Colombian Journalist Held Overnight in Miami by INS

A Colombian journalist who was detained overnight by immigration authorities after her name appeared on a security list was released today for her planned visit in Miami, officials said.

It was the second detention of a Colombian journalist seeking to enter this country in as many weeks. In the first case, U.S.-educated journalist Patricia Lara, 35, a reporter for the leading Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, was ordered deported.

Olga Behar was detained Sunday after arriving on an Iberia Airlines flight from Madrid, Spain. She spent the night at a hotel near the airport and was released today after being interviewed by INS officials.

Visa From Embassy

“I’m satisfied she came to the United States for the purpose of visiting her sister,” said Perry Rivkind, district director for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. He said her sister is a student at the University of Miami.

Behar flew in on a five-day visa issued by the U.S. Embassy in Madrid and was detained under a law dealing with aliens suspected of communist, subversive or terrorist activity, Rivkind said. He said she planned to fly to Mexico on Tuesday.

Behar reportedly left her native Colombia after receiving death threats upon publication of a book on the leftist guerrillas who have been fighting the government for 35 years. She most recently has been living in Mexico, Rivkind said.