Opposition activist barred from travel
CARACAS, Venezuela — One of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition activists said Saturday that her passport was seized and she was barred from leaving the country for planned meetings with leaders of France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Lilian Tintori posted a photo on Twitter of herself at Caracas’ airport holding a document from migration authorities ordering the seizure of her passport before she was to board an afternoon flight. No explanation was given, but the move comes a day after
she was ordered to appear before a judge Tuesday to answer questions about a large sum of cash found in her vehicle.
“The evidence is clear why the dictatorship is stirring the pot against me,” Tintori tweeted. “They want to keep me from talking about the humanitarian crisis we are living in Venezuela.”
Tintori is the wife of Leopoldo Lopez, who served three years of a 14-year sentence for leading violent antigovernment demonstrations in 2014 before being released
from a military prison and placed under house arrest in July amid destabilizing protests against President Nicolas Maduro. Lopez’s trial and conviction were marred by irregularities and have been condemned by numerous foreign governments and the United Nations.
On Friday, Tintori received notice that she was being investigated after authorities discovered in her car some 200 million bolivars, around $60,000 at the nation’s weakest official exchange
rate or $10,000 at the widely used black market rate.
She denounced the probe as politically motivated, pointing out in a video that it’s not a crime to have cash in one’s possession. She said the money was to pay for family emergencies including the hospitalization of her 100-year-old grandmother.
While it’s not clear what possible crime Tintori is being investigated for, some government supporters have accused her of using the funds to finance “terrorism” — a term they frequently use to describe violent protests that have rocked Venezuela — although they have presented no evidence.
Tintori described her planned trip to Europe as “very important.”
Pressure is building on the continent’s leaders to join Washington in slapping sanctions on Maduro’s government and top officials as they move forward with plans to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution and consolidate power.