Venezuelan Foreign Minister: Colombia's Offer of Protection to Former Attorney General is Cynical

Venezuela's foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, has denounced the Colombian government for offering protection to Venezuela's suspended attorney general, Luisa Ortega Diaz. In a series of tweets, he said that the decision by the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, to offer asylum to Ortega and her husband if she requested it, amounted to a cynical protection of corruption and crime.

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"Bogota has become the center of the conspiracy against democracy and peace in Venezuela," Arreaza wrote. He added, "What can be expected of the government that has welcomed the head of the 2002 coup" against Hugo Chavez? 

Ortega was temporarily removed from office by Venezuela's Supreme Court on August 5, while it investigates her over accusations of "grave breaches of the law."

Claiming that she was the victim of “political persecution,” Ortega fled Venezuela on Friday. She reportedly travelled by boat to Aruba and then took a private flight to Colombia, accompanied by her husband, German Ferrer, and at least one of her aides.

Following President Santos' confirmation that Ortega Diaz is currently “under the protection of the Colombian government,” the president of the Colombian Senate, Efrain Cepeda, also expressed support for any political asylum claim Ortega Diaz may present.

“I support asylum for prosecutor Luisa Ortega, her husband and close advisers. We shall reach out to the defenders of democracy," Cepeda tweeted. Cepeda said he was inviting the suspended attorney general to attend a session of the Colombian senate on Tuesday.

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Last week, Venezuela's acting attorney general, Tarek William Saab, opened a parallel investigation into a alleged network of extorsion at the public prosecution service, which he said involved Ortega's husband, who is a ruling party member of parliament, and a number of prosecutors, as well as one of Ortega's top aides.

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Speaking to reporters during a news conference at the Public Ministry headquarters in Caracas, Saab said “We've authorized two district attorneys to investigate these grave crimes and they are working on the case immediately.”

Once viewed as a staunch supporter of the Bolivarian Revolution and former President Hugo Chavez, Ortega Diaz began to distance herself from the government earlier this year. She criticized the call for an ANC and unsuccessfully filed several petitions to have it blocked.