Leopoldo López is one of nearly 400 politicians, the vast majority from the opposition, barred from running for office in the November local and regional elections. The mayor of Cachao municipality and Chávez critic, López is popular and favored to become the next mayor of Caracas if allowed to run, pending a final decision by the Supreme Court. During the talk at the Inter-American Dialogue on June 23, 2008, López described the electoral disqualification situation and gave a preview of the opposition’s plan for the upcoming elections.
The government argues that López and others, including some pro-Chávez
candidates, are forbidden from running because of ongoing corruption
probes. The Chacao mayor responded by saying the charges are over a
decade old, he has already been cleared of any wrongdoing, and only a
conviction can bar a candidate. López accused the Comptroller General
of creating a “political apartheid mechanism,” unconstitutionally
denying citizens their political rights. “I have not been judged, I
have not been tried, I have not been convicted and therefore I am
qualified to run for office by the Venezuelan constitution. It’s
crystal clear.”
López said the rejection of the government’s constitutional reforms in December 2007 proved Chávez’s supporters were dissatisfied and ended the debate over whether the opposition should boycott elections, as they did in 2004. With Chávez’s diminishing support, the Venezuelan opposition can win a number of municipal and regional races by presenting a unified platform and agreeing upon a single candidate per post, which he said would likely be decided by July 15th. He believes an opposition platform should be based on three pillars: good governance and transparency, public safety and crime prevention, as well as a more equitable distribution of windfall oil profits.
López repeatedly referred to the Venezuelan opposition as the
“alternative,” a term he prefers. “I don’t like to define what we do as
opposition because when you define yourself as opposition you only
define yourself as the opposite of what somebody else is doing, and
that limits what we really are about,” López added. “We are about an
alternative. We are about the future. We are about hope. We are
about doing things differently.”
Touching on US-Venezuelan relations, López sees a promising future, but
believes a new focus should be placed on cultural and educational
exchanges to build bridges between the two countries. In the question
and answer period, López said he personally opposed the United States
categorizing Venezuela as a “state sponsor of terrorism” because it
would only serve to portray the Chávez government as the victim and
thus strengthen its position.
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Leopoldo López is one of nearly 400 politicians, the vast majority from the opposition, barred from running for office in the November local and regional elections. The mayor of Cachao municipality and Chávez critic, López is popular and favored to become the next mayor of Caracas if allowed to run, pending a final decision by the Supreme Court. During the talk at the Inter-American Dialogue on June 23, 2008, López described the electoral disqualification situation and gave a preview of the opposition’s plan for the upcoming elections.