Leonardo Flores

“It Can’t Be Illegal to Help a People”: The Persecution of Alex Saab

Saab is virtually unknown in the United States, where he is currently languishing in a Miami prison, but he has been vital to Venezuela’s ability to survive the brutal economic war being waged by the U.S.

Leonardo Flores
By Leonardo Flores
Free Alex Saab Rally

MINNEAPOLIS -- “It’s not a crime to fulfill a diplomatic mission. It’s not a crime to evade sanctions that are harming an entire country. It can’t be illegal to help a people.” Camilla Fabri Saab made these impassioned remarks when explaining the situation behind the illegal arrest and extradition - the kidnapping, in essence - of her husband,

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Five Reasons the Left Won in Venezuela

While much is made about the alleged lack of support for President Maduro (the millions of votes his party got will never be acknowledged by the U.S.), it’s less known that the opposition is deeply unpopular.

Leonardo Flores
By Leonardo Flores
Venezuela Elections Feature photo

For the first time in four years, every major opposition party in Venezuela participated in elections. For the fifth time in four years, the left won in a landslide. Voters elected 23 governors, 335 mayors, 253 state legislators, and 2,471 municipal councilors. The governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won at least 19 of 23

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Biden Administration Is Undermining the Venezuela Dialogue

The Venezuelan people deserve better than another administration sabotaging a dialogue and imposing more deadly sanctions.

Leonardo Flores
By Leonardo Flores

The talks between the Venezuelan government and the extreme-right wing opposition had been going well. There are still outstanding issues to be resolved, like ending the economic war, but the discussions held in Mexico led to concrete electoral developments. The European Union agreed to send an electoral observation mission. The United Nations

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Rural Teacher Pedro Castillo Poised to Write a New Chapter in Peru’s History

In a cliffhanger of an election with a huge urban-rural and class divide, it appears that the rural teacher, farmer and union leader is about to make history by defeating–by less than one percent–powerful far-right candidate Keiko Fujimori.

Medea Benjamin
Leonardo Flores
By Medea Benjamin
And Leonardo Flores
Pedro Castillo Feature photo

With his wide-brimmed peasant hat and oversized teacher’s pencil held high, Peru’s Pedro Castillo has been traveling the country exhorting voters to get behind a call that has been particularly urgent during this devastating pandemic: “No más pobres en un país rico” - No more poor people in a rich country. In a cliffhanger of an election with a

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The Trump Administration’s Parting Outrage Against Cuba

In a parting gift to the Cuban exile community for their loyalty to Trump, the US declared Cuba a “state sponsor of terror.”

Medea Benjamin
Leonardo Flores
By Medea Benjamin
And Leonardo Flores
Cuba Trump Feature photo

On January 11, in his final days before leaving office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added one parting blow to the series of bludgeons his administration has inflicted on Cuba for four years: putting the island on the list of “state sponsors of terror” that includes only Iran, North Korea and Syria. The designation drew swift condemnation from

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Low Turnout, but Free, Elections in Venezuela Are a Blow To Regime Change

After four years of sanctions, sabotaged industries, attempted coups, an assassination by drone attempt, a mercenary incursion and paramilitary attacks, among others, Venezuela managed to survive the Trump administration’s maximum pressure.

Leonardo Flores
By Leonardo Flores
Venezuela Election Feature photo

Venezuela held legislative elections on December 6 and, as has become the norm, the U.S. and sectors of the opposition that boycotted the election are claiming fraud without presenting evidence. The coalition of parties supporting President Maduro won 68% of the vote and a supermajority in the National Assembly. All the evidence suggests the

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UN Venezuela Report Omits US Human Rights Violations

Beyond the bias and politicization of the report, what perhaps damns it most is how it is being used.

Leonardo Flores
By Leonardo Flores
Venezuela Feature photo

On September 23, María Eugenia Russián, president of Fundalatin, Venezuela’s oldest human rights organization, testified to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and decried an attempt by a UNHRC fact-finding mission to erase people who were “lynched, burned alive, decapitated and murdered by extremist sectors of the Venezuelan opposition.” This

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