The Government of Venezuela assured that the United States scrapped the Iranian plane that was detained for 20 months at the Ezeiza airport due to suspicions of espionage.
In an incendiary speech, Nicolás Maduro spoke of "kidnapping", "crime" and "dismemberment" of the Boeing 747-300M and promised a "biblical lesson" for those responsible for the operation.
"At night we were informed of
a vile, criminal, outrageous act
at an airport in Miami, Florida. The perverse gringo empire with all its evil proceeded to
dismantle the Conviasa Emtrasur plane
that had been kidnapped from us," he said in the march for the 20 years of Hugo Chávez's anti-imperialist speech (1954-2013).
The aircraft
landed in Argentina in June 2022
with five Iranians and fourteen Venezuelans on board, who
were initially held for an investigation into terrorist activities
, but were released due to lack of evidence.
The United States requested the seizure of the plane, which finally flew from Ezeiza to Miami on February 11.
This Thursday, Maduro stated that they removed the color of the flag from the aircraft, removed the name of Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi, erased the name of Emtrasur Cargo (the state company that used it) and then "they dismembered it and chopped it to pieces." ".
Video
The Venezuelan Minister of Transportation shared a video of the aircraft at a Miami air terminal.
"That is the hatred they have for dignified, Bolivarian Venezuela
. This crime that has been committed against a plane that belonged to Venezuelans is outrageous," exclaimed the leader of the Venezuelan regime.
In addition, he accused the far right of having
a plan to "rob and dismember Citgo"
(a Venezuelan oil company established in the United States) in the coming days.
"Citgo costs more than 12 billion dollars and they have the plan, as I denounce it, in the coming days to steal and dismantle Citgo in revenge against the people," Maduro warned.
"Bible lesson" for America
The Venezuelan president called on the people to recognize "the surnames and the betrayal because, whatever they do in Miami,
the people this year will give them a biblical lesson
and they will never return to power again."
Along these lines, the Caracas government described the event as "robbery" and on February 15, Maduro
called his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei, a "bandit."
A crime was committed against a Conviasa Emtrasur plane that was hijacked, they took away the colors of the flag, erased the name of Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi and then chopped it into pieces.
That is the hatred they have for revolutionary and Bolivarian Venezuela...… pic.twitter.com/jBEJyF2ATf
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) February 29, 2024
"It's outrageous!" Maduro reiterated at the Chavista rally that paralyzed traffic on the main Caracas highway, where a huge inflatable shark with a United States flag was transported on the bed of a truck to be exhibited at the activity.
For his part, Ramón Velásquez Araguayán, Minister of Transportation and President of Conviasa,
described the action as a "crime"
and said that "it is like an executioner when he does not want to see the face of the person he is going to behead."
"
They have violated all international regulations
, international conventions, 14 articles of the civil aviation agreement and what they seek is to demoralize the people," said the official, who early showed a video in which the Venezuelan-Iranian plane is supposedly seen being scrapped in the Dade-Collier air terminal, in Miami.
What happened to the Venezuelan plane in Argentina
Despite their release after being detained in a hotel in Ezeiza,
the crew continues to be investigated in a case in which the DAIA presented itself as a plaintiff
for links to the terrorism of the Al Quds Forces of Iran.
The plane was owned by the Iranian airline Mahan Air and currently belonged to Emtrasur Cargo, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned Conviasa, companies that are sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury.
The plane spent almost two years in Ezeiza until it was transferred to Miami.
Photo Sebastian Borsero
On February 11, the Argentine Government transferred custody of the Boeing 747 to the United States in compliance with an order from the Court of the District of Columbia (USA).
The United States claimed the aircraft because it was transferred to a third party by Mahan Air sanctioned by Washington, which
"violated United States export control laws
," according to Deputy Attorney General Matthew Olsen.
After learning that the aircraft left Buenos Aires, the Government of
Venezuela warned that it would give a "forceful, direct and proportionate response
to this attack, for which it will use all available resources within the framework of the national Constitution, diplomacy and International Law." ".
With information from EFE