Venezuela opposition leader and Harvard grad Leopoldo López emerged from days spent in the shadows to surrender to security forces. López was a prominent speaker at the anti-government protest held in downtown Caracas, which lead to the shooting deaths of two anti-government protesters and one government protestor on Feb. 12.

Before being taken by Venezuelan government, López stood beside a raised statue of Cuban independence hero Jose Martim while holding a Venezuelan flag, and gave a rousing speech to 5,000 of his supporters.

"We've got nothing to hide," López told a sea of followers who, like him, were in clad in white at the Plaza Brion. "I have committed no crime. I have been a Venezuelan with deep commitments toward my country and my people." López's supporters defied a ban ordered by the government of President Nicolas Maduro, who rallied for the opposition march.

"I present myself before an unjust justice, before a corrupt justice," said the 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist López, the great-great-grandnephew of military and political leader Simon Bolivar, belted with the assistance of a loud speaker. "If my incarceration serves to wake up a people ... my infamous incarceration will have been worth it."

"Freedom, Freedom! It's going to fall, it's going to fall, this corrupt government is going to fall," rang after López from the crowd as the National Guard carried him off, arresting him for charges of homicide and inciting violence after brutal street clashes in Caracas left three dead. Maduro also accused Lopez of leading a "fascist" plot to overthrow him, and other government officials have accused him of terrorism.

National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello insisted that not a single opposition march would enter the city's western downtown district where the march was to end. Even so, protestors arrived, holding signs that regarded violent deaths in the nation, and calling for attention to the activist's outrage.

"We are expressing the frustration we feel. The country is in chaos, there are no supplies in the hospitals, we are sick of the insecurity. I want a Venezuela of progress," said Satle Oviedo, a 27-year-old hospital worker.

An intention to force Maduro from power has been voiced, as there are no conditions for recall elections until April 2016, and Maduro isn't likely to resign. Last Sunday, Maduro ordered the expulsion of three US diplomats, accusing them of meeting with student leaders "under the guise of offering them visas."  Also, in late September, Maduro exiled three other U.S. diplomats, accusing them of conspiring with government opposition.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated, "Venezuelan government tries to distract from its own actions by blaming the United States or other members of the international community for events inside Venezuela."

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