From the New York Times are Michael Barbara. Yesterday, today, as Venezuela, the sense further into crisis, its most vocal and both loved opposition leader under house arrest, unable to act and prohibited from speaking out. What happens if he does its Monday March, twelve, when Leah Lopez wakes up on a typical day. It's very early. It's for thirty five o clock in the morning. It's dark out. He lives on a leafy street in the suburbs of Caracas and he gets out abandon pad down to the front door like many people do opens it in

now going too far outside grabs the newspaper and really spends the morning in a sort of solitude, but about seven goes to wake his two kids Manuela and the APOLLO Junior. He always dresses am gets issues. Shoes on makes further their backpacks are ready and then, when it's time for them to head off to school, he and his wife Lillian walk the kids to the door LEO kisses them good bye when he can go with them, so

what is the door behind them and goes back inside, but sometimes he'll climb up onto the roof to look out as far as he can to the north, he can see El Avila National Park were used to love, to run and cycle and climb and then to the south the street, where his family's just departed, which is lined with the secret police from the venezuelan government to make sure he doesn't leave the house will Hilton has been on legal Lopez for the past six months, Leah Lopez's from most prominent political prisoner in Latin America and possibly the world. We stand in solidarity with those who are detained at this very moment in Venezuela, Evoldo Lopez

he saw the president who never was of Venice, while the United States is deeply concerned that we uphold, the Lopez has been convicted and sentenced on a range of politically motivated charges. Like these activities Villa indicates you dont this issue of evil or pleading detaching, many deaths someplace, you don't you can pretty much, go through the list of western heads of state and Manual Micron Ongoloo Mark all tourism may just ensure dough, and everyone is supported him an evening tweet by President Donald Trump, the message to release jailed opposition leader, Leopoldo Lopez, perfect example is that both Barack Obama, Donald Trump, are in perfect agreement about this particular case outlier and all other world affairs right, and it really seems that

only people who want him in prison are the current regime in Venezuela, we'll, who is this man nailed up as Leah Lopez, grew up in a wealthy enclave in north, in Caracas leaves a competitive swimmer. He loves skateboarding, you loved bicycling, with his cousins in the neighborhood and running around chasing after girls, and it was really on a school trip in the early part of school out into a rural state and oil producing region of Venezuela. Where he told me he was shocked by the level of poverty. They saw the barrios out there and the contrast between the wealth that he knew was underground and the poverty above ground and that really sort of animated him to become interested in politics at that age. What do you mean by the wealth underground

and the poverty above ground well, when you think about Venezuela, the most important thing to keep in mind, both politically and economically into a certain degree socially, as the oil Venezuela sits on the largest proven oil reserves in the wild larger than Saudi Arabia, and so it's their potential beneficiary of this extraordinary wealth and add even under the nominal democracy, at the time that we always growing up there, enormous stratification of income, and so this underclass was becoming increasingly frustrated by the distribution of wealth to a very small group of the upper class and abject poverty throughout so much of the country. Remember these were the conditions that lead to popularity and eight nineteen nineties of Hugo Chavez who was promising

in the very forceful way to redistribute the income from the oil and give more of it to the people. So when job is becomes president in the late nineteen nineties. At the same time, the price of oil is also skyrocketing and he is showered with revenue from the state oil company which he does distribute. He does make good on a lot of these promises. Unemployment plunges income inequality, Venezuela becomes one of the lowest levels in the western hemisphere and the poor love him, for it but as the price of oil goes down over the second half of his presidency, you start to see

I'm in trouble creep in the country, is also entering real shortages of food and medicine and yet, at the same time, job, as is obliterating democratic institutions. Basically one by one he's consolidating power. He stacking the court's he's empowering in emboldened and these paramilitary collective o groups, who we'll take action against anyone who appears to threaten his grip on power. So, for example, when organised protests take to the streets, you can expect the paramilitary collective owes to arrive and beat up on the protesters and, as Leopoldo watches this, he decides that he's going to challenge charges for power.

