About the Event

his event is sponsored by EV Houston. 

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López Mendoza is arguably the most important and influential political prisoner in the Western Hemisphere. In 2015 in a closed-door trial, the government of Nicolás Maduro, the chosen successor of Hugo Chávez, found him guilty of inciting violence during anti-government protests.

Many human rights activists around the world condemned the verdict and 14 year prison sentence for being both politically motivated and profoundly unjust. His lawyers stated that the judge allowed only one of the 60 requested defense witnesses and rejected 30 proposed defense exhibits. Diverse voices from the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights to President Obama to President Trump have all called for his release.

Since his imprisonment, Venezuela has fallen further into chaos with widespread and largely unresolved violent crime and tens of thousands fleeing the country in desperation. And despite having the world’s largest proven oil reserves (nearly one fifth of the world’s total), the economy is in absolute crisis with: extreme shortages of food and medicine; the world’s second highest inflation rate estimated to be over 500%; and a currency that has lost over 99.5% of its value against the dollar in only four years.

Civil unrest and anger at the government has also exploded with large and almost daily street protests. In only the last six weeks of political clashes, at least 44 people have been killed, hundreds have been injured and over 1,800 people have been arrested.