Children in Venezuela stopped from flying to Peru

CARACAS, Venezuela – A group of at least 120 children in Venezuela who were expecting to fly to Peru to reunite with relatives have been grounded in Caracas after officials say they presented fraudulent travel documents.

Venezuelan chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab said Saturday the children were returned to family members following the incident Friday in Venezuela’s capital.

A leader with the Venezuelan Union in Peru who helped organize the trip to Lima said the group met all the legal requirements and that the children have become pawns in an ongoing political dispute. Oscar Perez said the children were travelling to Lima to reunite with parents now living and working in Peru.

Many of the children’s parents waited for hours at Lima’s airport Friday evening anxiously expecting their children to arrive.