ensure the safety of Venezuelan leader Leopoldo López

On behalf of the Kenyon College community, we would like to petition the administration to make all the necessary efforts to insure the safety of our fellow alumnus and friend Leopoldo López Mendoza, who is now in custody in his native Venezuela. We are concerned that his jailing signals a negative turn in Venezuelan civil rights, as he appears to have been targeted by the authorities mainly for his political views. We urge you to intervene as appropriate to make sure that his family is safe and that he is accorded all the rights and guarantees as a Venezuelan citizen, including the right to a fair and open trial and all other protections afforded by the Bolivarian constitution and by international accords on human rights of which Venezuela is part.