Leopoldo López on Activism Under Autocratic Regimes
Conversations with Tyler
Conversations with Tyler
4.8 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 27 July 2022
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As an inquisitive reader, books were a cherished commodity for Leopoldo López when he was a political prisoner in his home country of Venezuela. His prison guards eventually observed the strength and focus López gained from reading. In an attempt to stifle his spirit, the guards confiscated his books and locked them in a neighboring cell where he could see but not access them. But López didn’t let this stop him from writing or discourage his resolve to fight for freedom. A Venezuelan opposition leader and freedom activist, today López works to research and resist oppressive autocratic regimes globally.
López joined Tyler to discuss Venezuela’s recent political and economic history, the effectiveness of sanctions, his experiences in politics and activism, how happiness is about finding purpose, how he organized a protest from prison, the ideal daily routine of a political prisoner, how extreme sports prepared him for prison, his work to improve the lives of the Venezuelan people, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
Recorded May 10th, 2022
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, |
| 0:09.4 | bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. |
| 0:13.4 | Learn more at mercatis.org. |
| 0:16.3 | For full transcript of every conversation, enhanced with helpful links, visit ConversationsWithT Tyler.com. |
| 0:27.5 | Hello everyone and welcome back to Conversations with Tyler. |
| 0:31.0 | Today I'm here with Leopoldo Lopez. |
| 0:33.8 | He is an opposition leader from Venezuela. |
| 0:36.9 | He thinks of himself most of all as a freedom activist, which he very much is. |
| 0:42.0 | He started his career in Venezuelan politics as a mayor. |
| 0:45.7 | He was sent to prison for seven years. |
| 0:48.1 | He managed to escape, is now living in Spain, and he is affiliated with the party Volentad Popular. |
| 0:55.3 | Leopoldo, welcome. |
| 0:57.5 | Thank you very much, Tyler. |
| 0:58.6 | Thank you and your audience. |
| 1:00.9 | To start with your political career, you were a mayor of Chicao, which is a part of Caracas. |
| 1:06.6 | What was the hardest part of that job of being mayor? |
| 1:09.9 | Well, the hardest part was to be doing the municipal activities and improving people's lives |
| 1:16.2 | in the middle of political turmoil. |
| 1:18.3 | My municipality at the heart of Caracas became the heart of the protests against Chavez |
| 1:23.4 | at the time very early in my term in 2002-2003. |
| 1:27.9 | It was the epicenter of massive protests against the regime. |
| 1:33.3 | So I had to balance that reality of protesting against the regime with doing things for the |
... |
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