Venezuelan Boeing 747-300, belonging to Venezuelan state cargo airline EMTRASUR. Photo: File photo.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuelan authorities have announced the closure of Venezuelan airspace to aircraft originating from or bound for Argentina, in response to Argentina’s seizure and subsequent handing over to US authorities of the Boeing 747 cargo jet belonging to Empresa Transporte Cargo del Sur (EMTRASUR), a subsidiary of the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa. The US government took the Venezuelan aircraft to Miami and destroyed it a few weeks ago, in flagrant violation of international laws on civil aviation.
On Tuesday, March 12, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil announced that “Venezuela exercises full sovereignty in its airspace,” and added that no aircraft flying to or from Argentina will be permitted to fly over Venezuelan airspace until compensation is provided for damages caused by the dispossession of the valuable Venezuelan asset that was mostly used for medicine transportation before being illegally seized by Argentinian judicial authorities during the administration of former Argentinian President Alberto Fernández.
The response comes after statements made by Javier Milei’s government spokesman, Manuel Adorni, who announced that Argentina will initiate “diplomatic actions against Venezuela” for its decision to “prevent the use of the country’s airspace by any aircraft.” Adorni made this claim despite the fact that it was Argentina that caused damage to Venezuela.”
El gobierno neonazi de Argentina, no solo es sumiso y obediente con su amo imperial, sino que tiene un vocero “cara de tabla”: El Sr. Manuel Adorni pretende desconocer las consecuencias de sus actos de piratería y robo contra Venezuela, las cuales fueron advertidas en reiteradas… https://t.co/VB5GoR4mgl
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) March 12, 2024
Minister Gil wrote, “The Neo-Nazi government of Argentina is not only submissive and obedient to its imperial master, but also has an ‘impudent’ spokesperson: Mr. Manuel Adorni who intends to ignore the consequences of Argentina’s acts of piracy and theft against Venezuela, of which we had warned repeatedly before the criminal act committed against EMTRASUR. Venezuela exercises full sovereignty in its airspace and reiterates that no aircraft, coming from or heading to Argentina, will be able to fly over our territory, until our company is duly compensated for the damages caused by the illegal actions carried out by Argentina only to please its northern masters.”
Through a statement issued on February 29, the Venezuelan authorities expressed their “strongest protest and condemnation” before the international community against the blatant violation of international law by the US and the Argentinian governments. Venezuela announced that it would take all legal, diplomatic, and political measures against the destruction of the Boeing 747-300 aircraft belonging to EMTRASUR, perpetrated by the government of the United States in complicity with Argentina.
US authorities claimed that they did not give “permission” for the sale of the cargo jet by Iran to Venezuela, although Venezuelan authorities had followed all international standards during the aircraft buying process. Venezuelan authorities, in turn, called illegal the transfer operation of the cargo jet from Argentina to the United Stated that violated international civil aviation regulations.
The Argentinian judiciary ordered the seizure of the Venezuelan Boeing 747-300 at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when the aircraft was being used mostly to bring medicines and medical equipment to Venezuela. The illegal US and European sanctions made it extremely difficult for Venezuela to acquire medical supplies and respond to the pandemic.
Argentinian mainstream press reported that the maneuver to seize the Venezuelan plane was orchestrated by US and Israeli intelligence apparatus and their local assets, claiming that the jet was part of a “dark Venezuelan-Iranian terrorist operation.” However, even the Argentinian judiciary, heavily penetrated by US and Israeli operators, could not prove this terrorism claim, leading to the eventual dropping of charges against the crew and their release from Argentina.
On December 30, 2023, an Argentinian judge ruled that the fate of the plane, hijacked by the Argentinian judiciary under US orders, would be subject to the norms of the Treaty of International Judicial Assistance between Argentina and the United States. According to legal experts, this bilateral treaty between the US and Argentina is not applicable to a third country, in this case Venezuela. Its application against Venezuela was a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of states enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SC
