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97-622: Popular Will ( Spanish : Voluntad Popular , abbr. VP ) is a political party in Venezuela founded by former Mayor of Chacao , Leopoldo López , who is its national co-ordinator. The party previously held 14 out of 167 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly , the country's parliament, and is a member of the Democratic Unity Roundtable , the electoral coalition that held a plurality in
194-491: A 19 February statement, calling it "a politically motivated attempt to silence dissent" and Human Rights Watch accusing the Venezuelan government of adopting "the classic tactics of an authoritarian regime." The New York-based Human Rights Foundation declared López a prisoner of conscience on 20 February and called for his immediate release, adding: "Either Maduro releases López and calls for an honest dialogue with all of
291-424: A 2013 Yale World Fellow, as a champion of freedom who, unlike López, "is not an internationally recognizable figure (yet)." Betancourt expressed the concern that this "relative anonymity will allow government forces to arrest Carlos and violate his human rights with impunity and without fear of any international repercussion." On 22 March, as street protests continued, Vecchio, still defying the arrest order, addressed
388-560: A Participative Budget, tours and meetings with the different communities; the purpose of the Municipal Development Plan was to guide management so that there's no room for improvisation, not only sets out the main goals, but also how they should be fulfilled (referring to transparency, participation and use of modern technology) and how to get to them (human capital and financial sustainability). Smolansky has placed particular emphasis on generating strategic alliances with
485-764: A Popular Will activist and a member of the Popular Democratic Unity Roundtable, he actively participated in the 2012 electoral processes, both primary and presidential and then regional. On 14 July 2013, primary elections were done inside the Popular Will Party for the office of mayor in El Hatillo , faced David Smolansky against Eduardo Battistini, winning with 514 votes against 350, translated into 59%. Later that year, in December elections were participating Miguel Mariño for
582-624: A Spanish-based creole language called Chavacano developed in the southern Philippines. However, it is not mutually intelligible with Spanish. The number of Chavacano-speakers was estimated at 1.2 million in 1996. The local languages of the Philippines also retain significant Spanish influence, with many words derived from Mexican Spanish , owing to the administration of the islands by Spain through New Spain until 1821, until direct governance from Madrid afterwards to 1898. David Smolansky David Smolansky Urosa (born May 27 1985)
679-569: A central role in the protests that took place in Venezuela in early 2014. López was blamed by the government of president Nicolas Maduro for three deaths that occurred during protests on 12 February, and the next day a Caracas court upheld a request from the Public Prosecutor's Office to order his arrest. "Without a doubt, the violence was created by small groups coordinated, exalted and financed by Leopoldo López," said Jorge Rodriguez,
776-603: A considerable number of words from Arabic , as well as a minor influence from the Germanic Gothic language through the period of Visigoth rule in Iberia. In addition, many more words were borrowed from Latin through the influence of written language and the liturgical language of the Church. The loanwords were taken from both Classical Latin and Renaissance Latin , the form of Latin in use at that time. According to
873-739: A crowd of supporters in Caracas. In May 2020, Tarek William Saab , the Attorney General appointed by the National Constituent Assembly , requested that the TSJ declare Popular Will as a "terrorist organization," which would lead to the prohibition of the party. Popular Will rejected said accusations. On 7 July 2020, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela suspended the party's directive board, becoming
970-522: A dramatic change in the pronunciation of its sibilant consonants , known in Spanish as the reajuste de las sibilantes , which resulted in the distinctive velar [x] pronunciation of the letter ⟨j⟩ and—in a large part of Spain—the characteristic interdental [θ] ("th-sound") for the letter ⟨z⟩ (and for ⟨c⟩ before ⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩ ). See History of Spanish (Modern development of
1067-482: A first language by Spaniards and educated Filipinos ( Ilustrados ). Despite a public education system set up by the colonial government, by the end of Spanish rule in 1898, only about 10% of the population had knowledge of Spanish, mostly those of Spanish descent or elite standing. Spanish continued to be official and used in Philippine literature and press during the early years of American administration after
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#17327764319051164-478: A long history in the territory of the current-day United States dating back to the 16th century. In the wake of the 1848 Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty , hundreds of thousands of Spanish speakers became a minoritized community in the United States. The 20th century saw further massive growth of Spanish speakers in areas where they had been hitherto scarce. According to the 2020 census, over 60 million people of
