Freed Emtrasur crew members talk to reporters in an airport lobby. The 12 made a stopover in Bolivia before arriving in Venezuela.
Seven crew members remain in Argentina, including four Iranians and three Venezuelans.
On Friday, September 16, 12 of the 19 crew members of the EMTRASUR plane finally arrived in Venezuela, after an Argentinian court allowed them to leave Argentina on Tuesday, September 13. They had been for more than three months in that country.
The 12 crew members were received by the Venezuelan Minister for Transportation Ramón Velázquez Araguayán.
On their return trip to the country, the 12 crew members first made a stopover in Bolivia on Thursday, from where they embarked on the final leg of their journey at night.
However, seven crew members still remain detained in Argentina, of whom four are Iranians and three are Venezuelans.
The Boeing 747-300 aircraft belonging to the Venezuelan cargo line EMTRASUR is still being held at the Ezeiza International Airport, Buenos Aires, where it remains grounded since June 8.
#ÚltimoMinuto| ya embarcados en el avión el 1er grupo de los tripulantes #venezolanos que le levantaron la prohibición de salida del país de #Argentina.
Van rumbo a #Bolivia. Mañana aterrizan en horas de la tarde en #Venezuela.
Este es justo el momento de la despedida 👇🏾 pic.twitter.com/BiIdxdsXBC
— Madelein Garcia (@madeleintlSUR) September 15, 2022
“They called us spies and held us unjustly for three months,” said José Miguel Rodríguez Martínez, flight attendant of the plane, upon landing in Venezuela.
#ENVIDEO | Tripulación retenida en #Argentina🇦🇷 se encuentra regresando a Caracas y brinda unas de sus primeras declaraciones a teleSUR en el aeropuerto de #Bolivia🇧🇴 pic.twitter.com/JNF6a5xYZf
— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) September 16, 2022
Argentine court allows exit
On Tuesday, September 13, the Federal Court of Appeals of La Plata authorized the departure from Argentina of 12 of the 19 crew members who were traveling on the EMTRASUR plane.
The crew members were detained on the order of Judge Federico Villena, of the Lomas de Zamora federal court, on August 1. Venezuelan national airline Conviasa, of which EMTRASUR is a subsidiary, appealed that order, and the case was transferred to La Plata.
Judges Carlos A. Vallefín and Roberto Lemos Arias of La Plata ordered Judge Villenas, who is in charge of the case, to speed up and conclude “all the pending proceedings, the definition of the procedural situation and of restrictions imposed on individuals and assets.”
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However, Judge Villena allowed 12 members of the crew to leave Argentina, and the remaining seven still remain in the country.
Those who have not be allowed to leave Argentina are Iranian citizens Gholamreza Ghasemi, Abdolbaset Mohammadi, Mohammad Khosraviaragh, and Saeid Vali Zadeh, and Venezuelan citizens Víctor Pérez Gómez, Mario Arraga Urdaneta, and José Garcia Contreras.
Venezuela has fought tirelessly
After the 12 crew members of the EMTRASUR plane were allowed to return to their country, the Venezuelan government stated that it was satisfied with the decision, but it will continue to exert efforts at all instances for the liberation of the seven remaining crew members and the return of the plane.
El Gobierno Bolivariano ha luchado incansablemente por la liberación del avión y tripulación de Emtrasur. Nos regocija el levantamiento de la medida de prohibición de salida de Argentina dictada a 12 miembros de la tripulación. Seguiremos en pie de lucha hasta recuperar el avión pic.twitter.com/hqvhHNcfao
— Ramón Celestino Velásquez Araguayán (@rvaraguayan) September 14, 2022
“The Bolivarian government has fought tirelessly for the release of the EMTRASUR plane and crew,” Venezuelan Transport Minister Ramón Velásquez Araguayán wrote on Twitter. “We are pleased with the lifting of the measure prohibiting the departure from Argentina issued to 12 members of the crew.”
He added that the Venezuelan government will continue “fighting until the plane is recovered.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/EF/SC
