No sign of Venezuelans sought by Maduro, says Peru

>> LIMA: Peru’s top immigration official said on Friday that two Venezuelan civilians whom Caracas alleges were involved in recent drone blasts during a speech by President Nicolas Maduro do not appear to have set foot in Peru.

This week, Venezuela asked Peru to find two of its citizens in connection with what Caracas has called an assassination attempt against Mr Maduro.

“With respect to the first two, no migratory entry or exit from our country has been registered,” Migrations Superintendent Eduardo Sevilla told a news conference. Peru will check if the military officials have entered Peru and proceed in accordance with “the laws in place”, Mr Sevilla added, without offering specifics.

Mr Maduro’s government has accused opposition politicians and activists abroad of scheming to assassinate him with drones that were laden with explosives during a military parade earlier this month.

Fourteen people have been arrested. Mr Maduro’s critics say he is using the incident to stifle dissent and cement his power in the oil-rich nation.

Peru has been a critic of Mr Maduro’s government in recent years. It was unclear if Peru would detain and turn over any Venezuelan citizens at Mr Maduro’s request.

Nearly 400,000 Venezuelans are now in Peru, the majority of whom have entered the country in recent months, according to official statistics.

Venezuelans have been fleeing their country because of a deep economic crisis that has been marked by shortages of food, medicine and other essentials.

But Peru will start requiring passports from Venezuelan migrants starting Aug 25, a week after neighbouring Ecuador implements the same requirement, Interior Minister Mauro Medina said on Friday.

Peru and Ecuador have allowed Venezuelans, as well as citizens of some other countries in the region, to enter their borders using national ID cards. The policy had given desperate Venezuelans an easier route out of their crisis-stricken homeland, where it can be difficult to obtain passports amid chronic shortages.