Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Lilian Tintori's Call to Action: Dress Venezuela in white for peace and hope

Marking one year of Leopoldo Lopez's unjust imprisonment
#DressVzlaWhite

Text in the above photo:"This next 18F, as we did a year ago, lets dress in white in solidarity with all Venezuelans victims of the abuses and arbitrary actions of the dictatorship. Let us dress Venezuela in white, dress her of peace and hope."
 
One year ago today opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez addressed a letter to His Holiness Pope Francis on the eve of turning himself over to the Nicolas Maduro regime on February 18, 2014 in which he stated:
I am writing this letter from the underground and within a few hours of appearing before the manipulated justice of my country, which has issued an arrest warrant attributing against me the crimes of murder and terrorism, for the simple fact of having called our people to exercise our right to protest as it is protected in our Constitution and the fundamental rights of free men. This situation of persecution and criminalization of protest has affected hundreds of youth who have been detained, tortured and subjected to unfounded processes that seek to plant fear and limit the voice of millions of Venezuelans who promote change.
The next day addressing a crowd of tens of thousands, before peacefully turning himself in, Leopoldo called on Venezuelans to continue in their nonviolent struggle for change:
Well brothers and sisters I ask you to continue in this fight and do not leave the street, to assume our right to protest, but to do it in peace and without violence, I ask that us, all of us that are here, all of the Venezuelans that want a change, to get informed, educated, organized, and to execute non-violent protests, the protests of masses, and the will of souls and hearts that want to change, but without hurting your neighbor. I ask you not to lose faith, and I am sure in the name of my children, my daughter Manuela, my son Leopoldo, and like Luis Eloy Blanco once said, who is the father of one child is the father of all the children. In the name of all the children of Venezuela, I swear we will prevail and that soon we will have a Free and Democratic Venezuela. 
His wife Lillian Tintori, who has campaigned for her husband's release inside and outside of Venezuela for the past year, is warning that her husband's life is in danger and is calling over twitter on people of good will tomorrow (February 18, 2015) to dress in white and to place a white scarf or flag in your window in solidarity with Leopoldo Lopez and for peace in Venezuela.

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