Story highlights CNN investigation revealed Venezuelan authorities may have given passports to people tied to terrorism

Venezuela government says the reports are "an absolute lie"

(CNN) The Venezuelan government Wednesday ordered cable providers to take CNN en Español off the air, days after CNN aired an investigation into the alleged fraudulent issuing of Venezuelan passports and visas.

The network "instigates religious, racial and political hatred," violence and other themes, National Telecommunications Commission Director Andres Eloy Mendez said Thursday morning on state-run VTV.

The commission told cable companies to pull CNN en Español's signal immediately. It called the action a preventative measure and did not say when CNN en Español would be back on cable systems.

Mendez told VTV that the decision is connected to "the constitutional and human guarantees of all citizens." He read a statement in which he said CNN's reports "defame and distort the truth" and "threaten the peace and democratic stability of our Venezuelan nation, as they generate a climate of intolerance."

Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez accused CNN of performing what she defined as an "imperialistic media operation" against her country in last week's broadcast of the yearlong investigation.

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