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During his visit to Galicia the Venezuelan opposition leader and founder of the political party Voluntad Popular, Leopoldo López, collected testimonies from victims of Nicolás Maduro’s regime to take these to the International Criminal Court (ICC) where the dictator is investigated for crimes against humanity.
López has held meetings in Madrid and Galicia with Venezuelans whose human rights have been violated by Maduro’s regime. “They have been arbitrarily tortured, detained and deprived of liberty by the dictatorship,” López told the Europa Press news agency, adding that: “In Galicia there are several victims of violation of human rights by Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship. We are asking them if they are willing to make their complaints public. The idea is that these testimonies can continue to be added,” he said.
The European news agency reported that López met with the Venezuelan team that works with migrants and exiles. “It is a relatively new experience for Venezuelans, because the boom in the Venezuelan exodus was accentuated from 2016 and 2017,” he said.
Leopoldo López has visited the headquarters of the Venezuelan Federation of Galicia (Fevega) in Vigo, where he met with the president of the entity, Manuel Pérez Vidal, as well as with María Fernanda Ruiz, head of the retirees area.
After the meeting he assured that “the Venezuelan Federation of Galicia is an example for Spain and I would dare to say that it is also for Europe. We should promote as a model this federation of organizations, the main and best articulated in Spain, in order to organize the Venezuelan diaspora throughout Europe.”
Agenda in Galicia
Leopoldo López left Madrid before March 26th, the day Madrid was closing, to follow an agenda of meetings with Venezuelans in Galicia. He explained that while he was in Cambados, Pontevedra, sharing on a terrace with his wife, Lilian Tintori, and another couple, after visiting a highly respected artist, Manolo Paz, they stopped for a coffee and the authorities approached them asking for documentation .
He indicated that he was not notified of any sanction in this regard. “I was not informed of any type of violation of regulation or fine. There was no mention of that,” he said.
This is the first time that Leopoldo López visits Galicia, but he considers it “a place very close to Venezuelans. Venezuela has a very deep Galician imprint,” he said while he remarked he was very interested in returning.
