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The measure affects all Argentinian aircraft seeking to pass through Venezuelan airspace.
- author, Drafting
- role, BBC News World
President Nicolas Maduro’s government announced the closure of Venezuelan airspace to Argentine aircraft, in response to the seizure of a Venezuelan-Iranian aircraft detained in Argentina for a terrorism investigation.
“Venezuela exercises full sovereignty over its airspace, and reiterates that no aircraft coming or going from Argentina can fly over our territory,” Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yvan Gil, said on his X account, earlier on Twitter.
A Boeing 747 of a Venezuelan airline Amtrasur He was detained by Argentine authorities on June 8, 2022 after running out of fuel.
The plane, which was carrying Venezuelan and Iranian crew members, was detained at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires.
More than a year and a half later, last February, the government of Argentine President Javier Milli handed over the aircraft to United States authorities, who requested its seizure after alleging the device was used to pilot it. Covert operations of Venezuelan and Iranian agents in Latin America.
Venezuela’s foreign minister indicated that the airspace would remain closed “until our company is properly compensated for the damage caused to its parents in the north, after taking illegal measures.”
In the tweet, Gil asserts that “Argentina’s neo-Nazi government” is “submissive and obedient to its imperial master.”
In addition, he disqualified Manuel Adorni, the Argentine presidential spokesman, who told a press conference from the Casa Rosada that “Argentina will not allow itself to be extorted by the friends of terrorism.”
“Mr. Manuel Adorni intends to ignore the consequences of his acts of piracy and theft against Venezuela, which was repeatedly warned before committing the criminal act against EMTRASUR,” the Venezuelan foreign minister added.
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The move was announced by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil.
Argentina protests
“Argentina launched diplomatic action against the Venezuelan government led by dictator Maduro, following the decision to prevent the use of the country’s airspace by any Argentine aircraft, with the damage it causes to our country,” Adorni said.
Although an Argentine spokesman did not provide further details, the EFE agency reported that Miley’s government had Note of protest to Venezuela On March 8 “due to the decision to suspend the overflight permit of Argentine airlines in Venezuelan airspace.”
The Milli government may have warned in the note that it would take action against Venezuela International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) “for violating the Convention on International Civil Aviation.”
The ban so far has affected some of Aerolineas Argentina’s commercial routes, mainly to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and other destinations such as Miami and New York, as well as private planes licensed in Argentina, Argentine newspaper Clarin reported. .
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A spokesman for Argentina’s presidency, Manuel Adorni, said his country had launched “diplomatic measures” over Venezuela’s decision.
Controversial Seizure
plane of Amtrasur is at the center of controversy It landed in Buenos Aires on June 6, 2022 and was scheduled to fly to Montevideo two days later. However, Uruguay refused access to its airspace, so the aircraft had to return to an airport in Argentina, where it was detained at the request of the United States.
Of the 19 crew members detained, 14 were Venezuelan and 5 were Iranian.
Before joining Amtrasur, the aircraft was operated by Great airAn Iranian airline sanctioned by the United States because of its ties to it Quds ForceA powerful elite paramilitary branch Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsWhich Washington considers a terrorist organization.
US officials say Mahan Air provides weapons and fighter transport services to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
At the time of its seizure, the Argentine authorities were struck by the fact that the crew was much larger than necessary for flights of these characteristics. However, Amtrasur confirmed that he was a flight instructor.
The United States assured that the pilot of the aircraft, Golamreza GhasemiWas a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The governments of Tehran and Caracas denied the US accusations, and an Argentine judge ordered the release of the detained crew members, citing the “lack of merit” of the charges against them.
In July 2022, the United States Department of Justice, in cooperation with Argentine authorities, obtained a court order to impound the plane in Buenos Aires for an “unauthorized transfer” of the plane from approved Mahan Air to Amtraksur. .
The cargo plane has been seized by the United States Boeing 747 “This is the culmination of more than 18 months of planning, coordination and execution by the United States government and our Argentine counterparts,” said Markenzie Lapointe, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, after learning last February that the plane had landed in Miami and was under the control of federal authorities.
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