Overview
- Homeland Security Investigations agent Edwin López approached General Bitner Villegas in a La Isabela airport hangar in May 2024 to propose rerouting the aircraft so U.S. authorities could detain Nicolás Maduro.
- López kept contact for roughly 16 months over encrypted apps, even after retiring, including an August 7 note flagging a Justice Department reward increase to $50 million.
- The pilot never agreed, later blocked the agent after tense exchanges, and soon resurfaced publicly as a loyal officer.
- AP says it reviewed the López–Villegas messages and interviewed U.S. officials and an opposition figure who requested anonymity, while DHS and Venezuela offered no substantive comment.
- The outreach unfolded during a broader U.S. pressure campaign under President Trump that included Caribbean force deployments, CIA covert action authorization, and a higher bounty for Maduro.