Argentine court issues arrest warrant for Venezuela's Maduro
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Far-right Milei-led Argentina has been calling on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro since early September.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a news conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, July 31, 2024. (AP)
An Argentine court has issued an arrest warrant for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for alleged "crimes against humanity", the Todo Noticias broadcaster reported.
Earlier this month, Argentina requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) issue an arrest warrant for Maduro.
The move came as a response to the issuance of an arrest warrant against Argentinian President Javier Milei, the head of the presidential secretariat Karina Milei, and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich by a Venezuelan court over the Emtrasur plane incident.
In February, Maduro slammed his Argentine counterpart three days after the United States fulfilled the seizure of a Venezuelan plane held in Buenos Aires since June 2022.
In a televised statement, President Maduro said, referencing his counterpart, "They stole our plane... Milei the bandit stole the plane from Venezuela. Javier Milei, the hero of the extreme right," adding, "He acts crazy or he is crazy or both at the same time."
Read more: Milei spends $100mln for cyberattacks against Venezuela: Maduro
The Ematsur incident of 2022
In 2022, US authorities detained a Venezuelan cargo jet, claiming it formerly belonged to an Iranian airline purportedly associated with the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps. Caracas condemned the decision, stating that the planes were covertly transferred to the US.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) website detailed on Monday that the American-manufactured jumbo jet was delivered to the US on February 11 by Argentina's government, which had held the aircraft in 2022.
Venezuela's government branded the jet seizure as "blatant theft" and an act of "collusion" between the US and Argentina that violates civil aeronautics norms, as well as Emtrasur's "commercial, civil, and political rights."
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Hill denounced the secret nature of the transfer in a statement issued on X, accusing the US and Argentina of withholding information when identifying the plane and repeatedly turning off the 747's transponders on the way to the US.
