November 13, 2016, marked Venezuelan political prisoner Leopoldo Lopez’s 1,000th day in prison. Many Latin Americans, including the former President of Uruguay, spoke out in support of Lopez, who is also the leader of the Venezuelan opposition political party, Voluntad Popular. Democracy activists organized under #LiberenAleopoldo to call for the release of Lopez, as well as express solidarity with all Venezuelans. Human Rights Watch has lobbied for the release of Lopez, and urged the Organization of American States (OAS) to pressure Venezuela to “release and drop all criminal charges against anyone who has been arbitrarily detained and charged.”

Lopez was arrested for his involvement in pro-democracy protests in 2014 and is one of many activists who have been unjustly detained for challenging the authoritarian regime of Venezuelan President Maduro. On August 12, 2016, two years after his arrests, a Venezuelan appellate court upheld his 14-year sentence for conspiracy, public incitement, arson and damage to public property. Last year, the World Movement for Democracy met with Venezuelan activist and wife of Lopez, Lilian Tintori, to share her message of solidarity with all political prisoners. Learn more about political prisoners in Venezuela at helpsetthemfree.org, and join #SetThemFree in sharing this solidarity tweet: #ATTN Gov’t of #Venezuela: #liberenaleopoldo! Stop the arrests of #activists, it is time to #SetThemFree!