The Venezuelan Government Fears Losing Another Plane to the United States With Maduro’s Flight to Argentina, Understand

The Government of Venezuela Expressed Concern About a Possible Embargo on Its Official Airplane That Will Be Used to Take Its Delegation to Buenos Aires to Participate in the Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Scheduled for January 24, Reports Argentinian Media. 

This concern is based on the history of the Boeing 747-300 of Emtrasur that was detained in June of last year at Ezeiza Airport, at the request of the justice of the United States, which had a crew of 14 Venezuelans and about 5 Iranians. The Ministry of Justice of Argentina granted its American seizure request, thereby creating a serious diplomatic conflict with Caracas.

According to some official sources cited by Clarín, the ambassadors of Cuba and Venezuela in Argentina, Pedro Pablo Prada Quintero and Stella Lugo, respectively, expressed themselves regarding the government of Alberto Fernández and its fears about the safety of the airplanes that transported both delegations.

Despite the complaints from both countries, both Nicolás Maduro and the Cuban Miguel Díaz-Canel are expected to make their trips on airplanes from the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa. According to data from ANAC, one of these flights is scheduled to land in Argentina on January 23, 2023, at 4:20 PM, after crossing Brazilian airspace. 

According to sources, the guarantee request made by the ambassadors was not met. However, there is still confidence in the good relationship with the government of Argentina and particularly with Kirchnerism. This airline Conviasa, which has been and will be used by both Maduro and Díaz-Canel, is sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States (OFAC). It is also accused of being involved in the alleged corruption scheme orchestrated by the Venezuelan government.

The Venezuelan government is planning to open an air route between Brazil and the tourist island of Margarita during the first quarter of 2023, while taking some measures to activate direct flights between Caracas and São Paulo, through Conviasa, the state airline, which was announced on Tuesday (03) by the Venezuelan Minister of Transport, Ramón Velásquez.

This announcement of the air opening came after bilateral relations between Venezuela and Brazil were formally reestablished with the inauguration of the current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). “Margarita is a destination that has been the focus of significant advances in the air sector, and for the first quarter of this year, we are even planning to connect Brazil to Margarita,” explained the minister in phone interviews with the state broadcaster “Venezolana de Televisión,” Valásquez said. 

The minister also confirmed that these new destinations will allow Venezuela to promote the tourism aspect of the sector, in order to “guarantee” the growth of the country’s “non-oil economy.” As for domestic connections, it was announced that during the first three months of this year, Conviasa will activate flights from the capital to the state of Mérida (northwest) and also Apure (West, at the border with Colombia).