The US seized Maduro’s plane

According to Isna, CNN reported in an exclusive news on Monday evening that the United States seized the plane after claiming that the purchase of the plane of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was in violation of US sanctions. The US flew the plane to Florida on Monday, two US officials said.

This is the latest development in the cold relations between Washington and Caracas, and the seizure of this plane in the Dominican Republic shows the escalation of tensions between the two countries. The United States, on the other hand, will continue to investigate what it considers to be corrupt practices by the Venezuelan government.

The plane has been described by officials as the Venezuelan equivalent of Air Force One and has been used by Maduro on previous visits around the world.

An American official told CNN: “The arrest of this plane sends an important message to Venezuela. It is unusual for the plane of a foreign head of state to be seized for criminal purposes. “We are sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is beyond the reach of US sanctions.”

CNN has reached out to the Venezuelan government, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the US State Department for comment, but has not yet received a response.

According to this news network, the internal situation in Venezuela has implications for US policy. “Millions of people have fled the country, many choosing to migrate to the US-Mexico border.”

For years, US officials have sought to disrupt the flow of billions of dollars to Caracas. A U.S. Homeland Security investigation has seized dozens of luxury vehicles, among other assets, that were headed to Venezuela in an illegal operation.

Maduro’s confiscated plane is a Dassault Falcon 900 with a value of 13 million dollars.

U.S. officials worked closely with the Dominican Republic, which notified Venezuela of the seizure, according to a U.S. official.

The United States recently pressured the Venezuelan government to “immediately” release certain information about its presidential election, citing concerns about the credibility of Maduro’s victory.

But last week, Venezuela’s Supreme Court upheld Maduro’s victory in last month’s presidential election, saying voting results published online showed his defeat was fraudulent, however, as CNN reported. , the United States and 10 other Latin American countries have rejected this ruling.

The ruling, attended by senior officials and foreign diplomats, was in response to a request by Maduro to review the total votes, which showed he had won the election by more than a million votes.

According to the Associated Press news agency, however, the opposition coalition has accused Maduro of trying to rig the election.

The official ballot issued by each voting machine has a code that makes it easy for everyone to verify the results and impossible to falsify or reuse.

In a joint statement, Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and the United States called for an “impartial and independent” review of the Venezuelan presidential election.

They also expressed their serious concern about widespread human rights violations during the protests in Venezuela.

At that time, Washington also condemned the Supreme Court of Venezuela’s verdict, claiming that it lacked all the necessary credentials, and the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters: “Continuous efforts to confirm this fraud will only intensify the crisis in Venezuela.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also told reporters that member states will not recognize Maduro’s re-victory without valid results.

Brazil and Colombia have also refused to accept Maduro’s victory.

On the other hand, at the beginning of this year, the United States returned its sanctions against Venezuela’s oil and gas industries under the pretext of not observing “inclusive and competitive elections” in Venezuela.

end of message