The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela condemned this Wednesday the decision of Argentine judge Federico Villena , to handover the Venezuelan plane of the Transporte Cargo del Sur company (EMTRASUR), seized since June 2022 at the Ezeiza airport, in Buenos Aires, to the United States of America , describing the move as “servile to imperial interests.”
Through a statement, shared on the social network In this sense, it alerts the international community, and especially Latin American countries, that any illegal measure that allows overflight and support to carry out this theft, will be duly interpreted as a hostile act, supporting vandalism behavior against a sovereign country,” he emphasized.
The Emtrasur Boeing landed in Argentina on June 6, 2022 from Mexico. When the aircraft was preparing to return to Caracas, Argentine authorities detained it along with its 19 crew members. Fourteen Venezuelans and 5 Iranian instructors.
The crew members were released after months of what was described as a “fishing excursion” by the Argentine justice system that attempted to link the crew members and the aircraft with alleged terrorist links, which were not proven.
The National Civil Aviation Institute of Venezuela (INAC) has prohibited regional aviation authorities from authorizing the overflight of the Venezuelan Emtrasur aircraft registration YV-3531 seized at the Ezeiza airport, Argentina.
If we look into the history of the aircraft, the EMTRASUR Boeing 747-300M freighter was originally delivered to UTA -Union de Transports Aériens in January 1986, that remained in the fleet until the company's closure in the year 1992, followed by joining Air France.
Aircraft was phased out in the year 2006 and Iranian Mahan Air acquired it in 2007. In March 2008, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Mahan Air for terror support activities.
In the year 2022, Conviasa - the Venezuelan company announced its international expansion plans: and for this, a significant increase in the fleet was being prepared. A new cargo division EMTRASUR took shape. The discussed Boeing 747-300M, formerly operated by Mahan Air, became the part of EMTRASUR fleet.
Below is the full text of the Venezuela Government released document :
"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects and condemns the decision, clearly servile to imperial interests, taken by the Argentine federal judge Federico Villena , who attempts to carry out the theft of the Venezuelan aircraft belonging to the company Transporte Cargo del Sur ( EMTRASUR), kidnapped since June 2022 in the Argentine Republic."
"With this illegal decision, the Argentine State submits to the powers of US imperialism and flagrantly violates the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties , the Charter of the United Nations , the Bilateral Agreement between the Argentine Republic and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and other agreements related to International Air Navigation and Human Rights ."
"Venezuela has demonstrated, before all international legal and political bodies, the legal and legitimate possession of the aforementioned aircraft, dedicated to the transportation service of essential supplies in our region. The conduct of pillage, piracy and vassalage of the Argentine justice and government transgresses its own legislation and turns said nation into a serious offender of international legality in commercial and aeronautical matters."
"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will take all legal, diplomatic and political measures to safeguard the rights to which it is entitled. In this sense, it alerts the international community, and especially Latin American countries, that any illegal measure that allows overflight and support to carry out this theft, will be duly interpreted as a hostile act, supporting vandalism behavior against a sovereign country."