1261-508: A primarily Hassaniya Arabic -speaking territory, Spanish was officially spoken as the language of the colonial administration during the late 19th and 20th centuries. Today, Spanish is present in the partially-recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as its secondary official language, and in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ( Algeria ), where the Spanish language is still taught as
1358-617: A second language features characteristics involving the variability of the vowel system. While far from its heyday during the Spanish protectorate in Morocco , the Spanish language has some presence in northern Morocco , stemming for example from the availability of certain Spanish-language media. According to a 2012 survey by Morocco's Royal Institute for Strategic Studies (IRES), penetration of Spanish in Morocco reaches 4.6% of
1455-531: A second language, largely by Cuban educators. The number of Spanish speakers is unknown. Spanish is also an official language of the African Union . Spanish was an official language of the Philippines from the beginning of Spanish administration in 1565 to a constitutional change in 1973. During Spanish colonization , it was the language of government, trade, and education, and was spoken as
1552-416: Is cognate to the root word of satisfacer ("to satisfy"), and hecho ("made") is similarly cognate to the root word of satisfecho ("satisfied"). Compare the examples in the following table: Some consonant clusters of Latin also produced characteristically different results in these languages, as shown in the examples in the following table: In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish underwent
1649-666: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe . Today, it is a global language with about 500 million native speakers, mainly in the Americas and Spain , and about 600 million when including second language speakers. Spanish is the official language of 20 countries , as well as one of the six official languages of
1746-675: Is a Venezuelan political leader and deputy director of the ConVzla Presidential Campaign representing the opposition democratic leader, Maria Corina Machado , and President-Elect, Edmundo Gonzalez in Washington D.C. He served as Mayor of El Hatillo Municipality in Caracas , and was the former Special Envoy of the Organization of American States for the Venezuelan migration and refugee crisis. Smolansky
1843-502: Is a member of the Democratic Unity Roundtable , the electoral coalition that held a plurality in the Venezuelan National Assembly , and between 2015 and 2020 it held 14 out of 167 seats in the National Assembly until losing all of its seats in the 2020 parliamentary elections , when the party did not participate in the elections due to considering the vote to not be sufficiently fair and free. The Popular Will Party played
1940-412: Is a murderer." Party official Freddy Guevara emphasized that Popular Will believed in a peaceful and constitutional transfer of power, and called on the Venezuelan people to maintain pressure on the government to provide justice and freedom, saying that "the power of the street" must be used "to force the government to uphold the constitution." He added. "We cannot rest until Leopoldo López is free." Since
2037-604: Is an SNF Agora Institute fellow at Johns Hopkins University , where he serves as a visiting professor, researcher, and speaker on democracy, migration, and global authoritarianisms. Smolansky is also a senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation . Smolansky was born in Caracas, Venezuela in May 1985. He is a second generation descendant of immigrants who left the Communist bloc. His grandparents fled Ukraine when it
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#17327764319052134-420: Is committed to "progress", which it defines as the realization of "the social, economic, political, and human rights of every Venezuelan." The party says its "fundamental pillars" are progress, democracy, and social action. In 2020, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela suspended the party's directive board, appointing an ad hoc board presided by José Gregorio Noriega . Popular Will traces its roots to
2231-454: Is estimated that about 486 million people speak Spanish as a native language , making it the second most spoken language by number of native speakers . An additional 75 million speak Spanish as a second or foreign language , making it the fourth most spoken language in the world overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi with a total number of 538 million speakers. Spanish is also
2328-761: Is heavily influenced by Venezuelan Spanish. In addition to sharing most of its borders with Spanish-speaking countries, the creation of Mercosur in the early 1990s induced a favorable situation for the promotion of Spanish language teaching in Brazil . In 2005, the National Congress of Brazil approved a bill, signed into law by the President , making it mandatory for schools to offer Spanish as an alternative foreign language course in both public and private secondary schools in Brazil. In September 2016 this law
2425-732: Is related to Castile ( Castilla or archaically Castiella ), the kingdom where the language was originally spoken. The name Castile , in turn, is usually assumed to be derived from castillo ('castle'). In the Middle Ages , the language spoken in Castile was generically referred to as Romance and later also as Lengua vulgar . Later in the period, it gained geographical specification as Romance castellano ( romanz castellano , romanz de Castiella ), lenguaje de Castiella , and ultimately simply as castellano (noun). Different etymologies have been suggested for
