1 of 5 | Kevin Spacey arrives on the red carpet at the 86th Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on March 2, 2014. UPI/Kevin Dietsch |
License Photo
LOS ANGELES, April 8 (UPI) -- Kevin Spacey took to his blog over the weekend to write an impassioned post in support of Venezuelan protesters.
The 54-year-old House of Cards actor writes that the tens of thousands of Venezuelans who have engaged in protests over the past few weeks stand "for basic human freedoms" and the "sacred" right to protest. Spacey names "chronic food shortages, the highest inflation in the world and ongoing censorship of the media" as catalysts for the conflict.
The actor writes that "more than 1,400 students" have been arrested, "there are more than 40 confirmed cases of torture," and that opposition party Voluntad Popular leader Leopoldo Lopez "sits in a Venezuelan military prison." Spacey says Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has "blamed Lopez for the violence," even though Lopez "urged the students to exercise their legal rights to peaceful protest and free speech and he has repeatedly emphasized they must do so without violence."
"I support all of the Venezuelans who peacefully and non-violently claim their right to self-determination and protest," Spacey asserts. The actor calls upon his readers to join him "in asking [protesters] not to give up and to not become numb to the violations and abuses committed against them."
Spacey instructs his fans that, "We who are fortunate enough to live in freedom must stand up to oppression and injustice and remind the Venezuelan people that they are on the right side of history." He has spawned the has tag "SOSVenezuela" for his fans to use to show their support for the protesters' cause.
[Kevin Spacey Official Site]
