Latest news with #DassaultFalcon200
Arab Times
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
US seizes Venezuelan president's plane held in Dominican Republic
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Feb 8, (AP): The Trump administration on Thursday seized a second plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro 's government that is currently in the Dominican Republic. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio watched as American officials affixed the seizure warrant to the plane during a visit to Santo Domingo, the last stop of his five-nation tour of Latin America. Carrying out the seizure required that Rubio sign off on a waiver to a freeze that President Donald Trump imposed on foreign aid to pay more than $230,000 in storage and maintenance fees, according to a State Department document obtained by The Associated Press. It also required approval by the US Department of Justice, which said the plane was used by a Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company facing sanctions. An investigation showed the company bought the plane in the US in 2017, sent it to Venezuela and it was serviced multiple times using American parts, the department said. The plane is a Dassault Falcon 200 that has been used by Maduro and top aides, including his vice president and defense minister, to travel the world, including visits to Greece, Turkey, Russia and Cuba, in what Washington says are violations of US sanctions, according to the State Department. The seizure of the plane comes just a week after President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, visited Caracas and met with Maduro to discuss the repatriation of Venezuelan nationals who illegally entered the United States. Grenell returned with six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela. The US seized another of Maduro's planes from the Dominican Republic in September 2024. At the time, the U.S. Justice Department said Maduro associates in late 2022 and early 2023 used a Caribbean-based shell company to hide their involvement in the purchase of the plane - a Dassault Falcon 900EX valued at $13 million - from a company in Florida. Related to Rubio's first stop on his trip, he said Thursday that he was "not confused' about the status of an agreement about eliminating fees for U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal and understood that Panama has to follow a legal process to take the step.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US seizes Venezuelan president's plane held in Dominican Republic during Rubio visit
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday seized a second plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro 's government that is currently in the Dominican Republic. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio watched as American officials affixed the seizure warrant to the plane during a visit to Santo Domingo, the last stop of his five-nation tour of Latin America. Carrying out the seizure required that Rubio sign off on a waiver to a freeze that President Donald Trump imposed on foreign aid to pay more than $230,000 in storage and maintenance fees, according to a State Department document obtained by The Associated Press. It also required approval by the U.S. Department of Justice, which said the plane was used by a Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company facing sanctions. An investigation showed the company bought the plane in the U.S. in 2017, sent it to Venezuela and it was serviced multiple times using American parts, the department said. The plane is a Dassault Falcon 200 that has been used by Maduro and top aides, including his vice president and defense minister, to travel the world, including visits to Greece, Turkey, Russia and Cuba, in what Washington says are violations of U.S. sanctions, according to the State Department. The seizure of the plane comes just a week after President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, visited Caracas and met with Maduro to discuss the repatriation of Venezuelan nationals who illegally entered the United States. Grenell returned with six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela. The U.S. seized another of Maduro's planes from the Dominican Republic in September 2024. At the time, the U.S. Justice Department said Maduro associates in late 2022 and early 2023 used a Caribbean-based shell company to hide their involvement in the purchase of the plane — a Dassault Falcon 900EX valued at $13 million — from a company in Florida. Related to Rubio's first stop on his trip, he said Thursday that he was 'not confused' about the status of an agreement about eliminating fees for U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal and understood that Panama has to follow a legal process to take the step. 'They're a democratically elected government. They have rules. They have laws. They're going to follow their process,' he said. It comes after the U.S. State Department said late Wednesday on X that the Panamanians had agreed to waive the fees. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino later denied that, saying Thursday he had told U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a day earlier that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the U.S. State Department's statement suggesting otherwise. The fees had been one focus of President Donald Trump's complaints about the canal, which he has threatened to retake from Panama unless Panama severely limits Chinese influence in the area. Given that the U.S. has a treaty obligation to protect the canal, Rubio said, 'I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.' ___ Associated Press writer Alma Solís in Panama City contributed to this report. Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Venezuela calls US seizure of plane 'brazen theft'
