Javier Milei lashes out at Nicolás Maduro for closing Venezuelan airspace to Argentina

Tensions are rising between Argentina and Venezuela. Javier Milei’s government announced “diplomatic proceedings” against Nicolás Maduro’s government after he closed Venezuelan airspace to Argentine planes. The decision came three days after the United States completed the seizure of a Venezuelan plane held in Buenos Aires since June 2022. The Boeing 747-300 belonged to a U.S.-sanctioned Venezuelan company. The crew, suspected of ties to Iran, was detained in Argentina in 2022 but later released.

The conflict between the two countries started nearly two years ago when the plane landed in Argentina after a stop in Venezuela. The plane was carrying auto parts from Mexico and was grounded in Buenos Aires by an Argentine court, preventing the 19 Venezuelan and Iranian citizens aboard from leaving the country while they were under investigation. The aircraft previously belonged to the Iranian company Mahan Air but had been sold to Emtrasur, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan airline Conviasa. Both companies had been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for allegedly supporting terrorist groups.

The transfer between two U.S.-sanctioned companies raised suspicions in Washington, who alleged a violation of U.S. Department of Commerce rules regarding aircraft sales. Argentina complied with a confiscation order, leading to the plane’s grounding. The crew was released after an Argentine judge found insufficient evidence to charge them. Maduro subsequently criticized former President Alberto Fernández, whom he once considered an ally, causing a political stir in Argentina.

After nearly two years on the ground, the plane was moved from Buenos Aires to the United States in February as part of a judicial cooperation agreement. Prior to its departure, a Venezuelan diplomat in Buenos Aires raised Argentina’s hackles by breaching security at Ezeiza International Airport to photograph the Boeing 747-300. The diplomat was declared persona non grata and left Argentina within 48 hours, as reported by the Efe news agency.

“They stole our plane... Milei the bandit stole the plane from Venezuela,” Maduro said in a televised statement about the Argentine president. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said that Argentina had committed “an act of piracy and theft” against his country, posting on X that “Venezuela exerts full sovereignty of its airspace, and repeats that no aircraft, coming from or going to Argentina, may fly over our territory, until our company is duly compensated for the damage caused.”

Sources from the Argentine Foreign Ministry told EL PAÍS that the ministry learned on March 4 that the Venezuelan aeronautical authority had restricted Aerolíneas Argentinas from flying over the Maiquetía region in northern Venezuela. The restriction was initially set for February 8-10, but has remained in place since February 13. Our sources said this action by the Maduro government was an unjustified, unilateral coercive measure, and retaliation against a court decision that has nothing to do with the Milei administration.

On March 12, the Argentine government said it had initiated “diplomatic proceedings” against Venezuela without giving more details. Authorities have not publicly explained these actions, but Foreign Ministry sources confirmed that on March 8, Argentina formally protested Venezuela’s decision to “suspend overflight permits for Argentine airlines in Venezuelan airspace.” Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni simply said, “Argentina won’t be extorted by friends of terrorism.”

The Argentine Foreign Ministry has not responded to our questions on this issue and Adorni offered no more details in his daily briefing on March 13. Adorni later responded to the Maduro regime, which called Argentina a “neo-Nazi” government: “What can you expect from a donkey other than a kick? The truth is that from a government of dictators the only thing you can expect are questions that do not even deserve an answer... It saddens us that the Venezuelan people have been governed by these madmen for such a long time.”

The Argentine government also said that Venezuela’s decision “has a very high economic cost” for passengers because it will add “thousands of dollars” to ticket prices. The decision primarily affects Aerolíneas Argentinas’ routes to and from New York, Miami and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. But the airline estimated that only minimal route changes will be needed, with a slight increase in fuel consumption.

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