Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro, has accused his Argentine counterpart, Javier Milei, of being a “bandit” after the United States completed the seizure of a Venezuelan plane that had been missing for a year and a half in Buenos Aires. Maduro described Milei as the “hero of the extreme right” and condemned the seizure of the plane, which was sold by the sanctioned Iranian airline Mahan Air to a subsidiary of the Venezuelan state airline.
The Boeing 747 was sent to the United States after being immobilized by a court order at the airport in Buenos Aires and has now been declared the property of the US government. The Deputy Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen stated that the aircraft was transferred in violation of US export control laws and directly benefited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is considered a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, former Argentine President Cristina Kirchner blamed Milei for putting Argentina on the brink of a crisis, accusing him of implementing a fierce adjustment program that has led to societal destabilization. She also criticized the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, for his role in the country’s serial indebtedness.
Caputo rejected Kirchner’s accusations and emphasized the economic concept that debt is only taken when there is a fiscal deficit. Maduro’s government has stated that they will “exercise all actions” to achieve the return of the aircraft to its legitimate owner, highlighting the tensions between the Venezuelan and Argentine governments over the seized plane.
This ongoing dispute between two South American nations, along with the accusations made by their respective leaders, has put a spotlight on the complex political and economic dynamics at play in the region. It remains to be seen how this situation will develop and how the US government’s seizure of the Venezuelan plane will impact relations between the countries involved.