2522-844: Is spoken by very small communities in Angola due to Cuban influence from the Cold War and in South Sudan among South Sudanese natives that relocated to Cuba during the Sudanese wars and returned for their country's independence. Spanish is also spoken in the integral territories of Spain in Africa, namely the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the Canary Islands , located in the Atlantic Ocean some 100 km (62 mi) off
2619-813: Is the de facto national language of the country, Spanish is often used in public services and notices at the federal and state levels. Spanish is also used in administration in the state of New Mexico . The language has a strong influence in major metropolitan areas such as those of Los Angeles , Miami , San Antonio , New York , San Francisco , Dallas , Tucson and Phoenix of the Arizona Sun Corridor , as well as more recently, Chicago , Las Vegas , Boston , Denver , Houston , Indianapolis , Philadelphia , Cleveland , Salt Lake City , Atlanta , Nashville , Orlando , Tampa , Raleigh and Baltimore-Washington, D.C. due to 20th- and 21st-century immigration. Although Spanish has no official recognition in
2716-768: The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies . He also served as a visiting fellow of the Competitiveness Leadership Program at Georgetown University , and a Draper Hills Fellow at Stanford University Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law . Smolansky is currently an SNF Agora institute fellow at Johns Hopkins University , where he serves as a visiting professor, researcher, and speaker on democracy, migration, and global authoritarianism. Smolansky began his public appearances as one of
2813-603: The National Electoral Council of Venezuela (Consejo Nacional Electoral) formally accepted Popular Will as a legitimate political party. This was followed by an unprecedented event in Venezuelan political history, namely the choice of a party's officials in open elections, which were held on 10 July 2011. Later, MUD candidates for the presidency and state government offices were selected in primaries that took place on 12 February 2012. Leopoldo López had retired himself and supported Henrique Capriles Radonski who
2910-568: The Spanish as a First Foreign Language (SAFFL) initiative in March 2005. Spanish has historically had a significant presence on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ( ABC Islands ) throughout the centuries and in present times. The majority of the populations of each island (especially Aruba) speaking Spanish at varying although often high degrees of fluency. The local language Papiamentu (Papiamento on Aruba)
3007-508: The Spanish–American War but was eventually replaced by English as the primary language of administration and education by the 1920s. Nevertheless, despite a significant decrease in influence and speakers, Spanish remained an official language of the Philippines upon independence in 1946, alongside English and Filipino , a standardized version of Tagalog . Spanish was briefly removed from official status in 1973 but reimplemented under
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3104-548: The United Nations . Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese ; the world's fourth-most spoken language overall after English , Mandarin Chinese, and Hindustani ( Hindi - Urdu ); and the world's most widely spoken Romance language. The country with the largest population of native speakers is Mexico . Spanish is part of the Ibero-Romance language group , in which
3201-401: The "ideologized" foreign policy of the current government. López has also expressed belief in a multipolar world in which Venezuela would play a role as an international champion of democracy and human rights. The party's manifesto states: "This is an infamous epoch because the laws are used to create injustice; it is a disastrous epoch because the laws are used to subdue, frighten and eliminate
3298-480: The 13th century. Spanish colonialism in the early modern period spurred the introduction of the language to overseas locations, most notably to the Americas. As a Romance language, Spanish is a descendant of Latin. Around 75% of modern Spanish vocabulary is Latin in origin, including Latin borrowings from Ancient Greek. Alongside English and French , it is also one of the most taught foreign languages throughout
3395-404: The 2021–2022 school year alone. The local business process outsourcing industry has also helped boost the language's economic prospects. Today, while the actual number of proficient Spanish speakers is around 400,000, or under 0.5% of the population, a new generation of Spanish speakers in the Philippines has likewise emerged, though speaker estimates vary widely. Aside from standard Spanish,
3492-595: The 20th century, Spanish was introduced to Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara , and to areas of the United States that had not been part of the Spanish Empire, such as Spanish Harlem in New York City . For details on borrowed words and other external influences upon Spanish, see Influences on the Spanish language . Spanish is the primary language in 20 countries worldwide. As of 2023, it
3589-502: The Constitution. In 2009, the elections known as Constitutional Referendum 2009 occurred in which Smolansky actively participated from the student leadership in the months before the elections, in the various protests and student demonstrations in rejection of the presidential proposal and the election day with the deployment to serve as board members and witnesses. After having completed his studies, he began his political career in
3686-470: The DUR. Smolansky was victorious with 13,607 votes or 44.24% and a comfortable margin of 12.8 points over Sayegh who obtained 9,567 votes (31.11%), both above Mariño who would get the third place with 3,520 votes or 11.44%. On 8 December 2013 he was elected El Hatillo municipality's Mayor for the period 2014–2018. In October, 2014 the Municipal Development Plan (MDP) was unveiled after consultation processes using
