Caracas/Bogota, May 21 – Venezuela has suspended all flights from neighbouring Colombia after authorities arrested more than 30 people allegedly involved in a plot to destabilise the country ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for Sunday.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Monday the flight ban was effective immediately and would last until 6 p.m. local time on May 26. The announcement came amid heightened political tensions and international scrutiny over the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Authorities detained 21 Venezuelans and 17 foreigners, including individuals with Colombian, Mexican and Ukrainian citizenships, Cabello said on state television. He accused the group of conspiring to target embassies, hospitals and police stations with explosives in a bid to disrupt the electoral process.
“This is an operation involving experts in explosive devices, human smugglers, and mercenaries working with members of the opposition,” Cabello said, without providing evidence. “The scenario they want to present is that there are no conditions in Venezuela for holding an election.”
Cabello claimed that the suspects entered Venezuela from Colombia, using both air and land routes, though he said their journeys began in other, unnamed countries.
The suspensions were confirmed by Venezuela’s civil aviation authority, which said flights would resume a day after the election. Colombia’s aviation regulator also acknowledged the halt, while its Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated it had not received official communication from Caracas regarding any detained Colombian nationals.
The arrests come just days after an independent panel of experts released a report detailing alleged human rights abuses in Venezuela following Maduro’s disputed re-election in July 2024. The vote was widely condemned by Western nations as fraudulent.
Maduro’s government has frequently accused the United States and Colombia of backing efforts to topple his administration, particularly during electoral periods.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who went into hiding after last year’s presidential election, reiterated calls for a voter boycott in an interview with AFP last week, saying the upcoming vote would lack legitimacy. Treasury officials and international observers have yet to comment on the recent developments.
