The Venezuelan government announced on Monday, September 2, that it will not take legal action to “repair” the damage caused by the United States authorities, after the confiscation of the official plane of President Nicolás Maduro, which was taken in Dominican Republicwithin the framework of the sanctions applied to Caracas.
Venezuela “reserves the right to take any legal action to repair this damage to the nation, as well as all other damage caused by the criminal policy” of the United States, the Executive said in a statement, in which they called the confiscation “piracy.”
The aircraft, which was transferred to Florida for having been “illegally purchased” for 13 million dollars, is a Dassault Falcon 900EX owned by Maduro and people affiliated with him in Venezuela and operated on his behalf.
However, Venezuela has said that this is a “criminal practice“applied by the US government, justifying itself” by the numerous sanctions applied against high-ranking Chavista officials in recent years.
“This action reveals that no State is safe from illegal actions that ignore international law (…) The United States has already demonstrated that uses its economic and military power to intimidate and pressures states such as the Dominican Republic to become accomplices in its criminal acts,” the statement said.
In Caracas’s opinion, “this is not an isolated action,” but rather “It is part of an escalation of actions against the Government”, after the elections of July 28, whose official result gave victory to Nicolás Maduro, which has not been recognized by different countries, while the majority opposition report fraud and claims victory.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said that in late 2022 and early 2023, individuals affiliated with Maduro allegedly used a shell company based in the Caribbean to conceal his involvement in the illegal purchase of the aircraft from a company based in the Southern District of Florida.
The aircraft was then illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela, via the Caribbean, in April 2023 and has since flown “almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela and has been used to the benefit of Maduro and his representatives, even to transport Maduro on visits to other countries.”
Garland added that the Department will continue to pursue those who violate sanctions and export controls to prevent them from using U.S. resources “to undermine the national security of the United States.”
