambassador’s residence for 18 months. He was freed from house arrest by rogue intelligence officers during the failed military putsch on April 30, 2019 and sought refuge in the embassy after the coup attempt fizzled out.

The founder of the far right Popular Will party was a key actor in the 2002 failed coup attempt against then President Hugo Chavez and later played a leading role in the 2014 violent “guarimba” street protests which left 43 people dead. He was found guilty of public incitement to violence and association to commit crimes and convicted to a 13 years and nine months prison sentence in 2015, which was commuted to house arrest two years later.

Related:

Leopoldo López Speaks About His Escape From Venezuelan Justice

Spanish Prime Minister and Leopoldo López Meet (PSOE)

Venezuela Condemns Spain for “Facilitating the Escape of Terrorist Leopoldo López”

The War on Cuba and Venezuela

The War on Cuba and Venezuela

But not only did the Cuban people benefit from subsidized or no-cost Venezuelan oil; the Venezuelan working class did too, from the Cuban health, culture and literacy missions, such as Barrio Adentro and Misión Robinson, now common throughout the country. Under Chavez’s PDVSA, which since 1986 has owned a majority share of U.S. oil refiner and distributor CITGO, the U.S. poor and people of color also benefited from Venezuelan oil, as Joe Kennedy’s Citizens Energy Corporation worked with Chavez to deliver free heating fuel to homeless shelters, low-income communities of colors and Native American reservations.

YouTube: The War on Cuba – Episode 1

Venezuela’s Maduro wins UK court appeal over $1 billion in gold reserves held by the Bank of England

Venezuela’s Maduro wins UK court appeal over $1 billion in gold reserves held by the Bank of England

– Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro won a UK court appeal that ruled the legal battle over $1 billion in gold reserves held by the Bank of England must be reconsidered.

– Britain’s second-highest court reversed a previous ruling that recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president.

– The UK’s recognition of Venezuela’s de facto leader “is to my mind ambiguous, or at any rate less than unequivocal,” court justices led by Judge Stephen Males said on Monday.

– Earlier this year, Maduro had demanded the gold held in the vaults of the Bank of England to help his cash-starved nation battle the COVID-19 pandemic. But his administration was refused access.