Venezuela: Ex-chief prosecutor flees to Columbia and Brazil

Venezuela's former chief prosecutor - who says she has proof of corruption at the highest levels of the socialist administration - travelled to Brazil on yesterday amid fevered speculation that she would ultimately seek asylum in the United States.

Luisa Ortega Diaz's exact whereabouts have been shrouded in mystery since she fled Venezuela with her husband on Friday - taking a boat to Aruba and then a charter flight to Bogota.

On Monday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos offered her political asylum "if she wants it", but by Tuesday afternoon government officials said she was on the move again - heading to Brazil where she was expected to deliver remarks at a meeting of international lawmakers.

Diaz, a long-time government insider who became chief prosecutor in 2007, is likely safeguarding some of the administration's most damning legal secrets.

And she's thought to be working with US law enforcement at a time when Washington is ratcheting up sanctions on Caracas.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is waging an ideological war on his people as he tightens his grip on power, seemed to confirm that the US was behind Diaz's "great betrayal."

"[She] wanted to hide behind the mask of being a leftist and a [socialist]," Maduro said yesterday.

"But for some time, the ex-prosecutor has been working for the United States in hopes of damaging Venezuela."

Ronal Rodriguez, a researcher at the Venezuelan Observatory, which is part of Colombia's Rosario University, said Diaz's accusations could force Maduro's closest allies to dig in.

Many in his Cabinet are young enough that they have to think about their future, he said.

"Maybe they're not worried now, but they might be in the longer term, when they're out of office," he said. "This could really raise the costs for them in terms of ending this dictatorship."

It's still unclear whether Diaz plans to stay in Brazil or some other part of Latin America. US State Department officials said that as of Monday they suspected she might try to travel to Miami to coincide with Vice President Mike Pence's visit there on Wednesday. Now that seems unlikely.