3783-654: The Equatoguinean education system and is the primary language used in government and business. Whereas it is not the mother tongue of virtually any of its speakers, the vast majority of the population is proficient in Spanish. The Instituto Cervantes estimates that 87.7% of the population is fluent in Spanish. The proportion of proficient Spanish speakers in Equatorial Guinea exceeds the proportion of proficient speakers in other West and Central African nations of their respective colonial languages. Spanish
3880-705: The Iberian Peninsula. These languages included Proto-Basque , Iberian , Lusitanian , Celtiberian and Gallaecian . The first documents to show traces of what is today regarded as the precursor of modern Spanish are from the 9th century. Throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era , the most important influences on the Spanish lexicon came from neighboring Romance languages — Mozarabic ( Andalusi Romance ), Navarro-Aragonese , Leonese , Catalan/Valencian , Portuguese , Galician , Occitan , and later, French and Italian . Spanish also borrowed
3977-684: The National Assembly between 2015 and 2020. The party describes itself as progressive and social-democratic , and was admitted into the Socialist International in December 2014. The party was formed in reaction to complaints of infringements of individual freedom and human rights on the part of the government of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro . The party attempts to bring together Venezuelans of various backgrounds who consider Chavismo oppressive and authoritarian. Popular Will self-identifies itself as "a pluralist and democratic movement" that
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4074-540: The Old Spanish sibilants) for details. The Gramática de la lengua castellana , written in Salamanca in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija , was the first grammar written for a modern European language. According to a popular anecdote, when Nebrija presented it to Queen Isabella I , she asked him what was the use of such a work, and he answered that language is the instrument of empire. In his introduction to
4171-633: The Outstanding Young Political World 2015 award, presented in the city of Kazanawa in Japan for his performance in local management and also for defending Venezuelan freedom. Given the persecution in recent years of activists, politicians and especially mayors and former mayors who oppose the government of Nicolas Maduro, Smolansky has placed special emphasis on the defense of political prisoners and decentralization in Venezuela. Currently in Venezuela there are about 77 mayors from
4268-656: The Popular Networks (Redes Populares) formed in 2004 as a means of promoting social action and leadership. The year 2007 saw the formation of the so-called "2D" opposition movement, which considered the constitutional referendum called by Hugo Chávez an attempt to impose dictatorship on the country. This was followed in 2009 by the formation of the Social Action (Accion Social) movement, which brought together "youths, workers, community leaders, business people, and politicians." On 5 December 2009, López, along with
4365-690: The Roundtable) against problems of the country, marked by the Association itself as " fighting together against government measures that are dragging Venezuela into the abyss".In October, 2015, David Smolansky received the Heinz Sonntag Youth Prize 2015-2017 awarded by the Hannah Arendt Observatory in recognition of his career and perseverance in the defense of democratic values and peace. In November, he won
4462-571: The Socialist Party mayor of the Libertador municipality in Caracas. "The government is playing the violence card, and not for the first time," López claimed. "They're blaming me without any proof....I have a clear conscience because we called for peace." He added: "We won't retreat and we can't retreat because this is about our future, about our children, about millions of people." On 16 February, López announced he would turn himself in to
4559-597: The Spanish-speaking world, Spanish is called not only español but also castellano (Castilian), the language from the Kingdom of Castile , contrasting it with other languages spoken in Spain such as Galician , Basque , Asturian , Catalan/Valencian , Aragonese , Occitan and other minor languages. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the official language of
4656-502: The U.S. population were of Hispanic or Hispanic American by origin. In turn, 41.8 million people in the United States aged five or older speak Spanish at home, or about 13% of the population. Spanish predominates in the unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico , where it is also an official language along with English. Spanish is by far the most common second language in the country, with over 50 million total speakers if non-native or second-language speakers are included. While English
4753-550: The Venezuela's United Socialist Party, Elias Sayegh for Primero Justicia party, Diana D'Agostini for Accion Democratica party and David Smolansky for the Popular Will party; the last three were all candidates for the Democratic Unity Roundtable coalition (DUR), this was due El Hatillo being the only municipality within the metropolitan area of Caracas where there was no consensus on a single candidate by
