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.