Venezuelan cargo aircraft detained in Argentina under US orders. Photo: Twitter/@LAConviasa.
The US judiciary has ordered the seizure of the Venezuelan cargo airline Emtrasur’s Boeing 747 plane. The aircraft has been detained in Argentina since June 2022 allegedly for violating export control laws of the United States.
The Argentinian newspaper La Nación reported that US federal judge Randolph Moss, who is handling the seizure case, acted at the request of Washington prosecutor Rajbir Datta, and ordered the confiscation of the Venezuelan cargo plane on Thursday, May 4.
The aircraft is a Boeing 747 manufactured in the US and owned by Emtrasur, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa.
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Emtrasur had purchased the plane from the Iranian company Mahan Air, a company the US authorities allege is linked to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. IRGC and Quds are classified as terrorist organizations by the US State Department.
Conviasa, Emtrasur, and Mahan Air are all sanctioned by the US Treasury Department. The US government ordered the Argentinian judiciary to seize the plane for allegedly violating US export control laws committed by Iran and Venezuela. Although those laws are not recognized by either Argentina or Venezuela, on August 11, 2022, a Buenos Aires court ruled in favor of the US request.
The saga started on June 8, 2022, when the Venezuelan cargo plane was detained by authorities of the Ezeiza airport, Buenos Aires, after the plane’s landing authorization in Montevideo (Uruguay) was canceled, and after it had been denied fuel at Ezeiza. The 19-member crew—14 Venezuelans and five Iranians—faced a trial by media in Argentina, where they were accused of being linked to “international terrorism,” and suffered xenophobic hatred perpetrated by the Argentinian right-wing opposition, mainstream media, and the strong Israeli lobby. Within days it was revealed that the plane and its crew had been detained on US orders.
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Both Iran and Venezuela carried out extensive diplomatic and judicial efforts to ensure the release and repatriation of the crew members from Argentina. As the case progressed, the terrorism allegations were dismissed, the Venezuelan and Iranian citizens were never called for trial, and all of them were released during September-October 2022, after being held for months with their passports seized in Argentina. The aircraft, however, was not released, despite multiple requests by the Venezuelan government.
The crew members, in statements to the media, alleged that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was in control of the case and the Argentinian judiciary served the US government.
The definitive hijacking of a Venezuelan state property by the United States once again demonstrates the extraterritorial and illegal application of US laws.
(RT) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF/LA
