- Leopoldo López
Infobox_Politician
name = Leopoldo López
width =
height =
caption = Leopoldo López
birth_date = Birth date and age|1971|4|29|mf=y
birth_place =Caracas ,Venezuela
residence = Caracas
office = Mayor of Chacao
term_start = 2000
term_end =
predecessor =Irene Sáez
successor =
party = "Un Nuevo Tiempo"
religion =
spouse = Lilian Tintori
children =
website =Leopoldo López (born 29 April 1971 in
Caracas ,Venezuela ) is a Venezuelan politician. Since 2000, López has been the mayor of the Chacao Municipality of Caracas. A "Los Angeles Times " article describes López as an immensely popular leader of the opposition to Venezuelan PresidentHugo Chávez , as well as a social activist working for "grass-roots judicial reform".cite news|author=Kraul, Chris|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/1079361831.html?dids=1079361831:1079361831&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+19%2C+2006&author=Chris+Kraul&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=A.4&desc=The+World|title= A Lightning Rod for Venezuela's Political Strife|work=Los Angeles Times |date= 19 July 2006 Also [http://venezuelareal.zoomblog.com/archivo/2006/07/20/a-Lightning-Rod-for-Venezuelas-Politic.html online here.] ]A leading Venezuelan newspaper, "
El Nacional ", named López 2003 Person of the Year, describing him as one of the most notable leaders of the opposition to Chávez and as the best mayor of the metropolitan area of Caracas.es icon cite news|author=Pereira, Javier|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20061210044347/http://www.el-nacional.com/personajede2003/gestpub.asp |title=Personaje del año |work=El Nacional | accessdaymonth= 9 September |accessyear=2008]Personal life and education
López was born in Caracas on 29 April 1971, the second of three brothers. López spent his early years studying at the Colegio Santiago de León de Caracas. Between 1989 and 1993, he studied Economics at
Kenyon College in Ohio. He subsequently attendedHarvard University 'sKennedy School of Government where he obtained aMaster's degree in Public Policy in 1996.es icon cite web|url=http://www.chacao.gov.ve/alcalde/oficinadetail.asp?Id=18 |title=Leopoldo López Mendoza |publisher= Oficina del Alcalde, Chacao |accessdaymonth= 9 September |accessyear=2008 Also available in the [http://web.archive.org/web/20071231194747/http://www.chacao.gov.ve/alcalde/oficinadetail.asp?Id=18 internet archive.] ] In 2007, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from his Alma Mater, Kenyon College. [cite web|url=http://www.kenyon.edu/x29280.xml |title=Honors day |publisher= Kenyon College, Office of the Provost |accessdaymonth= 30 August |accessyear=2007] In May 2007 he married Lilian Tintori.Professional and political life
López worked as an economic consultant to the Planning Vice-President in
Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) between 1996 and 1999, and has served as a professor of Institutional Economy in the Economics Department atUniversidad Católica Andrés Bello .López cofounded the Primero Justicia political party. In 2007 he joined
Un Nuevo Tiempo , the most popular party among Venezuela's opposition.es icon Cite web|url=http://noticiero.venevision.net/index_not.asp?id_noticia=20070303000601&id_seccion=01|title=Un Nuevo Tiempo juramentó nueva comisión política|accessdaymonth=4 March |accessyear=2007|publisher=Venevisión |date= 3 March 2007]López was elected mayor of Chacao in 2000 with 51% of the vote, and re-elected in 2004, gaining 81% of the vote; the "LA Times" describes him as "immensely popular".
