Fort Lauderdale, Florida (AFP) — The United States has seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s aircraft, a Dassault Falcon 900EX private jet, in what Washington describes as a necessary action due to sanctions violations. The jet, valued at $13 million, was flown from the Dominican Republic to Florida on Monday, a seizure condemned by Maduro as “piracy.”
According to the U.S. Justice Department, the plane was “illegally purchased” using a Caribbean-based shell company to conceal the involvement of Maduro and his associates. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “The Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies.”
The aircraft, which had been in the Dominican Republic for maintenance, was seized without the participation of Dominican authorities. Roberto Alvarez, Dominican Foreign Affairs Minister, clarified, “Neither the Dominican government nor the public prosecutor’s office participated in the United States’ investigation process.”
U.S. officials allege that the jet was illicitly exported from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023. Since then, it has primarily been used for flights to and from a Venezuelan military base. Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations in Miami indicated that “this plane was predominantly utilized by Nicolas Maduro on numerous state visits.”
The backdrop of this drama is the contested July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, which was followed by widespread protests, resulting in dozens of deaths and over 2,400 arrests. The opposition claims it has evidence proving they won by a landslide, but the Maduro administration has not released the voting records to validate its victory claim.
A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson accused Maduro and his representatives of manipulating election results and maintaining power through repression. “Maduro and his representatives’ have tampered with the results of the July 28 presidential election, falsely claimed victory, and carried out wide-spread repression to maintain power by force,” said the spokesperson. They emphasized that the seizure of the plane is a critical step “to ensure that Maduro continues to feel the consequences from his misgovernance of Venezuela.”
Since 2005, the United States, along with the European Union and several Latin American countries, has imposed sanctions on Venezuela targeting individuals and entities involved in “criminal, antidemocratic, or corrupt actions.” These sanctions have been expanded over the years in response to ongoing human rights abuses and corruption allegations against the Maduro government.
The international community remains divided over the legitimacy of Maduro’s presidency, further complicating the volatile political and economic situation in Venezuela. The seizure of the aircraft marks another chapter in the fraught relations between the South American country and the United States.