4850-595: The Venezuelan government after one more protest. "I haven't committed any crime," he said. "If there is a decision to legally throw me in jail I'll submit myself to this persecution." In early March 2014, a peaceful protest march in Caracas, organized by the Student Movement (Movimiento Estudiantil) and supported by Popular Will, was dispersed by members of the National Guard (GNB) and National Police (PNB) using tear gas and gunshots. This action prevented
4947-457: The administration of Ferdinand Marcos two months later. It remained an official language until the ratification of the present constitution in 1987, in which it was re-designated as a voluntary and optional auxiliary language. Additionally, the constitution, in its Article XIV, stipulates that the Government shall provide the people of the Philippines with a Spanish-language translation of
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#17327764319055044-401: The beginnings of the Democratic Unity Roundtable where he joined its communications team. At the same time, in 2009 he became a founding member of the Popular Will Party in which he served as national manager of the youth division and was subsequently chosen as a member of the national leadership of the party with more than 60 thousand votes in open primaries (being the second highest vote). Being
5141-684: The classic hispanus or hispanicus took the suffix -one from Vulgar Latin , as happened with other words such as bretón (Breton) or sajón (Saxon). Like the other Romance languages , the Spanish language evolved from Vulgar Latin , which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Romans during the Second Punic War , beginning in 210 BC. Several pre-Roman languages (also called Paleohispanic languages )—some distantly related to Latin as Indo-European languages , and some that are not related at all—were previously spoken in
5238-464: The college students who led protests against the kidnapping and murder of the Faddoul brothers in Caracas. Subsequently, he became one of the leaders of the student movement that protested the closure of Radio Caracas Television ( RCTV ) to claim the right to freedom of expression which would afterwards win the elections in 2007, in which was rejected Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez ' proposal to reform
5335-446: The consonant written b (a bilabial with plosive and fricative allophones). In modern Spanish, there is no difference between the pronunciation of orthographic b and v . Typical of Spanish (as also of neighboring Gascon extending as far north as the Gironde estuary , and found in a small area of Calabria ), attributed by some scholars to a Basque substratum was the mutation of Latin initial f into h- whenever it
5432-409: The constitution but in the streets." He lamented the loss of independent media in the country and declared that if his imprisonment helped Venezuelans to wake up once and for all and demand change, it would have been worth it. He said he could have left the country, but instead had "stayed to fight for the oppressed people in Venezuela." He thereupon turned himself in to the National Guard, saying that he
5529-404: The country's constitution. In recent years changing attitudes among non-Spanish speaking Filipinos have helped spur a revival of the language, and starting in 2009 Spanish was reintroduced as part of the basic education curriculum in a number of public high schools, becoming the largest foreign language program offered by the public school system, with over 7,000 students studying the language in
5626-460: The examples of Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and Colombia as countries "that had hyperinflation and achieved price stability." He criticized price controls, saying that Venezuela, while having "a number of controls," also had "the continent's highest inflation." López has described his foreign policy as "win-win" policy, the objective of which would be to solve the country's problems and to promote peace, welfare, and progress. He has said that he would curb
5723-450: The following table: Spanish is marked by palatalization of the Latin double consonants ( geminates ) nn and ll (thus Latin annum > Spanish año , and Latin anellum > Spanish anillo ). The consonant written u or v in Latin and pronounced [w] in Classical Latin had probably " fortified " to a bilabial fricative /β/ in Vulgar Latin. In early Spanish (but not in Catalan or Portuguese) it merged with
5820-466: The former British colony of Belize (known until 1973 as British Honduras ) where English is the sole official language, according to the 2022 census, 54% of the total population are able to speak the language. Due to its proximity to Spanish-speaking countries and small existing native Spanish speaking minority, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented Spanish language teaching into its education system. The Trinidadian and Tobagonian government launched
5917-454: The grammar, dated 18 August 1492, Nebrija wrote that "... language was always the companion of empire." From the 16th century onwards, the language was taken to the Spanish-discovered America and the Spanish East Indies via Spanish colonization of America . Miguel de Cervantes , author of Don Quixote , is such a well-known reference in the world that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). In
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#17327764319056014-466: The group to call itself Movimiento Voluntad Popular, supposedly because of the similarity between this name and that of the Movimiento Base Popular, a regional political party in Apure . This frustrated the party's desire to field candidates in the 2010 parliamentary election ; nonetheless, three party members won election to the National Assembly , two of them with the support of the Coalition for Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD). On 14 January 2011,
