Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuelan opposition leader: I am not bitter
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
James Menendez speaks to Leopoldo Lopez, once the most prominent face of Venezuela’s opposition, he is now living in exile in Spain. He spent more than a decade attempting to unseat Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government and was imprisoned for over three years, accused of inciting the 2014 anti-government protests. Following the capture and arrest of Maduro by US forces in January, the country has entered a new and uncertain phase, with Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez now acting as interim leader. Leopoldo Lopez talks to us about the prospect of elections in Venezuela and the personal cost of standing up for political change. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel prize winner Maria Corina Machado, director Chloe Zhao and musical icon Ringo Starr. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: James Menendez Producer: Farhana Haider
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Leopoldo Lopez. Credit: Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.6 | Hello, I'm BBC presenter James Menendez, |
| 0:08.6 | and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.0 | The best conversations coming out of the BBC, |
| 0:14.9 | people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:19.1 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:23.8 | We have never seen a people so united. |
| 0:27.3 | Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. |
| 0:30.0 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. |
| 0:34.1 | We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:37.3 | For this interview, I met Venezuelan opposition leader and activist Leopoldo Lopez at the BBC |
| 0:42.6 | studios in London. |
| 0:44.5 | Once the most prominent face of Venezuela's opposition, Lopez is now living in exile in Spain. |
| 0:50.6 | He spent more than a decade attempting to unseat Nicolaas Maduro's authoritarian government |
| 0:55.9 | and was imprisoned for more than three years, accused of inciting the 2014 anti-government protests. |
| 1:03.4 | Following the capture and arrest of Maduro by US forces in January, the countries entered a new |
| 1:08.9 | and uncertain phase, with Vice President Delis |
| 1:12.2 | Rodriguez now acting as interim leader. |
| 1:16.0 | Leopoldo Lopez talks to us about the prospect of elections in Venezuela, the personal |
| 1:20.4 | cost of standing up for political change, and what he feels is his greatest personal victory. |
| 1:26.6 | Our best reply to the regime is that they didn't make us bad people. |
| 1:31.9 | That we remain to be committed. |
... |
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