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From Afghanistan to Venezuela: Why These Activists Fight for Freedom
Introducing a fearless Afghan advocate for women’s rights and a brave Venezuelan dissident.
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A note from Garry Kasparov: I know many of you read The Next Move for my perspective on US democracy as someone who resisted dictatorship in Russia. But I’m not alone in sharing that experience. I founded the Renew Democracy Initiative—The Next Move’s publisher and parent org—to bring the stories of people who fought for liberty in their own countries to an American public that increasingly takes its blessings for granted. Through a program called Frontlines of Freedom (FOF), RDI puts dissidents in front of elected officials, business leaders, and college students to inspire Americans to stand up for their democracy. For the past year, Caitlin Forrest has been leading FOF. Today, she’s introducing two incredible additions to our network of over 100 democracy advocates from 40 different countries.
Caitlin Forrest is the director of the Frontlines of Freedom program at Renew Democracy Initiative.
“Tyranny.” “Authoritarian.” “Dictator.”
In today’s heated discourse, these terms have been reduced to buzzwords. Yet for millions around the world, they are harsh realities. When we flag concerns about the direction of America’s trajectory, we need to keep that perspective in mind.
That’s why the Renew Democracy Initiative launched the Frontline Fellows program, an alliance of over 100 political dissidents from every corner of the globe.
Speaking at high schools and on college campuses, in front of industry leaders and in Washington, these fearless advocates remind us of two things: (1) That even when things look bad, we’re actually pretty fortunate to have been born in a democracy like America. (2) Our good fortune isn’t a given.
Not everyone gets to go to work with real-life superheroes. I feel incredibly lucky that part of my job is sharing the stories of some of the world’s most courageous activists. Our network is constantly growing, and I wanted to give you a glimpse into what we do by introducing two of our newest additions.
First, there’s David Smolansky from Venezuela, who’s joining RDI as a senior fellow.
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David was the mayor of El Hatillo City in Venezuela. He used his position to defy Nicolas Maduro’s brutal dictatorship as one of the leaders of the nonviolent protest movement. All of that put David in the dictator’s crosshairs. The regime removed him from the El Hatillo mayorship, slapped him with a ban on voting in elections and serving in public office, and issued an illegal arrest warrant against him.
Even in exile, David is not giving up the fight. I met him when he was RDI’s Dissident-In-Residence at Johns Hopkins University’s SNF Agora Institute. He’s an inspiring model of tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds. In April, we were proud to spotlight David alongside Venezuela’s legitimate President-elect Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, democratic opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, and Maria’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa at RDI’s 2025 Heroes of Democracy Gala.
David has played a key role leading efforts to get international recognition of the results of last July’s Venezuelan presidential elections, in which the Democratic Movement won but the regime rejected the outcome. He is also active in seeking protection for thousands of victims of human rights violations by the regime.
You’ll be hearing more from David soon in the pages of The Next Move. For now, here’s what he has to say about his mission:
Exile will not stop me from working for a free and democratic Venezuela. The fall of Maduro’s regime will be the Berlin Wall moment of Latin America.
Next, I want to tell you about our incredible new Frontline Fellow Marzieh Hamidi from Afghanistan.
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You can hardly find a place more difficult for women and girls than Afghanistan. But for Marzieh, the escalating challenges have only made her a more passionate advocate for her fellow Afghan women—especially female Afghan athletes—and an even more committed opponent of the Taliban’s gender apartheid regime.
I was first introduced to Marzieh through Iranian-American dissident and RDI Frontline Fellow Masih Alinejad. That’s the beauty of the FOF program—building connections across borders in the fight for democracy. I’m truly excited for Marzieh to be officially part of the FOF community.
Like David, Marzieh will have more to share with you all soon. For now, here’s what she has to say about her work with RDI:
As an Afghan woman and athlete in exile, I refuse to stay silent while my sisters are erased from public life under a regime that treats being a woman as a crime. My goal in joining FOF is to fight back: by speaking out, by connecting with other brave women around the world, and by building collective strength against systems of oppression. I want to make sure the world does not forget what is happening in Afghanistan, and to turn my own story of exile, threats, and resistance into a force for action. I believe in the power of international solidarity, and I want to use this platform to both learn and contribute, because silence is no longer an option.
For a lot of us, work is a grind. But the commitment of people like Marzieh, David, Masih, and Garry, who continue to defend freedom despite all of the risks, is what energizes me to show up every day.
Stay tuned for more from the Frontlines of Freedom in The Next Move. In the meantime, if you’re a free subscriber, please consider upgrading to a paid plan—your contribution advances the work of RDI—supporting our dissidents, bringing their stories to more Americans who need to hear from them, and publishing more content here on Substack.
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