page_title: Popular Will
section_title: Arrest warrant for Vecchio
hierarchical_section_title: Popular Will / History / Arrests / Arrest warrant for Vecchio
caption_attribution_description: English: Opposition leader Carlos Vecchio apprehension's order.Español: Orden de aprehensión del líder opositor Carlos Vecchio.
context_page_description: Popular Will is a political party in Venezuela founded by former Mayor of Chacao, Leopoldo López, who is its national co-ordinator. The party describes itself as progressive and social-democratic and was admitted into the Socialist International in December 2014. The party currently holds 14 out of 167 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly, the country's parliament, and is a member of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, the electoral coalition that currently holds a plurality in the National Assembly.
  The party was formed in reaction to alleged infringements of individual freedom and human rights on the part of the government of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro. The party attempts to bring together Venezuelans of various backgrounds who consider Chavismo oppressive and authoritarian. Popular Will self-identifies itself as "a pluralist and democratic movement" that is committed to "progress," which it defines as the realization of "the social, economic, political, and human rights of every Venezuelan."
  The party says its "fundamental pillars" are progress, democracy, and social action.
context_section_description: The day after López's arrest, the government issued an arrest warrant for Carlos Vecchio, who with López in jail was serving as the de facto leader of Popular Will. He was charged with the same offenses as López: arson, criminal association, damages to public property, and instigation to commit a crime. Vecchio, who was in hiding, defied the arrest order. Meanwhile, public unrest continued, with the official death toll from more than two weeks of violence rising to 17. Enrique Betancourt, writing in the Yale Daily News, described Vecchio, a 2013 Yale World Fellow, as a champion of freedom who, unlike López, "is not an internationally recognizable figure (yet)." Betancourt expressed the concern that this "relative anonymity will allow government forces to arrest Carlos and violate his human rights with impunity and without fear of any international repercussion."  On March 22, as street protests continued, Vecchio, still defying the arrest order, addressed a crowd of supporters in Caracas.
caption: Vecchio's arrest warrant
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