Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Cardinal Baltazar Porras Says Passport Seized at Caracas Airport, Flight to Spain Blocked

The church leader reports being forced to sign a form, with no immediate explanation from authorities.

Overview

  • Porras says airport officials kept his passport at Maiquetía and told him he could not travel because of alleged noncompliance with travel rules.
  • He reports being warned he could be detained when he tried to photograph the document formalizing the passport retention.
  • Officials told him the passport had unspecified problems and directed him to seek answers at SAIME’s central office in Caracas.
  • Porras says a soldier closely followed him in the terminal and that his passport was not returned before he went home.
  • SAIME did not immediately comment, while human-rights advocates and the main opposition coalition criticized the measure and called for the passport’s return; Porras previously reported a travel block in October.