Venezuelan Supreme Court Orders Arrest of Argentine President for Seizing Maduro’s Plane

Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the arrest of Argentine President Javier Mileia and other members of his government for alleged crimes related to the 2022 seizure of a Venezuelan cargo plane belonging to the socialist regime in Caracas.

The court, an institution closely controlled by the regime of Nicolas Maduro, also ordered the arrest of Karina Milea, the president’s sister and secretary general, as well as Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

The order comes a week after Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab charged Milei with money laundering, unlawful deprivation of liberty and unlawful interference with the operational security of civil aviation, among other crimes.

International organizations have repeatedly accused Venezuela’s Supreme Court of acting as a tool for political persecution rather than as an independent institution responsible for administering justice.

The plane in question, a Boeing 747-300M, was initially seized in Argentina in June 2022, with the Venezuelan and Iranian crew members suspected of engaging in espionage. The U.S. government moved to seize the plane a few weeks later. After months of diplomatic wrangling, the Boeing 747 was finally flown from Buenos Aires International Airport to South Florida on February 12 of this year.

The plane belonged to Iranian company Mahan Air and was sold to Emtrasur Cargo, a subsidiary of Venezuelan state-owned company Conviasa, which is subject to U.S. Treasury sanctions.

Mahan Air has been targeted by the U.S. government for supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, according to U.S. officials. The force, an offshoot of the Iranian military, is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.

Days after the plane was seized by U.S. officials in February, Maduro was furious, claiming the plane was destroyed in Miami in Washington’s revenge, while saying his government would respond forcefully.

“Last night we were informed of a despicable, criminal, outrageous act at the Miami airport in Florida. The vindictive, perverse gringo empire with all its evil proceeded to dismember the Emtrasur plane, the Conviasa plane that was hijacked from us,” Maduro said during an event broadcast on national television.

While it is unclear whether the plane was actually destroyed, as Maduro claimed, law enforcement sources say that typically property confiscated by the U.S. government is eventually sold if it cannot be used by government agencies. They added that destroying the Boeing 747 would have cost money and it would have made much more sense for authorities to sell it.

An Argentine government spokesman, who learned last week that the Venezuelan attorney general had requested an arrest warrant for Milea, said the president was not concerned.

Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni called the order “pavada” — nonsense — adding: “What a dictatorial government like the one in Venezuela says does not concern us in the slightest.”