Gov’t bans arrival of flights from Colombia

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP):

Venezuela on Monday banned the arrival of flights from neighbouring Colombia after authorities detained more than 30 people who were allegedly plotting activities to destabilise the country ahead of Sunday’s election.

The arrests were announced just as an independent panel of experts backed by the Organization of American States released a report documenting serious human rights abuses in Venezuela as the Government tightened its grip on dissent after the July 28 presidential election.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello on state television said the flight ban was “immediate” and would last beyond Sunday, when voters across the country are expected to elect governors and National Assembly members. But Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said Venezuela’s government had notified it that flights would resume the day after the election.

Cabello said the anti-government plans involved placing explosives at embassies and other facilities in Venezuela. He said authorities had detained 21 Venezuelans and 17 foreigners, some of whom hold Colombian, Mexican and Ukrainian citizenship.

Cabello, without offering any evidence, said the group included experts in explosive devices, human smugglers and mercenaries, and was working with members of Venezuela’s political Opposition.

“The scenario they want to present is that there are no conditions in Venezuela for holding an election,” Cabello said, referring to the Opposition.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement said it had not received any information from Venezuela’s government regarding the detention of Colombian citizens.

President Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, resumed his country’s diplomatic relations with Venezuela after taking office in 2022 and becoming an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro, during a televised meeting with leaders of the military and state security forces, alleged that members of an Albanian crime organization involved in drug trafficking in Ecuador were also linked to the alleged plot and added that an investigation into the group’s plans is ongoing.

The arrests come nearly two weeks after members of the Opposition left the country after having lived at a diplomatic compound in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, for more than a year to avoid arrest. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the faction of the opposition led by María Corina Machado described the departure as an international rescue operation, but Cabello said they left Venezuela through a negotiation with Maduro’s government.