PM Gonsalves responds to news about seizure of Maduro’s jet

Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsavles, has commented on news in the public domain of the seizure by the United States Justice Department of the air plane of President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. The US authorities said the air plane was seized in the Dominican Republic on September, 2, 2024 where it had gone for maintenance.

Information is also making the rounds that the plane was seen on Vincentian soil.

Speaking on WEFM’s Issue at Hand programme on Sunday, September 8, 2024, the prime minister said he had yet to be given any official information about the issue. “I’ve seen various reports that the plane came from Miami to St Vincent, and went on to Venezuela. I’m trying to ascertain whether that has actually happened.”

He said he is aware of the abundance of information online speculating about the location of a shell company, said to have been used in the purchase and transfer of the plane from the USA to Venezuela.

“Some say the Caribbean, some say St Vincent—I see they also say it was registered in San Marino, which is a small principality in Europe,” Gonsalves commented.

“They haven’t said that the plane was registered in St Vincent; the report said that it was the company which allegedly owned the plane, but I don’t know if that is true either because that has not been checked.” The Dassaul Falcon 900EX plane, is said to have been illegally purchased for US$13 million in Florida.

Gonsalves pointed out that the same plane seized was used in December, 2023, to take Americans from Venezuela to the USA in a prisoner exchange. He added that SVG has facilitated this type of exchange on at least two occasions.

The prime minister also noted that no government has control over what planes travel to St Vincent; that was a matter for the Director of Civil Aviation, “but once under the rules she sees that everything’s fine, she will give the permission to enter and pass through”.

He explained further that once alerted of an issue involving a plane, they would have cooperated as happened in the past when they were alerted about planes and boats, “which people may have a specific interest in, and we would’ve shared information”.

Multiple nations are said to have supported the seizure of President Maduro’s air plane which the US said was seized for violation of sanctions and other criminal activity.

“What kind of sanction is this?”, Gonsalves questioned, adding that St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), always applies sanctions set by the United Nations Security Council, “because we are bound by international law”.

He termed the USA sanctions as ‘unilateral’ and explained it as a state seeking “the cooperation of another state in complying with those sanctions, but no request was made to us as far as I’m aware, in this particular matter.”

President Maduro has referred to the seizure of his private jet as piracy and escalation aggression by the US.