Juan Requesens

Juan Requesens
Requesens speaking with a police officer during a 2014 protest
Deputy of the National Assembly of Venezuela
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 January 2016
Personal details
Born	1989 (age 27–28) Táchira
Political party	Primero Justicia
Other political affiliations	Democratic Unity Roundtable
Residence	Caracas
Alma mater	Central University of Venezuela
Known for	Leading 2014 opposition student protests at UCV

Juan Requesens is a student leader at the Central University of Venezuela and a leader for student opposition protesters during the 2014 Venezuelan protests. He has led peaceful marches opposing the Government of Venezuela under President Nicolás Maduro hoping to start a larger movement of Venezuelans. He was elected Deputy of the National Assembly on December 6, 2015, and sworn in on January 5, 2016.

Juan Requesens' father is a doctor and his mother is an English teacher. His political idol is former president Rómulo Betancourt, who was the "father of Venezuelan democracy," and a close ally of United States President John F. Kennedy.

Requesens began his political endeavors while he was attending Central University of Venezuela (UCV). He attends UCV as a political science major and became the student council president in 2011. During his time as a UCV student leader, he used Twitter as a way to have student debates. He began demonstrations against the Venezuelan government in January 2013 when he helped organize a joint protest of students from Central University of Venezuela and Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.

The main demands of Requesens' movement was for the release of protesters who had been jailed, justice for protesters killed and allegedly tortured, and that if a meeting were to be held with President Maduro, that it would be broadcast live on television so they can speak directly to the people of Venezuela. He believes asking for the removal of President Nicolás Maduro is a "dead end" and that the “strategy of escalating confrontation will just give the government the chance to discredit us and continue with more repression”. Requesens' movement has been called more a more moderate approach than that of Leopoldo López Mendoza.