Freddy Guevara

Freddy Guevara Cortez is a political leader, freedom fighter, and democracy advocate.

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 has been 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.

Guevara’s work at the Harvard Kennedy School has spanned the gamut. He worked as a research fellow for the Democracy in Hard Places Initiative headed by Tarek Masoud and graduated from the Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration program in 2024. Guevara currently works with Erica Chenoweth as a research fellow at the Nonviolent Action Lab, a program that he’s been involved with since 2022.