Social media reactions varied to the US confiscation of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s plane, which some considered a form of blackmail, while others considered it evidence of the weakness of all South American countries.
Washington is known to describe Maduro as a dictator and consider him one of its fiercest political enemies, although it tried to reach an understanding with him regarding Venezuelan oil, which it was counting on to compensate for the shortage of Russian energy supplies after the outbreak of war between Moscow and its neighbor, Kiev, an ally of the West.
In the latest skirmish between Washington and Caracas, the United States this week seized a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft owned by Maduro and valued at about $13 million.
According to the US Department of Justice, the aircraft was illegally smuggled out of the United States in violation of US sanctions and export control laws.
The plane was seized when it took off from the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, heading to Florida on Monday morning.
US officials said the Venezuelan president’s associates used a front company in the Caribbean to hide their involvement in purchasing the plane from Florida-based 6G Aviation.
The officials added that it was “exported from the United States to Venezuela in a transaction intended to circumvent an executive order prohibiting U.S. persons from conducting business with representatives of the Maduro government,” and that the aircraft, registered in the Republic of San Marino, has been used extensively by Maduro for foreign travel.
The Dominican presidency, for its part, explained that the plane was not registered in the name of the Caracas government but in the names of individuals. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Supreme Court had received a request to suspend the plane’s movement in order to search it for evidence related to fraud, smuggling of goods for illegal activities and money laundering.
Caracas accused the US government of piracy, and its Foreign Ministry said that the United States “has once again engaged in a repeated criminal practice, which can only be described as piracy, by illegally seizing an aircraft used by the President of the Republic.”
Of course, social media sites entered the crisis, as activists expressed their opinions, which were largely different, regarding the incident, which Abdel Halim commented on by saying, “They want to bring him down (Maduro) at any cost.”
Abdul Halim added, “Relying on Venezuela’s oil and gas so that they can abandon Russia’s oil and gas once and for all. There is an alliance, agendas, and arrangements to bring down Russia’s ally, China.”
As Ibrahim said, “An arbitrary and unjust law, meaning your neighbor makes his own law that says if you park your car at my door I will confiscate it?”
Sonia disagreed with the previous two opinions, saying, “The president and his clique are brainwashing people through the media, saying that sanctions and America are responsible for poverty and the lack of basic necessities in the country.”
As for Hussein, he believes that “all the countries of South America are weak and worthless, and the United States dominates them.” While Samer Al-Shawa expressed his joy at what happened, saying, “May they soon arrest them and everyone like them. Venezuela has the greatest wealth, and the people suffer from poverty.”
US sanctions
The United States has imposed sanctions on 55 Venezuelan-registered aircraft, most of them belonging to state-owned oil giant PDVSA, and is offering a $15 million reward for Maduro’s arrest on drug trafficking charges.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is the successor to the late President Hugo Chavez. He has ruled the country for 11 years, and his country is subject to severe US sanctions.
The sanctions are likely to intensify after Maduro claimed a third term in the July 28 election, an election whose results were disputed by Washington, the European Union and others, who demanded the full release of voting records.
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This Western position on the election results sparked protests in many regions of Venezuela, and the police arrested more than two thousand people and killed at least 25 during the confrontation with the demonstrations.
