A Boeing 747 cargo plane and its crew of 19 Venezuelan and Iranian nationals have been held in Argentina since June 8.
The aircraft, owned by the company emtrasur, A subsidiary of the Venezuelan company Conviasa, subject to US sanctions, was en route to Montevideo when it was denied entry.
The Venezuelan government explained that it was a “technical supply stopover” in Uruguay to then continue on to Caracas.
“The crew of the aircraft was forced to return immediately to the Ezeiza airport in Argentina, not having the regulatory fuel, putting the lives of the crew at serious risk”pointed out the text, which he called “irresponsible” that the permit was revoked when the plane was already in flight.
“Venezuela denounces before the international aeronautical community this unfortunate action that could have caused a tragedyhuman losses and damage to both nations” and “demands explanations from the Uruguayan government authorities about this terrible event,” the statement added.
The plane’s initial itinerary did not include Montevideo. It was included after the plane left Buenos Aires without enough fuel because “the supplier companies had an alert due to economic sanctions from the United States government,” according to the spokeswoman for the Argentine Presidency, Gabriela Cerruti.
Upon landing back at the Ezeiza international airport, which serves the Argentine capital, the Migration Directorate withheld the passports of the crew of the Venezuelan 747, which includes five people of Iranian nationality, due to suspicions about the reasons for their presence in the country.
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry did not mention the investigation in Argentina in its statementwhich considers the presence of Iranian travelers to be sensitive, after the attack on the center of the Argentine Jewish community in 1994, which left 85 dead and some 300 injured.
The Argentine authorities indicated that none of the Iranian crew members have a red Interpol circular.
The plane originally landed on June 6 in Córdoba, Argentina, coming from Mexico with a batch of auto parts.
Source: Ambito
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