Leopoldo Lopez to Newsmax: Venezuela Still Holds Nearly 1,000 Political Prisoners

Venezuela is still jailing political opponents and censoring speech even after the removal of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who spent seven years imprisoned under Maduro's regime, told Newsmax.

"Today there are almost 1,000 political prisoners in Venezuela," Lopez told Newsmax's "The Record with Greta Van Susteren" on Tuesday. "Many of them are being subject to horrendous tortures. Horrendous tortures."

Lopez said he was imprisoned after helping lead anti-government demonstrations in 2014.

"We call for protests against Maduro," he said, claiming Maduro "had stole[n] the election in the year 2013."

He said he was repeatedly confined in isolation.

"I was sent into solitary confinement, where I stayed in solitary confinement for four years, then house arrest, then back to solitary confinement," Lopez said.

He later fled and lived for a time inside the Spanish Embassy before leaving Venezuela.

"I never wanted to do that, but since 2021, I've been in exile," he said.

Lopez described what he called a crackdown on basic freedoms and political expression.

"In the case of Venezuela, only if you have a message in your cell phone and you are stopped in a checkpoint, people are sent to prison," he said.

Lopez said Venezuelans can face punishment for views that would be protected speech in the U.S., citing his own case as an example.

"I was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment because 12 years ago I called Maduro a drug lord," he said.

He also criticized interim President Delcy Rodriguez, calling her the "interim dictator," and said promises to free detainees have not been fulfilled.

"Delcy Rodriguez has been promising the release of political prisoners," Lopez said. "But it's not happening."

Lopez said he believes the country's opposition has shown broad public support through recent elections.

He said that in 2024, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was unable to run, and Edmundo Gonzalez became the candidate and won decisively.

"Edmundo Gonzalez was a candidate," Lopez said. "He was an unknown diplomat until three months before the election, and he won with 70% of the vote."

Lopez said Venezuelans want democratic change and the rule of law.

"The Venezuelan people want democracy, the Venezuelan people want change," he said. "We hope to live in a society where there is rule of law, respect for human rights, the basic freedoms where people can decide through free and fair elections, our destiny."

He said the U.S. should keep pushing for what he described as a transition to democracy. "We thank the commitment, the [resolve] to remove Maduro from power," Lopez said. "A transition has begun."

"But the transition, as the word states, is a transition to something else," he said. "And that something else that we need to push for is full democracy."

Lopez also claimed Venezuela has become a hub for transnational criminal organizations and hostile foreign influence.

"Venezuela has become the criminal hub of a global kleptocratic infrastructure," he said, alleging ties involving "Iran, to Russia, to China, to Belarus," and saying "Hezbollah has been in Venezuela for years as a station to do money laundering."

He said removing those networks should be a priority. "That has to be a priority to get all of those interests out of Venezuela," Lopez said, "which means to take them out of the American continent and to have a continent that is fully free, fully democratic."

GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!

Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.

You need to watch NEWSMAX today.

Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!

Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now

BEST OFFER:

Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.

Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.

Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!

Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.

Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!