Venezuela's government on Wednesday shut off CNN's Spanish-language broadcast after officials criticized a damning report from the network, The Associated Press reported.

The National Telecommunications Commission said in a news release that it pulled the network from the nation's airwaves because of stories that it said were "direct aggressions" that "threaten the peace and democratic stability" of the country.

A Feb. 6 story contained allegations that diplomats in the country sold passports to people in a Middle East terror group. The report was denied by government officials.

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The story pointed to allegations that officials in the country were selling passports from the country's embassy in Iraq to people of Middle Eastern origin.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday criticized CNN, saying it was an "instrument of war in the hands of real mafias."

CNN said in a statement it believes in the "vital role that freedom of press plays in a healthy democracy," adding it would air its content on YouTube and its website.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Venezuela was taking an "increasingly hostile stance" toward foreign reporters.