Venezuelan right-wing personalities Leopoldo Lopez and Lilian Tintori sought to manufacture a media campaign including trumped up claims of human rights abuses, according to revelations late Wednesday.
Lopez and Tintori were seeking to target the head of the Ramon Verde prison, Colonel Jose Viloria.
Lopez has been imprisoned at Ramon Verde since he was found guilty in late 2015 of leading a 2014 wave of anti-government violence. He and his wife Tintori have repeatedly made allegations of human rights abuses against prison authorities, but little evidence to substantiate their claims has come to light.
In an audio recording made public by socialist politician Diosdado Cabello on state broadcaster VTV, Lopez and Tintori could be heard discussing creating a media campaign against Viloria.
The two also discussed promoting their allegations on social media.
The allegations included claims Tintori was abused during a visit to a prison. Authorities have since released footage that appeared to show Tintori freely visiting Lopez.
Lopez, leader of political party Voluntad Popular (Popular Will), was first detained in February2014. He was accused of leading violent blockades called “The Exit” (“La Salida” in Spanish) which resulted in 43 deaths.
This content was originally published by teleSUR.