Antonio Ledezma

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Antonio Ledezma (2018)

Antonio José Ledezma Díaz (born May 1, 1955 in San Juan de los Morros , Guárico ) is a Venezuelan politician. Since 2008 Ledezma was elected mayor of Caracas , the capital of Venezuela. In 2015 he was removed from office.

Ledezma is one of the leading opposition politicians against the President Nicolás Maduro of the United Socialist Party (PSUV), who has been in power since 2013, and against his predecessor Hugo Chávez . In February 2015, Ledezma was arrested in office as an alleged anti-government riot; In February 2016, the detention was commuted to house arrest for health reasons.

In November 2017 Ledezma was able to evade house arrest and flee via Colombia to Spain, from where he intends to continue his opposition work in exile .

biography

Ledezma graduated from secondary school in his hometown in 1973, then studied law at the Universidad Santa María in Caracas and became a lawyer after graduating in 1982 . During his studies he had already joined the then ruling party Acción Democrática (AD), for which he was a member of parliament in his home state Guárico from 1979 to 1984. From 1984 to 1994 Ledezma had a seat for Guárico in the Venezuelan parliament, from 1994 to 1995 he was Senator for Guárico. From January 1996 to August 2000, he was mayor of the capital district of Caracas, Libertador .

After the attempt to take over the chairmanship of the AD failed in 1999, Ledezma founded a new party in 2000, the Alianza Bravo Pueblo , of which he is chairman (as of 2015). In addition to his own further studies on public administration, Ledezma made a name for himself in the following years up to 2008 as an extra-parliamentary critic of the policies of President Hugo Chávez. In 2008 Ledezma ran for his new party as a candidate for mayoral for Caracas against Chavez 'supporters and won the election. The reaction of the president and the parliament, which is dominated by the PSUV, was to curtail the rights of the capital city mayor to a large extent. In 2013 Ledezma was re-elected. In 2015 he was removed from office and arrested.

Arrests

On February 19, 2015, Ledezma was arrested in his office by armed uniformed men, a week after he and the opposition politicians Leopoldo López and Maria Corina Machado published a “call to the Venezuelans for a national agreement on change” on the anniversary of the unrest in 2014 would have. It called for a "peaceful transition" by the Maduro government, which was in its "final phase".

According to the spokesman for his party Alianza Bravo Pueblo , Hector Urgelles, the gunmen belonged to the Venezuelan secret service SEBIN . President Maduro personally confirmed the arrest in a radio and television address on the evening of February 19. He justified the action with allegations that the mayor had planned a coup against the government. The following day, Ledezma was charged by the Prosecutor General's office of conspiratorial preparation for acts of violence against the government.

His lawyer announced that he would "use all available means" to have his detention lifted. In a letter from prison, Ledezma called for the resignation of the president and called on the opposition parties to unite and to continue to oppose government policies. In a background information from the BBC , Ledezma's arrest was classified as part of the confrontation in Venezuelan domestic politics: in February 2015, out of 76 opposition mayors in office 33 faced charges.

Ledezma's detention was commuted to house arrest in February 2016 for health reasons. On the night of August 1, 2017, he was arrested again by the SEBIN secret service at the same time as Leopoldo López and taken away without an arrest warrant after he had published an appeal the previous evening, peacefully against the controversial elections to the Constituent Assembly on July 31, 2017 to protest. He was released back into house arrest on August 4th. López, however, remained in custody.

Escape to Europe

Ledezma 2018 at the Oslo Freedom Forum

On November 17, 2017, Ledezma finally evaded house arrest and fled the country, first to Colombia , then to the Spanish capital Madrid , where, according to media reports, he arrived the following day. He announced that he would continue to fight for political change in his home country. According to María Corina Machado, this decision was also to be seen in connection with the fact that Ledezma continued uncompromisingly to demand Maduro's resignation. Accordingly, he felt threatened because he had distanced himself from most of the other opposition parties that were ready to start talks with the government.

Honors

Web links

Commons : Antonio Ledezma  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Antonioledezma.com ( Memento of March 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Antonio Ledezma's official résumé (Spanish); accessed May 7, 2019.
  2. ↑ Andrew Stevens: Antonio Ledezma, Mayor of Caracas: Fighting to maintain cities' influence , worldmayor.com , July 19, 2009; accessed May 7, 2019.
  3. ↑ Mayor of Caracas arrested , FAZ.net , February 20, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  4. ↑ quoted from Roberto Lovato: The Making of Leopoldo López , Foreign Policy , July 27, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019. Original document on the website of the Vente Venezuela party : Llamado a los Venezolanos a un Acuerdo Nacional para la Transición , Caracas, February 11, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  5. ↑ Venezuela agents arrest Caracas mayor , The Guardian , February 20, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  6. ↑ Maduro has the mayor of Caracas arrested , Zeit Online , February 20, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  7. ^ Daniel Pardo: Venezuela charges Caracas mayor Ledezma over 'conspiracy' , BBC .com , February 21, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  8. ↑ Imprisoned Mayor of Caracas wants to appeal , Zeit Online , afp , February 21, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  9. ↑ Ledezma pide discutir la tesis de solicitar la renuncia de Maduro . In: El Tiempo , February 23, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  10. ^ Daniel Pardo: Venezuela charges Caracas mayor Ledezma over 'conspiracy' , BBC .com , February 21, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  11. ↑ Habló una hija de Antonio Ledezma: "Le tocaron el timbre para tomarle una foto y cuando abrió la puerta se lo llevaron" , La Nacion Online , August 1, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019 (Spanish).
  12. ↑ Matthias Rüb: Venezuela's steel grid of oppression , faz.net , August 1, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019.
  13. ↑ Benjamin Bathke, interview with Ledezmas daughter Antonietta Ledezma: Antonietta Ledezma: "I know what Maduro capable" , German wave online , August 1, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019.
  14. ^ Opposition politician Ledezma released from prison , Spiegel Online , August 4, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019.
  15. ↑ Ex-Mayor of Caracas escapes from house arrest to Madrid , Der Standard , November 18, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019.
  16. ↑ Hardline Venezuela opposition leader Antonio Ledezma flees to Colombia , The Guardian , November 17, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019.
  17. ↑ The 2010 Top 10 Mayors , worldmayor.com; accessed May 7, 2019.
  18. ^ Democracy Award 2015 , NED press release, May 14, 2015; accessed May 7, 2019.
  19. ↑ Jailed Venezuelan Opposition Leaders Antonio Ledezma & Leopoldo Lopez Win 2016 Courage Award from 25 NGOs at Geneva Summit Held at UN , Geneva Summit, February 24, 2016; accessed May 7, 2019.
  20. ↑ Democratic opposition in Venezuela honored with Sakharov Prize , EU Parliament press release, October 26, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019.
  21. ↑ Antonio Ledezma: "New start for Venezuela" , Euro news , December 13, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019.
  22. ↑ Venezuelan opposition honored with Sakharov Prize - Left boycotted , Spiegel Online , December 13, 2017; accessed May 7, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Ledezma, Antonio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ledezma Díaz, Antonio José (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Venezuelan politician
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH San Juan de los Morros , Guárico , Venezuela