Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuelan opposition leader: I am not bitter

“Our best reply to the regime is that they didn't make us bad people. That we remain focused on our dream of seeing a free Venezuela. I have seen other people become very bitter and angry and resentful. And I think they lose. Because when you become angry you become, in a way, a prisoner of a sentiment that doesn't allow you to go forward.”

James Menendez speaks to Leopoldo Lopez, once the most prominent face of Venezuela’s opposition, he is now living in exile in Spain.

He spent more than a decade attempting to unseat Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government and was imprisoned for over three years, accused of inciting the 2014 anti-government protests.

Following the capture and arrest of Maduro by US forces in January, the country has entered a new and uncertain phase, with Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez now acting as interim leader.

Leopoldo Lopez talks to us about the prospect of elections in Venezuela and the personal cost of standing up for political change.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel prize winner Maria Corina Machado, director Chloe Zhao and musical icon Ringo Starr. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: James Menendez

Producer: Farhana Haider

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Leopoldo Lopez. Credit: Reuters)