Venezuela: Influencer 'Leito Original' arrested for incitement to hatred

Venezuelan regime authorities detained Venezuelan influencer "Leito Original," Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello reported this Thursday.

"It is proven, it is public, notorious and communicational, the campaign that this gentleman had against Venezuelan men and women," Cabello said upon receiving a repatriation flight of migrants coming from Mexico at Maiquetia Airport.

According to the Venezuelan minister, Leonel Moreno "did a lot of damage to Venezuelans, with his attitude there in the United States, because all that is part of a big plan. Now he has to face hate crimes here in his country. Against his own people, and let him defend himself, let him explain and mature."

According to Cabello, Leonel Moreno took it upon himself to denigrate Venezuelans, to add to the narrative of the Americans about Venezuelans and served as an instrument of the Republicans to show that the Biden administration was not capable of reacting to a group of Venezuelans who said "we are going to invade, we are going to steal, we are going to loot."

"Several have filed complaints" and "he is being prosecuted for crimes against Venezuelans contemplated in the Hate Law," said the minister.

Leonel Moreno was deported from the United States after an Ohio judge ordered his expulsion from the country. He arrived in Venezuela on March 27 along with a group of Venezuelan immigrants deported by the Trump administration.

Intelligence sources cited by The New York Post have alleged that Moreno was a sergeant in the Venezuelan Directorate General of Military Intelligence. Moreno subsequently claimed in court that he was a member of the Venezuelan Navy.