The tension between Argentina and Venezuela is increasing and sparks have already flown between the two countries.
The Government of Javier Milei announced “diplomatic actions” against that of Nicolás Maduro after he closed Venezuelan airspace to Argentine planes that want to fly over his territory.
Venezuela's decision was known after Argentina delivered to the United States a Boeing 747-300 confiscated in the southern country for almost two years.
The crew traveling on the aircraft, which belonged to a Venezuelan company sanctioned by the United States, was detained in Argentina in 2022 and investigated by
alleged links with Iran, but was finally released.
The conflict between both countries began almost two years ago, when the Boeing 747-300 landed in Argentina after making a stopover in Venezuela.
The plane, which was transporting auto parts from Mexico, was immobilized in Buenos Aires by decision of the Argentine justice system, which ordered that the 19 occupants of the aircraft—Venezuelan and Iranian citizens—not leave the country while they were investigated.
The aircraft had been owned by the Iranian company Mahan Air and at the time it was seized, June 2022, it belonged to Emtrasur, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan airline Conviasa, companies sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury for allegedly providing services of logistics to terrorist groups.
The transfer between two companies sanctioned by the United States raised the suspicion of Washington, which said that the companies had violated a rule of the North American Department of Commerce in the sale of the aircraft.
Argentina accepted a confiscation order issued by the US authorities and the plane was immobilized even though all its crew members were released after an Argentine federal judge considered that he did not have sufficient elements to charge the defendants.
Maduro harshly targeted the then Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, whom until recently he considered an ally, and the case also caused a political storm within the country.
After being detained for almost two years, the plane was transferred from Buenos Aires to the United States in February “under commitments derived from a judicial cooperation agreement with a foreign State,” according to government sources.
Before the plane left for the North American country, a Venezuelan diplomat in Buenos Aires added tension to relations by violating the security of the Ezeiza international airport to take photos of the Boeing 747-300.
The official was declared persona
non grata
and left the country 48 hours later, according to the Efe agency.
“Milei's bandit stole the plane from Venezuela,” said Maduro after the delivery of the device to the United States.
The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, said that Argentina had committed “acts of piracy and theft” against his country and communicated on the social network "Aircraft coming from or heading to Argentina may fly over our territory until our company is duly compensated for the damages caused, after the illegal actions carried out, only in order to please its guardians in the north."
The neo-Nazi government of Argentina is not only submissive and obedient to its imperial master, but it has a “board-faced” spokesperson: Mr. Manuel Adorni pretends to ignore the consequences of his acts of piracy and theft against Venezuela, which were warned repeatedly… https://t.co/VB5GoR4mgl
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) March 12, 2024
Sources from the Argentine Foreign Ministry have informed EL PAÍS that on March 4 the ministry was informed that the Venezuelan aeronautical authority had imposed a restriction on Aerolíneas Argentinas for overflight of the airspace over the Maiquetía region, in the north of the country.
The restriction was initially applied from February 8 to 10 and as of February 13 it was effective “uninterruptedly,” according to the same sources, who consider that the Maduro Government's decision was “a unilateral coercive measure without any legal basis.” and a “retaliation against a decision of the Judiciary” from which they distance Milei's Executive.
After hearing the news, the Argentine Government reported on Tuesday that it had initiated “diplomatic actions” against Venezuela without giving more details.
The authorities have not publicly explained what these actions are, but Foreign Ministry sources affirm that Argentina sent a note of protest to Venezuela on March 8 "due to the decision to suspend the overflight permits of Argentine airlines in Venezuelan airspace."
“Argentina is not going to allow itself to be extorted by the friends of terrorism,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni simply said on Tuesday.
The Argentine Foreign Ministry has not responded to EL PAÍS on this issue and the presidential spokesperson has not given more details to the press in his daily Government conference this Wednesday.
To the grievances of the Maduro Government, which called the Milei Government “neo-Nazi, submissive and obedient” for its relations with the United States, Adorni responded: “What can you expect from a donkey other than a kick?
From a government of dictators you can expect questions that do not even deserve an answer.
"It saddens us for the Venezuelan people that these madmen govern them."
The Argentine Government criticized that Venezuela's decision "has a very high economic cost" for passengers because "there are thousands of dollars" that will be added "per flight."
The decision affects, above all, the routes that Aerolíneas Argentinas, the flag airline of the southern country, makes to and from New York, Miami and Punta Cana. According to estimates made by the company and reported by the national media, the routes They will not undergo major changes—they will only be a few minutes apart—but there will be an increase in fuel consumption.
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