page_title: Popular Will
section_title: Arrest of López
hierarchical_section_title: Popular Will / History / Arrests / Arrest of López
caption_attribution_description: Caravana de sociedad civil junto con miembros de Voluntad Popular y familiares de los presos políticos en Ramo Verde, luego de que estos fueran asaltados y agredidos dentro de la prisión militar.
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: On February 18, 2014, López delivered a speech in Plaza Brión calling for "a pacific exit" from authoritarian government, "within the constitution but in the streets." He lamented the loss of independent media in the country and declared that if his imprisonment helped Venezuelans to wake up once and for all and demand change, it would have been worth it. He said he could have left the country, but instead had "stayed to fight for the oppressed people in Venezuela." He thereupon turned himself in to the National Guard, saying that he was handing himself over to a "corrupt justice" system. On February 20, Supervisory Judge Ralenis Tovar Guillén, issued a pre-trial detention order against López in response to formal charges of "arson of a public building," "damages to public property," "instigation to commit a crime," and "associating for organized crime."
  Human-rights organizations around the world condemned the arrest of López, with Amnesty International, in a February 19 statement, calling it "a politically motivated attempt to silence dissent"  and Human Rights Watch accusing the Venezuelan government of adopting "the classic tactics of an authoritarian regime." The New York-based Human Rights Foundation declared López a prisoner of conscience on February 20 and called for his immediate release, adding: "Either Maduro releases López and calls for an honest dialogue with all of the opposition, or he must step down for the sake of all Venezuelans: both those who support Chavismo and those who do not. Venezuela does not need an executioner willing to kill half of the country. Venezuela needs a president."
  On February 26, López's wife, Lilian Tintori, led a quiet protest of female students just prior to a government peace conference.
caption: Patricia Gutiérrez (Mayor of San Cristóbal), David Smolansky (Mayor of El Hatillo) and Lilian Tintori gathered at Ramo Verde Prison following López's arrest
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