Venezuela’s government said Monday it had suspended flights arriving from neighboring Colombia after what it called a cross-border infiltration of “mercenaries” allegedly planning to disrupt upcoming legislative and regional elections on Sunday.
“We gave instructions that all flights coming from Colombia to Venezuela be immediately suspended,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello told a press conference, adding that 38 people had been arrested, including 17 foreigners.
The government of authoritarian Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose reelection last year was rejected by much of the international community as fraudulent, frequently claims to be the target of US and Colombian-backed coup plots.
Cabello linked the latest group of alleged mercenaries to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has called for a boycott of the May 25 legislative and gubernatorial elections.
The minister said those arrested planned to attack foreign embassies, hospitals and the police.
He said they arrived in Venezuela from Colombia, some by plane, others overland, but that they had set out originally from other unnamed countries.
In an AFP Zoom interview last week, Machado, who went into hiding after the July 2024 presidential election, vowed a massive voter stayaway on Sunday that would leave “all the (voting) centers empty.”
The opposition says its tally of results from the July vote showed a clear victory for its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who went into exile in Spain after a crackdown on dissent.
-Advertisement-
Grab our latest Magazine, "Ayodele Akintunde, SAN: Legal Titan Celebrates and Reflects on His Life Journey.". Get your order fast and stress free.
For more details about Newswire Law&Events Magazine, kindly reach out to us on 08039218044, 09070309355. Email: newswiremagazine@yahoo.co.uk. You will be glad you did
