Professional Affiliation

Director, Transparencia Venezuela

Expert Bio

Mercedes de Freitas is the Executive Director of Transparencia Venezuela. She has worked with several Venezuelan NGOs and has been active on issues concerning access to information, budget transparency and legislative processes, as well as in the Global Movement on Transparency and Accountability in Budgets. An Ashoka Fellow since 2000, de Freitas joined the editorial board of El Nacional in 2010. In her work with Transparencia Venezuela, she has promoted legislation on anti-corruption, transparency, access to information, and whistle-blower protection and has spoken out about issues of human rights abuse, electoral fraud, and abuse of power. She was elected to the board of Transparencia Venezuela in 2014.