Not only I've heard a lot. So throughout this time, Leah, Lopez's, extremely critical of profits and he'd gone to the United States. For college in became very aware of the traditions, non. Violence and Lopez becomes committed to bringing this kind of change in this kind of pressure to Venezuela. I pray We say these become mere a bureau of Caracas and lighted the Manhattan of Caracas. It's the wealthiest, most prominent and leading it is a very important position, very useful, stepping stone for political. Rear. They would allow Leah Lopez ultimately to challenge Chavez for the presidency,

Have you seen sandy Golly Moldova? and how is LEO's as mare, LEO's, tenures mare is most uniformly beloved by his constituents in terms of the policy is a sort of a up forget about. Unless you I gotta get legal anymore, legal, plural, On the one hand, we he's jacking on corporate tax This is an using the money for public works, building, schools and wreck centres and public parks in them. Goliath. Nobody did I get a lion and, on the other hand, he's also adopting conservative models of policing and lowering the crime rate dramatic, no faction of the city loved him more than the police department.

I know what it leads to. Is this sort of cartoon, usually popular mare? I mean he's known for showing up a crime scenes it too. In the morning, Standing there with his. You know, municipal police jacket, on consulting with detectives in the king red lights, infer throwing the first shovel of dirty, grow Making ceremonies and then on weekends. You'd find him standing on a bench in some plaza with megaphone shouting at a crowd and encouraging them to non violent protests. See you ve gotta understand it. Leo loves Venezuela in a way that most people in most countries probably can't relate to

fact, as mere he meets an falls in love with venezuelan woman named Lillian Tin, Tory Boy no pay when he finally proposes to Lillian. He says to her This is my life, I'm committed to Venezuela and if you marry me, your marrying Venezuela and she agrees to this end. The wedding takes place before hundreds of people in a huge public park, and it appears to a lot of people that they are becoming the future of Venezuela,

and so by the end of that term. He's got a ninety two percent approval rating and ease ranked by the city mares foundation, as the third best mare in the world, so it sounds like LEO is starting to gain some real stature and power and popularity. How does the Chavez regime the government in power respond to him becoming? haven't up and cover. It becomes clear right away that his rising popularity is seen as a threat by job as in the chair, those governments, and so we are Lopez, comes under an extraordinary number of both physical and administrative attacks

They had a number of armed loyalist groups who made three major attempts on Lopez's life between two thousand and two and two thousand six in one case, shooting up his car and killing. One of his body guards who died in as arms that day and then on the administrative side. There was accusation that came from the chinese government that something in his budget was fun me and he was spending money on the wrong parts of the municipal budget, which seems like trivial dieter. But the decision was made by the chinese government that this was important enough to ban Lopez from seeking public office in the future so the chinese regime is attempting to kill him. It sounds like through allies. And having failed to do that decides to end his political career yards

the band that has transformed his trajectory, but even after that, LEO's undeterred, he continues taking to the streets constantly rallying his supporters to protest. The government through constant, non violent demonstrations wondering to think what about it.

The single market act for twenty five. Today on the faith March, the job is has died after struggling with his illness for almost two years. Twenty thirteen is the year Hugo Chavez who has been set for quite a while at this point finally succumbs and dies and is replaced by his sort of hand, picked successor, Nicholas model by impasse, Aquino, Cyprus, second Emel, Semi film, who takes power in lieu of travellers, but has to run in order to remain in power, and this point Lopez's still banned from running, so he throws his support

find an opposition figure who challenges Maduro and comes one percentage point from winning a showdown. Maybe a looming in Venezuela after a disputed presidential election prompting, is challenger demand for reach out. I don't know if you really want the legs of by their boards, and people is getting tyre about this government and Leah Lopez concludes that the election was stolen by Maduro one just one point just one point, and so it was entirely possible that even a small amount of actual fraud tipped. The election, so what does the olive as decide to do? The big incident for Leah Lopez was on family. Mary twelve of twenty forty, when he let a rally of most students near the university in Caracas, advocating peaceful

Oh tat thing over and over again, we have to remain nonviolent reminder. The crowd legitimacy would come through the nonviolent element, anti ripe for these form the lie trying to stop the protesters by faith, and he was able to keep the crowds peaceful, certainly when he was there and then he laughed and the students marched on the officer, the attorney general the time and begin throwing rocks at the building, which triggered an overreaction from security officers. There, too, the protesters were killed and soon thereafter government announced that Leah Lopez was the instigator of all this trouble and essentially responsible for the deaths and that he would be prosecuted for terrorism and murder, and things like that