Opposition leader: target of violence
The
United States Department of State mentioned actions taken against López by the Venezuelan government in its 2005 annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices. López was suspended in November 2005 from political activity after his term as mayor expires in 2008 because of allegations of misuse of funds; according to the US State Department, the charges were part of "a strategy by the Chavez government to eliminate the political opposition". [ cite web|url= http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61745.htm |title= Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Venezuela, 2005 |publisher= U.S. State Department |date= 8 March 2006 |accessdaymonth= 9 September |accessyear=2008] According to the "Los Angeles Times ", López says "his real offense is that he poses an electoral threat as he builds a social democratic alternative to the socialist, anti-American 'Bolivarian Revolution '." According to the "Times" article, Chávez critics say all government dissidents are being targeted, but "Lopez seems to be the object of a full-out campaign". His aunt was also a victim of violence in Venezuela, shot during a peaceful rally.cite web| author= Glabe, Scott L |url= http://dartreview.com/archives/2005/11/22/new_organization_opens_fire_on_chavez.php |title= New Organization Opens Fire on Chavez |publisher = The Dartmouth Review| date= 22 November 2005 |accessdaymonth= 9 September |accessyear= 2008]As a leader of the Chávez opposition, López says he has experienced several violent attacks: the "
Los Angeles Times " says he has been shot at and was held hostage in February 2006 by armed thugs at a university where he was speaking and his bodyguard was shot while sitting in the passenger seat of the car where López normally sits. According to the "LA Times" "the killing of his bodyguard was meant to send a message". According to Jackson Diehl, writing for the "Washington Post ", in June 2008, after Lopez returned from a visit to Washington, D.C., he was detained and assaulted by the state intelligence service. cite news|url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/29/AR2008062901480.html |title=The Rival Chavez Won't Permit |work= The Washington Post |date= 30 June 2008 |page= A11 |accessdaymonth= 21 July |accesseyear=2008] A member of theVenezuelan National Guard denounced López as responsible for the aggression and presented a video as evidence. [es icon cite web|url=http://actualidad.terra.es/articulo/fiscalia-investiga-alcalde-opositor-presuntas-2582149.htm|title=La Fiscalía investiga a un alcalde opositor por presuntas agresiones contra agentes del aeropuerto|date=28 June 2008 |publisher=Terra |accessdaymonth=22 July| accessyear= 2008]Political future
López is among 400 Venezuelans barred by the Venezuelan government from running in the November 2008 elections on unproven charges of corruption; 80 percent of those barred belong to the opposition. cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7471817.stm |title= Testing Times Ahead for Chavez |publisher= BBC News |date= 27 June 2008 |accessdaymonth= 22 July |accessyear=2008] The November elections are crucial for the Chávez administration to remain in control; following Chávez's defeat at the polls in December 2007, López says the government banned them because it knows they can win. As the best known politician on the list, López is contesting the sanction, arguing that the right to hold elected office can only be rescinded in the wake of a civil or criminal trial. In June 2008, López made his case before the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington, D.C.; in July, the Commission agreed to hear his case [cite news| author= Gunson, Phil |url= http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/46725.html |title= More anger, protests over Venezuelan decrees |work= Miami Herald |date= 7 August 2008 |accessdaymonth= 7 August |accesseyear= 2008] and noted that the two years that have elapsed since Lopez filed a motion asking the Court to annul the ban constitutes an "undue delay". [cite news |author= Alonso, Juan Francisco |url = http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/07/31/en_pol_art_iachr-finds-unjustif_31A1858639.shtml |title= IACHR finds unjustified procedural delay in case of Venezuelan Mayor |work = El Universal |date= 31 July 2008 |accessdaymonth= 13 August |accessyear= 2008] A poll in April 2008 found that 52% of adults opposed the ban, and 51% thought it was politically motivated. The US State Department said the attempt to rule by decree was "worrisome"; Chavez responded saying that concerns were "overblown". [cite web|url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-08-07-voa53.cfm|title=US Calls Chavez' Rule by Decree Effort Worrisome|author=Gollust, David|date=7 August 2008|publisher=VOA News|accessdaymonth=9 September |accesseyar=2008]Although no individudals have been convicted of any crimes and charges remain unproven, in August 2008, the Constitutional Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunalndashdominated by Chávez appointees [cite web |author = Cancel, Daniel and Steven Bodzin |url= http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aHU8sgEGjO4U&refer=latin_america |title = Venezuela Opposition Pleads Decree Case to Trade Bloc (Update3) |publisher= Bloomberg.com |date= 7 August 2008 |accessdaymonth = 9 September |accessyear= 2008] ndashfound that the sanction of the Comptroller General was constitutional. [es icon cite web |url=http://www.eluniversal.com/2008/08/05/pol_ava_declaran-constitucio_05A1883441.shtml |title=Declaran constitucionalidad del artículo 105 de la Ley de Contraloría |date=5 August 2008 |work=El Universal|accessdaymonth=9 September |accessyear=2008] According to the "Wall Street Journal", six of the seven Suprme Court justices "are sympathetic to the president". BBC News called the list of individuals barred from office a "blacklist," noting that "there is little that Mr López and others can now do that will allow them to take part in November's polls". [ cite web |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7546503.stm |title= Venezuelans protest against ban |publisher= BBC News |date= 7 August 2008 |accessdaymonth= 8 August |accessyear=2008] The "Economist" observed that López is the "main apparent target" of the "decision by the auditor-general to ban hundreds of candidates from standing in the state and municipal elections for alleged corruption, even though none has been convicted by the courts". [ cite web |url= http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11885670 |title= The autocrat of Caracas |work= The Economist |date= 7 August 2008 | accessdaymonth= 8 August |accessyear=2008] The "Wall Street Journal" noted that the ban "has elicited comparisons to moves by Iran's government preventing opposition politicians from running in elections in that country" and singles López out as "a popular opposition politician who polls say would have a good chance at becoming the mayor of Caracas, one of the most important posts in the country".cite web| author= de Córdoba, José and Darcy Crowe |url= http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121798058478615151.html?mod=googlenews_wsj |title= In Enacting Decrees, Chávez Makes New Power Grab |work= Wall Street Journal |date= 6 August 2008 |accessdaymonth= 8 August |accessyear= 2008]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
