Venezuela condemns US seizure of its plane as “criminal practice”

Caracas, September 3 (IANS): Venezuela condemned Washington's seizure of a plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as part of a “repeated criminal practice”.

The United States has seized the plane in the Dominican Republic, claiming that the acquisition of the aircraft violates U.S. sanctions, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Venezuela denounces to the international community that the authorities of the United States of America have once again illegally seized an aircraft used by the President of the Republic, in a repeated criminal practice that can be nothing other than piracy, justifying this by the coercive measures (sanctions) that they are imposing unilaterally and illegally around the world,” Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said on Telegram on Monday.

Venezuela made it clear that it “reserves the right to take all legal action to repair this damage to the country, as well as all other damages caused by the criminal policy of unilateral coercive measures,” Gil added.

In February, the United States seized a plane belonging to the Venezuelan airline Emtrasur Cargo that had landed in Argentina in June 2022 and was subsequently detained for alleged investigations.