6111-488: The incident that were later made public, armed men are seen threatening people in one room of the headquarters and violently breaking down a door in order to enter another room. Carlos Vecchio, the party's national political coordinator, reported the incident via Twitter. López, in his own tweet, urged his followers to spread the word about the incident. On 18 February 2014, López delivered a speech in Plaza Brión calling for "a pacific exit" from authoritarian government, "within
6208-416: The language is also known as Castilian ( castellano ). The group evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The oldest Latin texts with traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century, and the first systematic written use of the language happened in Toledo , a prominent city of the Kingdom of Castile , in
6305-423: The language's hegemony in an intensely centralising Spanish state were established from the 18th century onward. Other European territories in which it is also widely spoken include Gibraltar and Andorra . Spanish is also spoken by immigrant communities in other European countries, such as the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Germany . Spanish is an official language of the European Union . Today,
6402-628: The majority of the Spanish speakers live in Hispanic America . Nationally, Spanish is the official language—either de facto or de jure —of Argentina , Bolivia (co-official with 36 indigenous languages), Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico (co-official with 63 indigenous languages), Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay (co-official with Guaraní ), Peru (co-official with Quechua , Aymara , and "the other indigenous languages"), Puerto Rico (co-official with English), Uruguay , and Venezuela . Spanish language has
6499-400: The marchers from reaching the headquarters of the national Ombudsman, where they planned to demand the resignation of Gabriela Ramirez for justifying acts of torture and other violations of human rights committed by the government of Nicolás Maduro. At this point López had been in prison for 22 days. Popular Will, in response to this action, stated that Maduro, "in addition to being illegitimate,
6596-444: The market economy and opposes "state capitalism." The party's "real battle," López has claimed, is "against poverty, exclusion, and disrespect for human rights." In opinion pieces in December 2013 and January 2014, he proposed the creation of a "Social Forum" within the context of which Venezuelans could "discuss and rethink" the country's future and forge a "new social pact." López expressed the view "that mineral resources are owned by
6693-408: The nation" and that "democratizing oil" can lead to a democratization of income. He also encouraged Venezuelans to invest in the oil business in order to "participate in its production." In the January article, López described Popular Will as a grassroots "social and political" movement that "avoids the harmful practices of old and new political parties" and that is opposed to "warlordism and cronyism in
6790-720: The needs and cries of Venezuelans." He has expressed confidence that Venezuelans "can construct a country in which the problems that have never been solved can be solved, the eternal problems that exist from generation to generation." López has further spoken of creating a Venezuela "where liberty is exercised in a constructive and responsible manner,...and where opportunities are created for all Venezuelans, regardless of wealth, religion, age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or political persuasion." López has said that Venezuela must commit itself to strengthening production and bringing down inflation, which, he said, would reduce corruption and enable Venezuelans to save money. He has held up
6887-425: The new board. Popular Will's political position has been variously described as centrist , centre-left (a description that the party uses), centre-right and right-wing by academic and media sources. Nicolás Maduro and government officials have called the party " far-right " and " fascist ". Corrales and Penfold described the party as being radical and that it promotes protests as a vital method for forcing
6984-734: The northwest of the African mainland. The Spanish spoken in the Canary Islands traces its origins back to the Castilian conquest in the 15th century , and, in addition to a resemblance to Western Andalusian speech patterns, it also features strong influence from the Spanish varieties spoken in the Americas, which in turn have also been influenced historically by Canarian Spanish. The Spanish spoken in North Africa by native bilingual speakers of Arabic or Berber who also speak Spanish as
7081-482: The opposition, or he must step down for the sake of all Venezuelans: both those who support Chavismo and those who do not. Venezuela does not need an executioner willing to kill half of the country. Venezuela needs a president." On 26 February, López's wife, Lilian Tintori , led a quiet protest of female students just prior to a government peace conference. The day after López's arrest, the government issued an arrest warrant for Carlos Vecchio , who with López in jail
7178-654: The other hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. However, from 1713 to 1923, it called the language castellano . The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (a language guide published by the Royal Spanish Academy) states that, although the Royal Spanish Academy prefers to use the term español in its publications when referring to the Spanish language, both terms— español and castellano —are regarded as synonymous and equally valid. The term castellano
