Freddy Guevara Cortez

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT FREDDY GUEVARA CORTEZ

Freddy Guevara Cortez is a political leader, freedom fighter, and democracy advocate. He is currently serving as a Visiting Fellow with the Democracy in Hard Places Initiative at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation during the 20••••23 academic year. Guevara co-founded the Venezuelan progressive party Voluntad Popular in 2010, was the top-voted congressman in 2015, Vice President of Venezuela\'s Parliament in 2016, and leader of the non-violent civil uprising against Maduro\'s dictatorship in 2017. As a result of his political activism, Guevara became a target of political persecution, resulting in the loss of his freedom for three years. During this time, he was a refugee in the Chilean Embassy in Caracas, a political prisoner, and is in exile since August 2021. He was appointed to the Opposition Unitary Platform in negotiations with Maduro\'s regime, and in 2023 as President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Venezuelan Parliament in exile. During his fellowship, Guevara will examine democracy and civil resistance movements by participating in and creating spaces for exchange among scholars, students, and practitioners. He is researching lessons learned from civil resistance leaders around the world to help find answers for the recent decrease in the success rate of nonviolent civil resistance movements in the last two decades. Guevara was admitted at the mid-career Master Administration Program of the Harvard Kennedy School for the academic year 20••••24.