A trusted voice? Venezuelan opponent Leopoldo López is now a speaker on Bitcoin

Venezuelan opponent Leopoldo López, a fugitive from Justice in his country and resident in Spain, will be one of the speakers on bitcoin at a cryptocurrency event to be held in October this year.

«We announce Leopoldo López as a speaker for Bitcóin Amsterdam», reported the organizing platform, which presents the politician as «an activist for freedom in Venezuela». Tickets for the three-day event range from €349 for a general ticket to €3,999 for a whale pass.

«He was a political prisoner from 2014 to 2020 after being sentenced to fourteen years in prison for leading nonviolent street protests and civil resistance in 2014», continues the organization’s review of López. The curious thing is that the politician’s relationship with the world of cryptocurrencies is not mentioned, reviews RT.

That was one of the main observations they made from the social network Twitter: «Leopoldo has never mentioned the word ‘bitcoin’ in his speeches», commented one user. «Leopoldo López in this conference as a speaker? Everything bad here, very bad!”, wrote another.

There was no lack of those who ironized with the fact that a politician like López is invited to a conference of this nature, at a time when bitcoin is experiencing its lowest hours.

“Leopoldo is appointed ambassador of Bitcóin and this began to collapse. It’s not just a coincidence», one person commented on Twitter. Until now, López had not publicly expressed any enthusiasm for cryptocurrency, nor for investments in that area.

The politician’s only distant ties to bitcoin, at least openly, have to do with President Nayib Bukele’s advisory team in El Salvador. According to an investigation carried out last year by El Faro, the Central American president has a «cabinet» in the shadows, made up of Venezuelans who are active in Voluntad Popular, the party founded by López.

Apparently, part of this network would be behind Bukele’s risky bitcoin move, which made the cryptocurrency the second legal tender in El Salvador after the dollar, and also Chivo Wallet, the wallet implemented by the Government to promote the use of that cryptoactive in the Central American country.López:  a «traitor» and an «opportunist»

Beyond the expected response from the Chavista sector to the announcement of López’s conference, the most furious criticism came from the opposition side, which branded the politician a «traitor» and an «opportunist.»

«This is what is called a double scam», said opposition economist Ángel García Banchs. A list of similar comments were attached to the tweet of the event, which alluded to the multiple scandals that link the politician in Venezuela: from the «humanitarian aid» fraud, to the opaque handling of the country’s resources abroad, seized order of the US.

«[Leopoldo López] is also the founder and main figure of Voluntad Popular, the party that governs an interim government that operates in the shadows and manages billions without supervision», highlighted a Twitter user.

López has been a fugitive from the Venezuelan Justice since 2019, when he escaped from prison to take refuge in the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas. He subsequently left the country illegally, bound for Madrid, where he currently resides.

Last year, the highest Venezuelan judicial court gave the green light to the extradition request for the politician to serve the rest of a pending sentence in the South American country of 8 years, six months, 25 days and 12 hours, sentenced because of «the commission of the crimes of determiner in the crime of arson, determiner in the crime of damage, perpetrator in the crime of public incitement and that of association” to commit the crime.

López was sentenced on September 10, 2015, after a judicial process was launched to determine his responsibility in the violent events unleashed in Venezuela in February 2014, which caused the death of 43 people.