- U.S. authorities have taken control of Maduro's aircraft.
U.S. Officials Grab Airplane of Venezuelan Leader Nicolás Maduro for Sanctions Breaches
American authorities have nabbed an aircraft belonging to the authoritative Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro due to sanctions infringements, as announced by the Justice Department in Washington D.C. The aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 900EX, which is owned by Maduro and his close associates, was captured in the Dominican Republic and moved to the U.S. state of Florida. The seizure is linked to violations of American sanctions and export control regulations.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland declared in a written statement that the aircraft was illegally acquired for $13 million through a sham company and smuggled out of the United States to be used by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies.
A representative from the U.S. Commerce Department stressed that regardless of how lavish a private jet might be or how influential its owner is, the U.S. is persistently working to seize and return every illegally smuggled aircraft that originated from the United States. U.S. government sanctions forbid Americans from conducting business with individuals from the Maduro regime. Additionally, there are export restrictions on supplying goods to Venezuela.
Venezuelan Administration Goes Ballistic
The government of the South American nation rebuked the aircraft's capture. "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces to the international community that the authorities of the United States of America, through a criminal act that can only be classified as piracy, have illegally seized an aircraft belonging to the President of the Republic, justifying it with the coercive measures they unilaterally and illegally impose globally," a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Caracas stated.
U.S. Acknowledges Opposition's Success
The U.S. does not acknowledge Maduro's legitimacy and considers his most recent controversial re-election as fraudulent. Numerous countries do not recognize the confirmation of the results by the loyalist Supreme Court. The electoral board declared Maduro as the victor of the presidential election on July 28. However, they have yet to publish the unencrypted results - the government blames this on an alleged cyberattack. The opposition accuses electoral fraud and proclaims victory for its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia.
The statement from the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the seizure of the aircraft, stating it as an act of piracy against the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro.
Despite the seizure, the United States continues to enforce sanctions on Venezuela, prohibiting Americans from conducting business with individuals from Maduro's regime and imposing export restrictions on supplying goods to the country, which is led by The President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro.
