The first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, demanded this Monday the return, as soon as possible, of the Venezuelan-Iranian plane held in Argentina since the beginning of June and which, for him, is “hijacked” by the country.
“We demand the return of the Venezuelan plane to the government of Mr (Argentine President Alberto) Fernández and that he return this plane to our territory as soon as possible, and that the entire crew be brought back to our country. This is a political issue. of President Fernández”, said the second main Chavista political leader in an interview broadcast by the state channel “VTV”.
Cabello claimed that the plane was “hijacked by Argentina” with “every intention to confiscate a property that belongs to all Venezuelans.”
“We don’t understand the cruelty against our country. We don’t understand. We know that he (Fernández) has someone who orders him, because that is fulfilling an order of imperialism. Then comes a court order from Miami (USA), which they are willing to comply, but not willing to comply with the laws and regulations of international law,” he said.
Last Tuesday, the US Department of Justice asked Argentina to allow it to confiscate the Venezuelan-Iranian aircraft held since June 6 for possible links to international terrorism.
According to the US, aircraft manufactured in the country such as this one (a Boeing 747-300M) are subject to sanctions because their transfer by the Iranian company Mahan Air to Emtrasur, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan Consortium of Aeronautical Industries and Services Aéreos (Conviasa), violates American export laws.
Both companies were sanctioned by the US for alleged logistical collaboration with terrorist organizations.
According to Cabello, the plane “was not carrying weapons (…), nor was it endangering anyone’s safety.”
“On the contrary, they (Argentines) endangered the safety of the crew by denying them fuel (for refueling) and putting (the aircraft) to fly until it ran out,” he added.
Cabello claimed that the Argentine government is “solely responsible” for what happens to the plane and its crew, made up of 19 people – five Iranians and 14 Venezuelans – of whom 12 were released last Tuesday at the behest of the judge in the case. , while the other seven remain retained.
understand the case
The plane entered Argentina on June 6 from Mexico, with a stopover in Venezuela, presumably to transport cargo for an automotive company, and two days later took off for Uruguay to refuel, but landed again at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires. , because the neighboring country did not allow him to land.
Argentine oil companies did not refuel the plane for fear of US sanctions. On June 11, it was reported that the Argentine government had ordered the plane to be grounded.
A few days later, a judge ordered that the passports of the crew members – five Iranians and 14 Venezuelans – who would otherwise have complete freedom of movement, be withheld and prevented from leaving the country, while the plane was detained in order to obtain more information about the plane and what the crew members were doing in Buenos Aires.
One of the pilots, an Iranian Gholamreza Gashemi, is named after a member of the Quds Forces — a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — defined by the United States as Hezbollah instructors.
The case generated strong repercussions in Argentina, a country that suffered two terrorist attacks in the 1990s — against the Associação Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) and the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires — for which the local judicial system points to the group’s participation. Hezbollah and members of the then Iranian government.
#Chavista #leader #accuses #Argentine #government #hijacking #Venezuelan #plane