Venezuelan EMTRASUR cargo aircraft hijacked by Argentinian judiciary and kept grounded in Ezeiza international airport, Buenos Aires. File photo.
This weekend, the United States will illegally take possession of the Venezuelan cargo aircraft belonging to the state cargo airline EMTRASUR. The aircraft was illegally seized by Argentina in 2022 and grounded in the Ezeiza international airport of Buenos Aires since then.
According to Argentinian media, the United States will take away the plane between Saturday night and early Monday morning. However, no further details were provided.
At the beginning of January, Federal Judge Villena of the Lomas de Zamora court of Buenos Aires, who has jurisdiction over the Ezeiza airport, accepted the United States’ request to take possession of the Venezuelan plane and ordered the delivery of the aircraft to the US.
Although it was Argentina that seized the plane, Argentina intends to charge Venezuela for “parking” the plane at the airport.
Venezuelan Transportation Minister Ramón Velásquez Araguayán reported that he received a notification from the Argentinian Air Navigation Company (EANA), with details of the bank account to which the Venezuelan authorities must “transfer the money.”
Nos secuestraron el avión de EMTRASUR, violando todos los reglamentos vigentes que regulan a la aviación civil internacional. Nuestros pilotos y la tripulación fueron liberados, tras demostrarse que no existen pruebas contra ellos. Mantienen el avión retenido ilegalmente sin… pic.twitter.com/eKymIp53ve
— Ramón Celestino Velásquez Araguayán (@rvaraguayan) February 6, 2024
In the notification, the Argentinian company added that Venezuela must “send a receipt after the payment has been made.”
Amid this scenario, Argentinian mainstream media is continuing its smear campaign against Venezuela.
Venezuela Denounces EMTRASUR Jet Theft by Argentina’s Judiciary
The Venezuelan Embassy in Argentina repudiated the false accusations made by the Argentinian right-wing mainstream media Clarín, which accused an official of the Venezuelan embassy of committing an “illegality.”
Said Venezuelan official had sought to confirm that the aircraft was at the airport, but this was misrepresented by Clarín in an attempt to link the Venezuelan embassy with “terrorism and narco trafficking” in order to “manipulate public opinion, incite hatred, and criminalize the function that diplomats perform with dignity,” a press release by the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry stated.
The Venezuelan ministry also demanded a public apology and a rectification from Clarín.
Venezuela has repeatedly denounced the governments of Argentina and the United States for the theft of the aircraft.
(Últimas Noticias) by Ariadna Eljuri
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
