Yon Goicoechea
Yon Alexander Goicoechea Lara is a Venezuelan lawyer, activist and organizer. He emerged as one of the leaders behind the Venezuelan Student Movement, which formed as a result of actions by Hugo Chávez to amass further power as the country's president. He holds degrees from the Andrés Bello Catholic University and Columbia University.
Career
In 2008, the Cato Institute awarded Goicoechea the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty which comes with an award of $500,000. At the time, Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa called Goicoechea, "a symbol of… democratic reaction when freedom is threatened." After receiving the Prize, Goicoechea experienced harassment in Venezuela, and state-run television depicted him as a cartoon clutching wards of cash stamped with the words "Made in USA." As a result of his activism, he experienced death threats, which led him to move between various friends' homes to stay safe. President Chávez called the Goicoechea-led student movement, a "fascist attack." In 2013, Goicochea decided to leave Venezuela with his family.After a period abroad, working and studying in the USA and Spain, Goicoechea returned to Venezuela in 2016 to rejoin the political arena. In an interview on June 26, Goicoechea explained that his return was marked by a renewed enthusiasm for the future of Venezuela. After leaving the Primero Justicia political party, Goicoechea joined another opposition organization, Popular Will, and campaigned for the recall referendum against president Nicolás Maduro.