A Venezuelan exile organization in Miami greeted the release of opposition candidate Leopoldo López and the move to his home, where he will remain under house arrest, but he called on not to lose the “political objective” of street protests.
“We can not forget the political objective of the protests, which are Maduro’s departure from power and that the process of the Constituent Assembly is not carried out,” Jose Antonio Colina, president of the Organization of Venezuelans Persecuted in Exile (Veppex).
Colina stressed that his organization and other groups in the United States “from a humanitarian point of view” salute that the political leader has been able to reunite with his family and, in that sense, they hope that “the happiness that now feels Leopoldo López is Extensive to the rest of the Venezuelan people. ”
“There are more than 400 political prisoners in Venezuela at the moment, and the protests are not only because of that, but because of the insecurity and scarcity that exists in the country, that is why we want Maduro to leave,” said the activist.
In his view, the “replacement” of the arrest in the military prison known as Ramo Verde to a house arrest is a reflection of the “fracture and confrontation” that exists between the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which Said that “the humanitarian measure” was due to “health problems” of the politician, although his relatives have indicated that he is well.
In a brief statement, the Supreme Court explained in turn that “it was exocused on the case against the citizen Leopoldo López, because there were serious indications of irregularities regarding the distribution of the file to a Court of Execution.”
Colina does not rule out in this “political decision” of the TSJ the intermediation of the “Castro regime” to generate “confusion” in the Venezuelan people, before which he insisted that we should not divert attention from the goal of marches in the streets.
The opposition leader and leader of the Popular Will party was convicted of crimes of public instigation, association to commit crime, property damage and fire, actions that, according to the court that tried him, would have committed speeches that promoted violence during an anti-government march On February 12, 2014.
In his Twitter account, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who in 2014 urged Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez to enact a law sanctioning Nicolás Maduro’s executive officials, said that “Maduro’s regime must release all political prisoners and hold Free and fair elections in Venezuela. ”
“Maduro’s regime does not deceive us. Leopoldo López remains incarcerated in his house until all his charges are withdrawn,” added Rubio.
After hearing the news, the New York-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF) celebrated today that the opponent has left the military prison where he remained since February 18, 2014 and asked the government headed by Nicolás Maduro to To annul the “unlawful” sentence against Lopez.
“The dictatorship is rapidly crumbling in Venezuela, and this surprising decision can be a catalyst for restoring democracy” in the Latin American country, Garry Kasparov, president of the organization, said in a statement.
Groups of the Venezuelan exile in South Florida will present next mural a mural in honor of those fallen in Venezuela, in the restaurant The original Arepazo, in Doral, city bordering Miami and that concentrates a numerous community of immigrants of this country .