You know what I said at all. He went into hiding for several days and during that period of hiding, he released a video declaring his innocence and his refusal to and anything he done encouraging everyone to remain nonviolent and then ultimately, it is your job the common goals scientist when asking all of his supporters to come out to a downtown, plaza, teens, What, if we want them to address all in white and gather to witness, as he turns himself in to the government? These

so he wakes up the morning of the rally and gets on his motorcycle. And starts into the city, and it s a really know. What's gonna happen, it has a lot of supporters. He doesn't know how many are going to turn out. He doesn't know affair actually going to wear wider. What is going to be like any starts turnover his way to the plaza when he gets into the centre of town. He begins to encounter all of this and he is how extensive the responses and was surprised at that point by how far the crowd stand a tries to find a way into the crowd, but he begins to encounter these barricades, they're out looking for him and he's trying to find his way around the barricades and it gets a little closer, Then it gets a little closer, but finally he concludes that he can avoid all of the barricade,

It is just gonna have to take his chances in one so pulls up to this one police barricade and also for a second and takes his helmet off, and these municipal cops from the borough where he had been mare, all of whom are very fond of him, they looked at him and one of them stiffens his spine, salutes and ways in through to join his supporters. So he got off my concern waiting for war. This statue, in the middle of the crowd and climbed upon the statue faces out over this huge crowd in all directions. Whose video of this online and it is just staggering to behold the number of people, its tens upon. Tens of thousands and some people have put the number closer to four hundred thousand people, almost all

dressed in white someone Hansen was born. Someone else give of Venice Wayland Flag, which you have actually wrapped around his shoulder, and he starts calling out this message and uses. This is for the youth who have no jobs who have no future. You have no freedom, and he says this democracy. Has failed and if I'm gonna have to go to jail for saying that, if my imprisonment helps to away in the people than it's worth. The infamous punishment- that's me handed down on me, and then his tone. To turn himself in. So he climbed down from the past, and there are members of the

guard waiting there with a personal transport vehicles also looks like a tank, but there's no gun on time is being white truck and they are scored him the vehicle and are getting ready to drive off with him to take him to prison and again anywhere because the because the crowd has pressed in that's also extraordinary thing to watch. You see just these mass of people clustered around to hold on to him. Instead of embrace him. In this moment climbing over the tank breaking bottles on rocking here and it into taking three hours during which time, someone handsome another born inside this vehicle and he says this is my decision. I wanna go face this court of injustice. I want this to happen, so we can call attention to what's happening in Venezuela, please make

whom to let us through, please part, the wave. And slowly sort of angrily. This crowd starts to pull back again in a narrow path forms in front of, tank and once in a while, you have somebody pop out from the crowd, is still for a bottle at the tank. But for the most part, this big truck. Moving slowly through the crowd to get prison so he's taken to prison. What was the stated reason for his arrest? Well. Well, he was initially charged with these crimes that were on the arrest warrant, arson was in their terrorism, was in their murder was in there, but the charges were scale back pretty quickly and what he ended up being charged with was speech, no one,

custom of doing anything violent and in fact no one accused him of saying that any one else should do anything violent. What he was a kid. Instead of doing was sending coded subliminal messages Nord Subliminal in peers in the indictment within all of his call for non violent protests. These subliminal messages were secretly telling his supporters and followers to be violent and when they became violent, it was because they had received these subliminal messages from him and they ended up with more than a hundred and fifty witnesses coming to the stand, A great number of home testified that in fact, they had received these subliminal messages from Lopez, instructing them to be violent, Serbia is taken to prison, he's taken time, Miller, Harry Prison outside of Caracas, he's locked up in a discreet bill,

with no one else and he's the only prisoner and he's prohibited from granting interviews at first, he is allowed to have books and things yeah, but over time those are removed and is for to have them or to have pencils intends, in paper machine cysts on getting messages of dissent out from the prison population is going and coming up. The one penny smuggles video camera into his cell when it I am, a message for the venezuelan people and has smuggled back out and posted on lines ass. He smuggles out little scraps of paper with me, the Jews they get posted on line to the public health, sometimes climb up to this window that weigh up high in his cell

