Yon Alexander Goicoechea Lara (born 8 November 1984) is a
Venezuelan
Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters.
The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
,
activist and
organizer. He emerged as one of the leaders behind the
Venezuelan Student Movement, which formed as a result of actions by Hugo Chávez to amass further power as the country's president. He holds degrees from the
Andrés Bello Catholic University and
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.
Career
In 2008, the
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch ...
awarded Goicoechea the
Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty which comes with an award of $500,000. At the time, Peruvian novelist
Mario Vargas Llosa called Goicoechea, "a symbol of… democratic reaction when freedom is threatened." After receiving the Prize, Goicoechea experienced harassment in Venezuela, and state-run television depicted him as a cartoon clutching wards of cash stamped with the words "Made in USA."
As a result of his activism, he experienced death threats, which led him to move between various friends' homes to stay safe. President Chávez called the Goicoechea-led student movement, a "fascist attack." In 2013, Goicochea decided to leave Venezuela with his family.
After a period abroad, working and studying in the USA and Spain, Goicoechea returned to Venezuela in 2016 to rejoin the political arena. In an interview on June 26, Goicoechea explained that his return was marked by a renewed enthusiasm for the future of Venezuela. After leaving the
Primero Justicia political party, Goicoechea joined another opposition organization,
Popular Will, and campaigned for the
recall referendum against president
Nicolás Maduro.
Detention
On August 29, 2016 Goicoechea was detained while driving in La Trinidad, a neighborhood of Caracas. Witnesses indicated that the
Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) was responsible for his detention, but
PSUV vice president and National Assembly deputy
Diosdado Cabello later acknowledged his detention during a government rally. Cabello stated that Goicoechea had been arrested with "explosives and detonators". For two days no news were heard of his whereabouts raising concerns of his spouse, fellow party members and
Human Rights Foundation. On August 31, 2016 and after his lawyer, Nizar El Fakih, filed a lawsuit for unlawful detention and imprisonment, Goicoechea was taken to an arraignment court in Caracas. On arraignment, his lawyer stated his detention was not only irregularly executed, but that the charges being raised against Goicoechea had no basis of evidence. During the preliminary hearing on Friday September 2, 2016, an arraignment judge ordered that Goicoechea should remain under police custody without bail. After hearing the charges and pleading not guilty, Goicoechea expressed his commitment to both democracy and a non-violent struggle for a better future in Venezuela. He was paroled in October, and later wrote about his experiences in an editorial for ''The New York Times.''
See also
*
Political prisoners in Venezuela
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goicoechea, Yon
1984 births
Living people
Venezuelan democracy activists
People from Caracas
Andrés Bello Catholic University alumni
Venezuelan people of Basque descent
Venezuelan people of Cuban descent
21st-century Venezuelan lawyers
Columbia Law School alumni
Justice First politicians
Popular Will politicians
Movimiento Estudiantil (Venezuela)
Political prisoners during the Bolivarian Revolution
Venezuelan prisoners and detainees
Sakharov Prize laureates