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Ousted Venezuelan Chief Prosecutor Flees to Colombia

by Associated Press

   BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --

   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 traveling 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.

   Politically motivated accusations
   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.
   On Thursday, the government-stacked Supreme Court ordered Ferrer placed
   under arrest, a day after Saab accused him of orchestrating a $6
   million extortion ring that allegedly occurred under Ortega's watch.
   Ferrer denied the accusations and many believe they are politically
   motivated.
   In June, the Supreme Court barred Ortega from leaving the country and
   ordered her bank accounts frozen as part of its investigation into a
   complaint filed by a pro-government lawmaker that accused her of acting
   as an opposition leader and requested a probe into her "mental
   insanity."
   Univision reported Friday that Ortega and Ferrer fled in a speed boat
   to Aruba, which lies a short distance off the northern coast of
   Venezuela.
   The couple's whereabouts had been unknown for several days, but earlier
   Friday Ortega surfaced briefly, addressing by phone a gathering of
   Latin America's prosecutors in Mexico.

   Ortega alleges Odebrecht coverup
   Ortega told the region's prosecutors that Maduro removed her in order
   to stop a probe linking him and his inner circle to nearly $100 million
   in bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. In a plea
   agreement with the U.S. Justice Department last year, the company
   admitted paying bribes to officials throughout Latin America in
   exchange for lucrative contracts.
   Ortega denounced the government takeover of the prosecutor's offices
   and said many of her colleagues have faced persecution.
   Ortega first spoke out against Maduro in late March following a Supreme
   Court decision to nullify the opposition-controlled congress. She
   denounced the decision as a "rupture" of the constitutional order. The
   decision was later reversed amid widespread international criticism,
   but sparked a protest movement that has left more than 120 dead.
   Maduro and his allies have frequently lashed out against Ortega,
   accusing her of being part of an opposition effort to overthrow Maduro.
   Diosdado Cabello, the leader of Venezuela's socialist party, has
   repeatedly referred to her as the "traitor prosecutor."