America seized Venezuela government aircraft in Dominican Republic, second such action in a year
Santo Domingo:
On Thursday, the US seized the second aircraft of the Venezuela government in less than a year. The aircraft was seized during Foreign Minister Marco Rubio’s visit to Dominican Republic. Rubio traveled to a military airstrip at the capital Santo Domingo, where a Dominican Republic Prosecutor and American Law Enforcement Representative in front of the cameras took action against the Dassault Falcon 200 Jet, Venezuela flag.
The aircraft was detained by Dominican Republic officials last year, when US officials said it had violated unilateral American sanctions against Venezuela.
Dominican Republic was taken for maintenance
According to the US State Department, Venezuela officials used aircraft to fly to Greece, Turkey, Russia, Nicaragua and Cuba and took it to Dominican Republic for maintenance.
According to the Treasury Department, Maduro oil minister also used the aircraft to attend the OPEC oil cartel meeting in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
In September, the US, led by the then President Joe Biden, announced to seize another Venezuela government’s airplane in the Dominican Republic, which was used to take Maduro on international visits.
Donald Trump’s strict stand against Venezuela
President Donald Trump has long been strict on Venezuela and tried unsuccessfully to remove Maduro in his first term. However, Richard Granal, an envoy of Trump, had traveled to Karakas last week to meet Maduro to ensure the release of six American prisoners.
Venezuela said the conversation took place with “mutual respect”, but Rubio and other US officials stressed that no one would back down on America’s refusal to accept Maduro as a legitimate president of Venezuela.
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