Venezuelan activist Lilian Tintori says government banned her from traveling

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan human rights activist Lilian Tintori said Saturday President Nicolas Maduro's socialist "dictatorship" wants to prevent her from traveling abroad to campaign for change. 

Tintori, who said she is four-months pregnant, protested Venezuelan authorities' decision to prevent her from leaving the country. She published a video on her Twitter account Friday saying a cash seizure and an order for her to appear in court were part of a government effort to attack her reputation. 

Authorities said they found about 200 million bolivares, roughly $12,000, stacked inside four wooden boxes in a vehicle that was registered to Tintori. They seized the money Wednesday. 

The mother of two said the cash was meant to be used to take care of her uninsured grandmother's medical expenses. She said the 100-year-old woman was hospitalized. 

"It is not a crime to have cash in your property. It is not a crime to have cash in your truck, in your house," Tintori said. 

Tintori said she appeared in court to explain the source and purpose of the cash, because she had nothing to hide. 

"I am not a public official. I am a mother, a wife, a human rights activist," Tintori said. 

Tintori's husband, Leopoldo Lopez, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for inciting violence during the 2014 anti-government protests. He served three years and five months in the Ramo Verde prison and remains under house arrest. 

"The ambassadors of Spain, Germany and Italy accompanied me," Tintori tweeted with a photo of the diplomats at the airport. "They are witnesses to the dictatorship's abuse."

France President Emmanuel Macron was among the leaders worldwide to express support on Twitter. She also had meetings scheduled with Spain’s Mariano Rajoy, Germany’s Angela Merkel and Britain’s Theresa May. 

"We are waiting for Lilian Tintori in Europe," Macron tweeted. "The Venezuelan opposition should remain free."