Nicolás Maduro's government prevented journalist John Carlin from entering Venezuela

Venezuelan authorities prevented Clarín columnist John Carlin from entering the country on Monday. The journalist of British origin was declared "inadmissible" and then expelled from Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas.

"Our guest John Carlin could not enter Venezuela, has been declared inadmissible and therefore, we inform all our guests of the different events they are suspended, "announced the organizers of Carlin's visit to Venezuela in a statement.

The organizing team explained to Efe that the British arrived in Venezuela in the afternoon and left the country around 11 pm GMT after several unsuccessful attempts to demonstrate to the immigration authorities the reasons for which they wished to enter.

"We have found inexplicable this decision all Once we invited Mr. Carlin to promote the values ​​of tolerance and the importance of negotiation to resolve conflicts in the light of his experience in South Africa and his friendship with Nelson Mandela, "said the statement.

National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) sentenced deportation and held the government of Nicolás Maduro responsible.

"The regime of Nicolás Maduro denies entry into the country of John Carlin, journalist and writer, author of the book Human factor. It was declared inadmissible. Another illegal deportation that threatens freedom of expression and the debate of plural ideas, "said the entity on Twitter.

Pug, Winner of the Ortega y Gasset AwardHe is famous among others for writing the book The Human Factor, which served as a basis for the film Invictus, which focuses on the national rugby team after the abolition of the segregation system in South Africa.

For his visit to Venezuela, he had planned private meetings with political leaders, journalists and a public event to talk about political and social transition in South Africa.

John Carlin: "They said 'you are ineligible'"

In an interview with Tab radioCarlin told what exactly happened at this airport in the Caribbean country. "I have never traveled this far from my life," he said with a certain humorous tone.

The journalist left London Monday at 6 pm and arrived in Caracas at 3 pm local time. "I queued in migration, a police officer appeared, he took my passport In an office. They kept me about 20 minutes, then two other young policemen approached me and told me & # 39; you are ineligible & # 39;. "Inadmitted," was the word they used, "he said.

"They took me to the boarding room where the Iberia plane was where I had just arrived and they went to talk to the airline staff to find out. if they could get me the plane that was leaving for Madrid. four hours later "outfit.

Indeed, four hours later, Carlin would leave for the Spanish capital. Always surprised by what had happened to him, the crew members handed him his passport. In the official document came a "piece of paper". "He said that they refused me entry because I would give a lecture without the necessary visa", Said the reporter and added indignantly:" It is an absurdity that makes me think that there are other reasons that I do not know. "

Carli claimed to have been invited by a "group dedicated to conflict resolution"" These people organized a trip in which I was going to see government and opposition delegations, I was going to question the Chancellor and it was possible that I saw Maduro and Juan Guaidó … I had the approval of the Chancery … I was going to talk about my experience of peace processes and dialogue and mainly about Mandela, which is my specialty ", a- he declared.

The Lanata experience

In July 2017, PPT journalist Jorge Lanata, He was deported from Venezuela. The driver arrived in the country to cover the controversial vote of the National Constituent Assembly.

After returning to Buenos Aires, the journalist spoke about this experience. "There is a civil war with unilateral weapons, and it is complex because you do not know whether this part is one or more," he said adding: "The vast majority of the country is held hostage by those who possess the weapons ".

In this sense, he said: "Venezuela is a military dictatorship. It was founded by General (Hugo) Chavez and counts military posts within the government. That is, there is unusual military power for a normal country. They even managed the parallel embassy at the time of De Vido and are in charge of drug trafficking. "