CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has begun a hunger strike and is calling for a mass anti-government protest next weekend.
The former Caracas area mayor accused authorities in a video leaked to news media on Saturday of killing dozens of people during 2014 protests. More than 40 deaths on all sides were reported in those demonstrations.
Lopez has been held in a military prison for more than a year on charges related to his role in leading last year’s protests against the South American country’s socialist administration.
The video leak came after news broke that fellow opposition Daniel Ceballos was being removed from the military prison outside Caracas where he was held with Lopez and transferred to a public jail away from the capital.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson said on Twitter late Saturday that she was “worried” about Ceballos’ transfer without a judicial order and called on the government of President Nicolas Maduro to “release all political prisoners.”