Family, Political Leaders Demand To See Venezuelan Opposition Leader Amid Rumors

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Family and political leaders are asking to see Venezuelan opposition leader, now political prisoner, Leopoldo Lopez who has not reportedly been seen for a month by his family or attorneys.

Rumors were going around that Lopez  had been taken to a military hospital Wednesday evening.  Even Florida Senator Marco Rubio tweeted out saying he had been taken to the hospital.

Around that time, Lopez's wife, Lilian Tintori, was captured on video being denied information outside the medical facility that same night. About an hour later, they told her Leopoldo was not at the hospital. In a tweet written in Spanish she says, "Captain Rodriguez says Leopoldo is not here. We want to know the truth! Stop the pain! We want to see Leopoldo."

That same night, Venezuelan state television aired what appeared to be a video of Lopez in jail, looking well, saying he was asked to shoot a "proof of life" video. In the video, he said it was May 3rd at 9 p.m. and goes on to say "I don't understand the reason as to why I have to give a proof of life right now. I send this message to my family, to my sons that I am fine."

Thursday morning, his wife tweeted she had been at the gates of the prison where Lopez is reportedly being held demanding to see him. She claims she had been doing this for 10 hours.

Lopez is behind bars, after he was found guilty of inciting violence during protests in 2014, and sentenced to almost 14 years in prison. He has repeatedly said that his sentence was politically motivated.

According to Luis Almagro, with the Organization of American States, Leopoldo has not been seen for more than a month by his family and attorneys.

I demand to visit @leopoldolopez based on the commitments that #Venezuela has with the Inter-American System of Human Rights @OAS_official pic.twitter.com/IvkChvqdb6

— Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) May 4, 2017

Wednesday's incidents happened during a month of violent protests in Venezuela.

On Wednesday, a crowd of protesters blocked a road with fences and police moved in with water cannons to remove the barrier. Police used tear gas to scatter demonstrators as they have almost every day for weeks.

Two people were killed on Tuesday night when the bus they were traveling in flipped when it tried to avoid a barricade set up by protesters, according to opposition activists who live near the accident site in Carabobo state. A third person was killed during a looting incident at a shop in the industrial city of Valencia.

The deaths bring the number up to at least 32 who have died in the unrest over the past month. Hundreds more have been injured.

Driving the outrage is a decree signed by Maduro to begin the process of rewriting Venezuela's constitution, which was pushed through in 1999 by his predecessor and mentor, the late President Hugo Chavez.

In:
• Venezuela