How to defend democracy — and fight autocracy | Leopoldo Lopez

TED Talks Daily

TED

Creativity, Ted Podcast, Ted Talks Daily, Business, Design, Inspiration, Society & Culture, Science, Technology, Education, Tech Demo, Ted Talks, Ted, Entertainment, Tedtalks

4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2024

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Seventy-two percent of the world's population lives under some sort of autocratic rule, says freedom fighter Leopoldo Lopez. In a rousing call to defend democracy worldwide, he shares the story of his imprisonment and exile for leading the movement against Venezuela's authoritarian regime — and shares his vision for uniting across borders to champion freedom and stamp out autocracy.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	TED Audio Collective.
0:09.3	You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity
0:13.7	every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. Today's speaker began to see the notion of freedom while
0:19.5	confined in a tiny cell as a political prisoner.
0:23.3	In his talk, given on October 24th, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia, freedom fighter Leopoldo Lopez explores freedom, the notion of it, and how it's directly related to democracy.
0:36.7	Stick around after his talk for a Q&A with Ted's Helen Walters,
0:40.2	all coming up after a short break.
0:44.3	And now our TED Talk of the Day.
0:47.6	So today, I want to talk to you about something that has been at the core of my existence for the past years.
0:56.0	Freedom and democracy.
0:58.0	I was elected mayor of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela in the year 2000.
1:03.0	I was re-elected in the year 2004, and then in the year 2008,
1:07.0	when I was running for higher office, I was banned to run for office because we were
1:12.6	going to win.
1:15.6	At that time, we started a movement, a nonviolent civil resistance, grassroots movement that
1:22.3	went all over Venezuela and worked with people all around the country to build a network that could face off the dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro.
1:33.3	In the year 2013, Maduro was elected.
1:37.3	He stole an election, and in January of 2014, we called for protest.
1:42.3	Tens of thousands of people went to the streets,
1:46.0	and that took me to prison.
1:49.0	I spent the next seven years in imprisonment,
1:53.0	four of them in solitary confinement,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.