Venezuelans protest prison time for opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelans took to the streets in cities around the country to protest the sentence handed down earlier this month to opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

Critics of the country’s socialist administration dressed in white and waved flags as they voiced their support for Lopez, who received a maximum sentence Sept. 10 for his role as the leader with a large-scale, sometimes violent protest movement in 2014.

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Lopez supporters last took to the streets in May, when the imprisoned politician went on strike to demand that the government set a date for legislative elections. Those elections have since been set for Dec. 6 and the opposition is polling well ahead of the socialist party.

No demonstration in the past year has approached the size or intensity of the 2014 movement.