Versión Español
Spanish – Leopoldo López, the same man who defended a free Venezuela without the Chavista dictatorship and who, today, advocates a coalition government with the regime, moved to Spain. The noise is that the new house reportedly has a rent value of 10,000 euros (more than 12,000 USD).
ABC published the information that has caused a stir because of the high amount of money that the Venezuelan politician would be paying. There is no doubt that López and his wife Lilian Tintori are part of Madrid’s “crème de la crème” of Madrid.
The news is part of the “People & Style” section of that media, totally antagonistic to how López fled Venezuela: without belongings and thanks to the collaboration of political allies.
The high standard of living that López has adopted in Madrid contrasts with the misery that Venezuelans suffer. As the founding leader of the party in which interim President Juan Guaidó also serves, there are doubts about the origin of the funds for his support in Spain and his trips abroad as part of the role he has assumed to confront the Maduro regime. This is due to the denunciation of alleged corruption with the handling of 40,000 million dollars blocked abroad, recently published by the Washington Post.
Under the interim government, recognized by more than 60 countries, the opposition gained access to national public funds for the first time in two decades. However, accountability remains a pending issue despite multiple corruption scandals. The so-called “Cucutazo,” the delivery of letters of good conduct from the Comptroller’s Commission of the NA, and the collection of millions in commissions from the Government of Paraguay in exchange for lowering the debt with PDVSA are only some of the most notorious cases.
The figure of López has become softer since his change of discourse. The one who forgot the premise “nobody here gives up, nobody gets tired” and the promise that he would not leave Venezuela.
Millions of Venezuelans who fled the regime with little or no money were anchored in that hope to return, thanks to the role that the opposition was supposed to play from within.
Luxury real estate
The López family would have closed the rental through the real estate agency Engel & Völkers. Reviewing the website of this firm is finding houses coming out of the most elitist home and decoration magazines.
The company offers houses, apartments, commercial properties, yachts, and airplanes. It has other offices in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
Sources close to the Lopez-Tintori family allegedly denied that amount, claiming it is much less, adds ABC. But they did not deny that this was the real estate company, so the target remains the same.
The media adds that it was also not easy to locate a new home larger than the apartment on Príncipe de Vergara Street, where López lived for three months with his family. Some owners refused to negotiate because of all the controversy surrounding the politician.
The “healthy” business that “revolutionizes” Madrid
A special mention should be made of his wife, Lilian Tintori, who is mentioned in the same section, “People & Style.” Together with her sister, Patricia Tintori, they inaugurated a branch of a company that started in 2009 in Venezuela, called Pura Energía.
The business aims to “revolutionize” the lifestyle of Madrid, according to a review by the portal Vanitis about an interview with Tintori. There they teach meditation, yoga, dance, stretching, or nutrition advice. In her testimony, she says that it has “helped her to endure.”
Obviously, the interview, which focused on the lifestyle of Lopez’s wife, did not touch too much on politics. That’s beside the point. Venezuelans are not covered in articles of this type. In that country, they are focused on surviving the crisis that envelops them daily, without sufficient money and with almost no public services.
The switch that Leopoldo López lowered
And that is how the international press focuses more and more on the lifestyle of the politician and his wife. The attention extends to the leader’s mother, who was interviewed by El Mundo in its lifestyle section. At least there, they delved into the country’s situation.
Leopoldo López took a break after he toured Colombia, where he allied himself with President Iván Duque on the idea of forming a government that would include characters from the Venezuelan dictatorship.
He also shook hands with the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, who, until recently, promoted xenophobia against Venezuelans.
With this account, it is clear that López is not the same as he was years ago. His speech has changed drastically, as has how it is perceived by the media in other countries.
