US Sanctions and the Saga of Venezuela’s Emtrasur Cargo.
On May 3, 2023, the Argentinian press reported a US prosecutor requested the US Justice Department to order the definitive execution of the seizure order of Emtrasur’s Boeing 747-300. The plane arrived in Argentina in June 2022 in what was supposedly a routine cargo flight. Nonetheless, the airplane, its cargo and its crew raised the alarms across Argentina, and it was seized by local authorities. Shortly after, US authorities got involved claiming the sale of the aircraft by the Iranian state carrier Mahan Air to Venezuela’s Conviasa was a clear violation of the US Export Control Laws. Almost a year has passed; the crew has been released, but the plane remains grounded in Buenos Aires. Venezuela’s government has repeatedly requested the return of Emtrasur’s Boeing 747. Argentina is now in a complex geopolitical spot.
Teri Mattson, host of WtF is Going on in Latin America and the Caribbean, speaks with journalist Orlenys Ortiz live from Venezuela.