America seized the plane of Venezuela's President, know what is the whole matter?

The US has seized the plane of Venezuela's controversial President Nicolas Maduro. US officials seized it from the Latin American country Dominican Republic and took it to Florida.

US officials allege that this luxury plane was purchased fraudulently in the US and was smuggled out of the US. The US has imposed several sanctions on Venezuela, under these sanctions any kind of transaction between the two countries is prohibited.

US officials say that this action will send a message to the world that no person or country can escape America's rules and sanctions.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland has said that the US Department of Justice has seized the aircraft. This plane worth $13 million (about Rs 110 crore) was purchased illegally by Maduro and his close associates to hide their identity, for this they used a shell company and later smuggled it out of the US. According to the information, the US canceled the registration of this aircraft in January 2023 as soon as the fraud was detected.

When and how was the plane purchased?

The US Justice Department has informed that the Dassault Falcon 900EX was purchased from a Florida company in late 2022 and was transported from the US to Venezuela via the Caribbean country in April 2023. This plane was used during Maduro's foreign trips, which flew only from Venezuela's military bases.

Records show that the plane last flew in March from Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

What did the Dominican Republic say?

A senior Dominican Republic official has said that Maduro's plane was in their territory for maintenance when it was seized by US officials. He said that the Dominican government was not aware that Maduro's plane was in their territory until the plane was seized.

The Dominican Republic's foreign minister has said his government did not participate in the US investigation and only provided international legal assistance under bilateral agreements between the two countries.

According to the information, many US agencies were involved in this operation. Homeland Security Investigation, Commerce Agent, Bureau of Industry and Security, and Justice Department together took action to seize the plane.

Maduro's government called it a 'robbery'

According to CNN, the Venezuelan government has called the US action a 'robbery'. The Maduro government alleges that the US is increasing aggression against them after the elections held in July.

The Maduro government has said, 'The actions of the US authorities cannot be called anything other than robbery, the US has illegally seized the plane used by President Maduro. It tries to justify its illegal action by force and imposes it unilaterally across the world.'

Why is there a conflict between America and Venezuela?

Although the tension between America and Venezuela is decades old, the latest dispute is about the results of the Venezuelan presidential election. President Nicolas Maduro has claimed victory in the election, while the Venezuelan opposition is accusing the election of rigging. The Venezuelan opposition coalition claims that they have won the election and Maduro is illegally in power.

Many countries including the US have not recognised the results of the presidential election. The US has criticized Maduro and demanded that the election results be made public.

After the elections held on 28 July in Venezuela, there have been continuous protests regarding the results. Recently, a Venezuelan court has also issued an arrest warrant against opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez for conspiring to overthrow the Maduro government.