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Jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez goes on hunger strike
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The jailed leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Leopoldo Lopez, has declared he is on a hunger strike and called for a protest march next weekend against the socialist government.
This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason.
Lopez, the best-known opposition activist in custody, was jailed more than a year ago for his role in instigating street protests against the president, Nicolás Maduro, that led to violence in which 43 people died and hundreds more were injured.
In a video from Ramo Verde prison where he is being held, Lopez, 44, said he and another jailed politician – a former San Cristobal mayor, Daniel Ceballos – were going on hunger strike “with one concrete petition: freedom of political prisoners”.
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Ceballos was moved from Ramo Verde, which is outside the capital, Caracas, to another jail in the state of Guarico, on Saturday.
In the video message posted on Twitter by his wife at the weekend, Lopez also urged an end to “persecution” of government opponents, the fixing of a date for this year’s parliamentary election and a march against the Maduro government on Saturday.
There was no response from the government to Lopez’s message, although the state ombudsman did say on Twitter he had been disciplined in jail for possessing a mobile phone.
