Luis Carlos Díaz
Luis Carlos Díaz is a journalist and human rights defender in Venezuela. He is a highly-regarded blogger, who has gained national relevance for publishing online content (known as informative “hangouts”) on pressing political issues in Venezuela. Alongside his wife, woman human rights defender and journalist Naky Soto, he reports on human rights issues related to politics and technology, with a focus on freedom of expression. For six years, he hosted the International Encounter of Peace Builders (Encuentro Internacional de Constructores de Paz), and in 2013 he won the Best of Blogs award by Deutsche Welle for his activism around freedom of expression. He has been active in calling for more democratic state institutions and in denouncing human rights violations by the Venezuelan government.
HRDs have been working under restrictive policies for many years: the Maduro administration has continued the work begun by Chávez in restricting civil space and delegitimising HRDs, repeatedly accusing them of undermining the Venezuelan democracy with the alleged collaboration of the United States. HRDs are discredited and criminalised by state-controlled media (television, radio, print media) on a weekly basis.
