Leopoldo López

Who is Leopoldo López?

Leopoldo López Mendoza is a Venezuelan politician, currently serving as National Coordinator of Venezuelan political party Voluntad Popular, which he founded in 2009. Born in Caracas on 29 April 1971, he received a degree in Sociology and Economics from Kenyon College, and later Master of Public Policy from Harvard University. Lopez first ventured into politics in 2000 when he co-founded the political party Primero Justicia alongside Henrique Capriles Radonski and Julio Borges, and ran successfully for the mayorship of the Chacao Municipality in the regional elections held in July 2000. Lopez has received multiple awards for his honesty, efficiency, transparency and for his support of democracy.

Two years into his first term as mayor, in the failed coup d'état, López helped to temporarily remove then-President Hugo Chávez from office. According to Los Angeles Times, Lopez "orchestrated the public protests against Chávez and he played a central role in the citizen's arrest of Chavez's interior minister, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín."