When Felix Garcia woke up on Tuesday he was fired up by surprising news — Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, under house arrest for the past two years, had appeared in public.
When Felix Garcia woke up on Tuesday he was fired up by surprising news — Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, under house arrest for the past two years, had appeared in public.
Lopez’s appearance alongside National Assembly leader Juan Guaido was enough to convince the 30-year-old computer programmer to join tens of thousands of Venezuelans protesting against President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday.
“Our spirits have been low, but when we saw Leopoldo Lopez out on Caracas’ streets, it was a signal to again return to the fight,” Garcia said, a gas mask hanging from his neck and chunks of concrete stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie.
Lopez, 48, oversaw Guaido’s rise from student leader and remains a key figure in their Popular Will party.
In moments still memorialized in images on opposition banners and t-shirts, he was arrested in 2014 after leading anti-government protests and pictured pumping his fist and stepping into a military vehicle with a Venezuelan flag in one hand and a white flower in the other.
