Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane seized by US in Dominican Republic
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday, September 2, 2024, that the United States has seized an aircraft used by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and flew it from the Dominican Republic to Florida after determining that its purchase violated U.S. sanctions.
Maduro, his associates and the OPEC member’s vital oil sector are under heavy U.S. sanctions, and his handling of the election has raised the prospect that new measures could be imposed.
It must be said that the American Attorney General, Merrick Garland, declared in a press release that the Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft had been illegally purchased for 13 million dollars via a shell company and smuggled out of the United States to be used by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies.
U.S. Commerce Department Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod said the seizure sends a clear message that planes illegally acquired in the United States for sanctioned Venezuelan officials cannot simply fly off into the sunset.
The seizure of the plane comes amid continued pressure on Maduro at home and abroad following a disputed July 28 election that he claims he won, while the opposition says vote counts show its candidate beat him by a landslide.
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2024-09-02 20:59:29