The courage, hope and efforts to restore greater democracy in Nicaragua were the merits that Kenyon College took into account to grant political prisoners or Nicaraguan exiles the “Liberty and Democracy Leopoldo López Award” in the 2022 edition.
The award has a special mention for the seven imprisoned presidential hopefuls that Ortega ordered to be removed from the path to establish himself as the only candidate on the electoral ballot. It also mentions former guerrilla fighter and political prisoner Hugo Torres Jiménez, who died in police custody of the dictatorship.
“Authoritarian regimes around the world want nothing more than to crush the will of all who might oppose them,” said David Rowe, director of the Center for the Study of American Democracy and a professor of political science at Kenyon.
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The award was created by the family and classmates of prominent Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, a 1993 Kenyon graduate, to honor his dedication to the peaceful advancement of freedom and democracy. The inaugural award was presented in 2021 to Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng.
The award will be presented to journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro on May 5 at the Gambier campus. Chamorro is the brother of two of the current political prisoners of the Ortega Murillo dictatorship: Pedro Joaquín and Cristiana.
“I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the many Nicaraguans who are currently in prison or in exile as a result of the political persecution initiated by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship,” said Chamorro.
The ceremony will conclude with a conversation between Carlos Fernando Chamorro, Leopoldo López and Berta Valle, wife of political prisoner Félix Maradiaga, about the deep personal sacrifices that the fight for democracy often requires and the vital need to confront autocracies around the world. .
Leopoldo López, founder of the Voluntad Popular political party and leader of the Venezuelan opposition, was arrested in February 2014 by the Venezuelan authorities after being accused of inciting disturbances during anti-government demonstrations.
He spent three and a half years in the Ramo Verde prison in Venezuela before being released to house arrest in July 2017. He left his home in an uprising against the government of Nicolás Maduro on April 30, 2019 and subsequently sought refuge in the Embassy of Spain in Caracas, later fleeing to Spain, where he now lives in exile.