7275-667: The other leaders of other political parties, Un Nuevo Tiempo , Primero Justicia , and Acción Democrática , officially announced the formation of the Popular Will Movement (Movimiento Voluntad Popular) at a forum in Valencia , Carabobo . The US-funded International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute assisted with the founding of Popular Will. The National Electoral Council , on 1 February 2010, refused to allow
7372-489: The party became more involved in Venezuela's protest movement, numerous members of Popular Will have been arrested. In March 2018, The New York Times reported that over 90 members of Popular Will have been detained by the Maduro government. On 17 February 2014, "alleged members of military counterintelligence" broke into the headquarters of Popular Will without a search warrant and holding people at gunpoint. In videotapes of
7469-505: The people who protest and who demand justice". In January 2012, López, at the time a presidential candidate, described the current Venezuelan government as authoritarian, and called on Venezuelans to join him in choosing "the path of democracy." He said that the "first commitment" of government must be to justice, specifically to "functioning courts," an end to impunity, and an end to corrupt tax authorities. Spanish language Spanish ( español ) or Castilian ( castellano )
7566-533: The political opposition with open legal proceedings, of which David Smolansky is one of them. Smolansky was forced into exile in 2017, after the regime-controlled Supreme Court issued Smolansky with an illegal arrest warrant, voided his passport, removed him from office, and arbitrarily banned him from holding public positions. Smolansky was recognized by the Junior Chamber International as World's Outstanding Young Politician 2015. In
7663-533: The population. Many northern Moroccans have rudimentary knowledge of Spanish, with Spanish being particularly significant in areas adjacent to Ceuta and Melilla. Spanish also has a presence in the education system of the country (through either selected education centers implementing Spain's education system, primarily located in the North, or the availability of Spanish as foreign language subject in secondary education). In Western Sahara , formerly Spanish Sahara ,
7760-545: The private sector, the NGO sector and universities. So far they have materialized over 200 alliances that result in improved quality of life for hatillanos and greater institutional development for the municipality. In 2014, following his election as mayor, he was one of the founders of the Mayors Association for Venezuela, as a member of the directive, which aims to make common front ( including all mayors belonging to
7857-754: The resignation of government leaders. The party supports LGBT rights, and following the 2015 parliamentary election , the first two LGBT members of the Venezuelan legislature ( Tamara Adrián and Rosmit Mantilla ) were elected under Popular Will's banner. The party platform, "The Best Venezuela" (La Mejor Venezuela), calls for an open, transparent government and for the punishment of abuses of power by public officials. It supports globalization and calls for an inclusive society "without regard to wealth, religion, age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or political opinions." López, when running for president, called for greater autonomy in fiscal matters to be given to governors and mayors. The party seeks to make Venezuela
7954-685: The selection of its authorities." He added that Popular Will does "not share the vision of a hegemonic state that controls everything and decides everything"; rather, government's role is to promote the development of human capabilities, to help people flourish as free citizens, to cultivate "social solidarity," and to foster "respect for the constitution." In order to forge "the best Venezuela," López has written, Venezuelans must focus on "peace, welfare, and progress," and must engage in "a broad process of consultation and reflection…with groups of experts in specific subject areas and with social movements, as well as with communities, in dialogues in which we can feel
8051-537: The term español (Spanish). According to the Royal Spanish Academy, español derives from the Occitan word espaignol and that, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin * hispaniolus ('of Hispania'). Hispania was the Roman name for the entire Iberian Peninsula . There are other hypotheses apart from the one suggested by the Royal Spanish Academy. Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal suggested that
8148-444: The theories of Ramón Menéndez Pidal , local sociolects of Vulgar Latin evolved into Spanish, in the north of Iberia, in an area centered in the city of Burgos , and this dialect was later brought to the city of Toledo , where the written standard of Spanish was first developed, in the 13th century. In this formative stage, Spanish developed a strongly differing variant from its close cousin, Leonese , and, according to some authors,
8245-640: The third most used language on the Internet , after English and Chinese. Spanish is the official language of Spain . Upon the emergence of the Castilian Crown as the dominant power in the Iberian Peninsula by the end of the Middle Ages, the Romance vernacular associated with this polity became increasingly used in instances of prestige and influence, and the distinction between "Castilian" and "Spanish" started to become blurred. Hard policies imposing