and hanging from the bars of the window and scream. Without the need for democracy and liberty, and I would occasionally go to the outside of this military base and listen to only if all the Lopez screaming about democracy from the window of his cell. In this concrete tower, the Venezuelan position, leader, Leopoldo Lopez, has been moved to house. So I stopped him more than three years in jail. Mr Lopez had a certain point last year in the summer and he's released her house arrest under the condition. He felt completely silent and give no more messages to his supporters, no better recycling, medium term who gets to his house. And immediately records a video message which he released to the public. Encouraging resistance to the guy

and then he goes into the back yard and climbed up offence and creams and waved his fist gathering crowd rallying them in the street is on This is busy on day one of his house arrest within days. Yeah he's absolutely adamant, but he won't besides, and so they taken back to prison and they keep him there for a few days, and he's treated even worse. This time he's put into basically the whole solitary confinement in darkness, With very little food and water and the food that is given is contaminated with feces from the scent of it. This is much worse treatment, even then the worse treatment he received in his three and a half years of imprisonment, and he goes into a deep dark,

I so as huge returns home a few days later, he returned to house arrest away, that the government is feeling emboldened. The punishment is getting more extreme The police are now killing protesters in the streets in a way that they never have before the government, is also picking up elected officials, politician taking them hostage and in many cases disappearing them. So all this is escalating at the time LEO returns home. And he has a decision to make. It really wants to continue speaking. He does not want to be silenced, he thinks it would. A bad example he thinks it would be an indignity to himself personally. And violate his own principles. But he knows that if he says anything at this point, he will be punished again, he's sure of it and so

question he faces is whether or not to take that risk, and for the first time ever, this irrepressible vocal figure falls entirely silent and issues no messages and is not seen leaving his supporters truly bewildered about. What's happened sky did he abandoned them. Did he betrayed him? Is he just sewed defeated has he given up on them, and should they give up on him back

even though he hasn't been speaking publicly as a guy, he has actually been talking to me this whole time. Just our I hear me. Ok, you I can hear you

His kin so Leah knows he has one more opportunity to speak before he will be taken back in and face even greater punishment, and who knows what that will look like. So he chooses this. This is the opportunity he takes to speak out tomorrow. What view Lopez has been saying, and why he's talking we'll be right back? You know his name, but not his past. Eight speeches next must watch drama series, Perry, Mason, stars, Emmi winner, Matthew, race in an origin store,

for american fictions, most legendary criminal defence lawyer when a gruesome murder case falls into masons lap. Uncovering the truth means exposing a city full of corruption and everybody is guilty coastline. Fellow Emmi winners, Tatyana Lenny and John Lisco New episode of Perry, Mason AIR Sundays. At nine p m on HBO and stream at on each be oh max huge. What else you need to know may leave, ass, though we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world and for all of these countries, including frankly, North Korea,

That's what I look up and during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, President Trump defended his surprise plan to meet with north korean dictator Kim Jong, whose name was booed by a sceptical crowd of trump supporters. Southward came to my office after having gone to north and seeing him John, and it's very positive after the meeting here, major that, but now we have to be very Let's see what happens, let's see what happened. The times is reporting the Trump accepted North Korea's invitation to meet on them spot. Last Thursday, after a visiting diplomat from South Korea, told the president that Kim himself said? Trumps presence at a meeting could produce a historic breakthrough. The snap decision reportedly shocked the south korean envoy as well,

as President Troms Defence Secretary and national security, in the system This does not happen. You know, there's a guy! Well, Obama Good had done that trust me. You would not have done by the way, neither one both in the workplace shot at all. They did was That's it for the daily on local, see suitable. Hi. I'm Kristen minds are and I'm the co host of innovation uncovered anew pod. The world Changing in real time, often in ways we don't notice, an can't protect innovation uncovered explores the breakthroughs that our door in our culture. Now from how we play to what we consume to how we can act,

more about the ideas that are reshaping our reality in extraordinary way is innovation uncovered as a pod cast invest go cute, you too, and t brand at the New York Times listened today in basque or distributors ink.