Public incitement and freedom of expression in Venezuela: The Leopoldo López Mendoza case

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the legal status of the crime of public incitement to delinquency in Venezuela, its reform in the 2005 Penal Code, its judicial interpretation and its usage as a tool to persecute citizens and leaders of the political opposition by Nicolás Maduro’s government. As a consequence, it produces the undermining of freedom of expression and other fundamental rights and values of de- mocracy. The 2015 conviction of Leopoldo Lopez Mendoza, leader of the political party Voluntad Popular, for the alleged commission of the crime of public incitement through messages in social networks and public speeches contrary to the government ́s interests during the first months of 2014, is analyzed as a paradigmatic case.