Venezuela’s ousted chief prosecutor flees to Colombia
BOGOTA — Venezuela’s ousted chief prosecutor and her husband — two of President Nicolas Maduro’s most outspoken critics — fled the country and landed Friday afternoon in Colombia.
Luisa Ortega Diaz and German Ferrer arrived in Bogota aboard a private plane travelling from Aruba, Colombian migration authorities said in a statement. The couple didn’t request asylum, according to a senior Colombian official speaking on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to discuss the politically sensitive case.
Ortega and Ferrer have long been aligned with Venezuela’s ruling socialist party but recently broke with Maduro, publicly denouncing his push to convene a constitutional assembly that was installed in early August and is now going about the task of upending Venezuela’s institutions.
One of the assembly’s first acts was to remove Ortega and appoint one of Maduro’s key allies, Tarek William Saab, as the nation’s new top law enforcement officer.