8342-422: The third political organization judicially intervened in the last month, appointing an ad hoc directive board presided by José Gregorio Noriega , previously expelled from the party. The high court sentenced that Noriega "could use the electoral card, logo, symbols, emblems, colors and any other own concept" of the party and nullified the expulsions of both Noriega as Guillermo Luces and Lucila Pacheco , members of
8439-585: The whole of Spain, in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas (lit. "the other Spanish languages "). Article III reads as follows: El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. ... Las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas... Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State. ... The other Spanish languages shall also be official in their respective Autonomous Communities... The Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ), on
8536-409: The world's largest producer and exporter of oil. López does not seek to nationalize oil firms but says that oil income should be used to form a "Solidarity Fund" to help alleviate extreme poverty and finance an efficient system of social security , as well as to diversify the non-oil sectors of the nation's economy. López also opposes price controls and favors subsidizing domestic production. He supports
8633-638: The world. Spanish is well represented in the humanities and social sciences . Spanish is also the third most used language on the internet by number of users after English and Chinese and the second most used language by number of websites after English. Spanish is used as an official language by many international organizations , including the United Nations , European Union , Organization of American States , Union of South American Nations , Community of Latin American and Caribbean States , African Union , among others. In Spain and some other parts of
8730-689: Was developed in the cities of Toledo , in the 13th to 16th centuries, and Madrid , from the 1570s. The development of the Spanish sound system from that of Vulgar Latin exhibits most of the changes that are typical of Western Romance languages , including lenition of intervocalic consonants (thus Latin vīta > Spanish vida ). The diphthongization of Latin stressed short e and o —which occurred in open syllables in French and Italian, but not at all in Catalan or Portuguese—is found in both open and closed syllables in Spanish, as shown in
8827-622: Was distinguished by a heavy Basque influence (see Iberian Romance languages ). This distinctive dialect spread to southern Spain with the advance of the Reconquista , and meanwhile gathered a sizable lexical influence from the Arabic of Al-Andalus , much of it indirectly, through the Romance Mozarabic dialects (some 4,000 Arabic -derived words, make up around 8% of the language today). The written standard for this new language
8924-559: Was elected as the MUD candidate for presidential election of 7 October 2012. Hugo Chávez was reelected as president and the party received 471,677 votes. In the regional elections on 16 December 2012, the party was established as the fourth largest party in MUD coalition and as the sixth nationwide. The youth leader, David Smolansky , won the 2013 municipal election for mayor of the municipality of El Hatillo in Miranda State . The party
9021-713: Was followed by a vowel that did not diphthongize. The h- , still preserved in spelling, is now silent in most varieties of the language, although in some Andalusian and Caribbean dialects, it is still aspirated in some words. Because of borrowings from Latin and neighboring Romance languages, there are many f -/ h - doublets in modern Spanish: Fernando and Hernando (both Spanish for "Ferdinand"), ferrero and herrero (both Spanish for "smith"), fierro and hierro (both Spanish for "iron"), and fondo and hondo (both words pertaining to depth in Spanish, though fondo means "bottom", while hondo means "deep"); additionally, hacer ("to make")
9118-436: Was handing himself over to a "corrupt justice" system. On 20 February, Supervisory Judge Ralenis Tovar Guillén, issued a pre-trial detention order against López in response to formal charges of "arson of a public building," "damages to public property," "instigation to commit a crime," and "associating for organized crime." Human-rights organizations around the world condemned the arrest of López, with Amnesty International , in
9215-778: Was part of the Soviet Union and settled in Cuba where they lived for 43 years; in 1970 they escaped from Cuba to Venezuela when his father was 13 years old. The son of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, he received a multicultural and multireligious family education. Smolansky received his Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the Andres Bello Catholic University , and a Master's degree in International Public Policy from
9312-462: Was revoked by Michel Temer after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff . In many border towns and villages along Paraguay and Uruguay, a mixed language known as Portuñol is spoken. Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country located entirely in Africa, with the language introduced during the Spanish colonial period . Enshrined in the constitution as an official language (alongside French and Portuguese), Spanish features prominently in
9409-497: Was serving as the de facto leader of Popular Will. He was charged with the same offenses as López: arson, criminal association, damages to public property, and instigation to commit a crime. Vecchio, who was in hiding, defied the arrest order. Meanwhile, public unrest continued, with the official death toll from more than two weeks of violence rising to 17. Enrique Betancourt, writing in the Yale Daily News , described Vecchio,
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