Venezuela has accused the US of "brazen theft" after seizing one of its government aircraft in the Dominican Republic. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw the seizure of the plane on Thursday - the second Venezuelan plane the US has confiscated in the Caribbean country in less than a year. US authorities said there were legal grounds for the seizure, "based on violations of US sanctions, export controls, and money laundering". The Venezuelan foreign ministry called Rubio "an aircraft thief". The US has long imposed a variety of sanctions on Venezuela in response to what it describes as criminality, corruption and repression under the South American nation's leader, Nicolás Maduro. Most recently, it placed financial sanctions on a raft of Venezuelan officials in response to the outcome of a presidential election last year, which saw Maduro re-elected. The US, among others, has contested the official results, which the opposition says were doctored in Maduro's favour. Rubio, a key figure in the new Trump administration, supervised the confiscation of the Dassault Falcon 200 jet on a visit to a military airstrip in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, on the last stop of his Latin American tour. He told reporters on Thursday: "The message is that when there are sanctions because they are violating human rights, they are violating a whole series of things, travelling to Iran, helping countries that really wish harm to the United States. "These sanctions are going to be applied and reinforced." Dominican Republic authorities detained the aircraft last year after the US said it had violated unilateral US sanctions against Venezuela. Venezuelan officials had used the plane to fly to Greece, Turkey, Russia, Nicaragua and Cuba, and had taken it to the Dominican Republic for maintenance, according to the US state department. The Venezuelan foreign ministry said it would "take all necessary actions to denounce this theft and demand the immediate return of its aircraft". In September, the US under then-president Joe Biden, seized the first Venezuelan government plane in the Dominican Republic that had been used to transport President Maduro on international trips. US seizes Venezuelan President Maduro's plane
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US seizes second Venezuelan government plane in the Dominican Republic
The Trump administration on Thursday seized another aircraft linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government, this time in the Dominican Republic. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally oversaw the operation during his visit to Santo Domingo, as American officials affixed a seizure warrant to the Dassault Falcon 200. The Trump administration on Thursday seized a second plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government that is currently in the Dominican Republic. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio watched as American officials affixed the seizure warrant to the plane during a visit to Santo Domingo, the last stop of his five-nation tour of Latin America. Carrying out the seizure required that Rubio sign off on a waiver to a freeze that President Donald Trump imposed on foreign aid to pay more than $230,000 in storage and maintenance fees, according to a State Department document obtained by The Associated Press. It also required approval by the U.S. Department of Justice, which said the plane was used by a Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company facing sanctions. An investigation showed the company bought the plane in the U.S. in 2017, sent it to Venezuela and it was serviced multiple times using American parts, the department said. (AP) Read more on FRANCE 24 EnglishRead also:Colombia turns to Venezuela to help 'eradicating' armed gangs in border regionVenezuela's Maduro sworn in for third presidential term despite domestic, global outcry
Boston Globe
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
US seizes Venezuelan president's plane held in Dominican Republic during Rubio visit
It also required approval by the US Department of Justice, which said the plane was used by a Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company facing sanctions. An investigation showed the company bought the plane in the US in 2017, sent it to Venezuela and it was serviced multiple times using American parts, the department said. The plane is a Dassault Falcon 200 that has been used by Maduro and top aides, including his vice president and defense minister, to travel the world, including visits to Greece, Turkey, Russia and Cuba, in what Washington says are violations of US sanctions, according to the State Department. Advertisement The seizure of the plane comes just a week after President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, visited Caracas and met with Maduro to discuss the repatriation of Venezuelan nationals who illegally entered the United States. Grenell returned with six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center right) walks with Edwin F. Lopez, the attaché for DHS Homeland Security Investigations, as they walk toward a seized Venezuelan government airplane at La Isabela International Airport. Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press At the time, the US Justice Department said Maduro associates in late 2022 and early 2023 used a Caribbean-based shell company to hide their involvement in the purchase of the plane — a Dassault Falcon 900EX valued at $13 million — from a company in Florida. Related to Rubio's first stop on his trip, he said Thursday that he was 'not confused' about the status of an agreement about eliminating fees for US warships to transit the Panama Canal and understood that Panama has to follow a legal process to take the step. Advertisement 'They're a democratically elected government. They have rules. They have laws. They're going to follow their process,' he said. It comes after the US State Department said late Wednesday on X that the Panamanians had agreed to waive the fees. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino later denied that, saying Thursday he had told US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a day earlier that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the U.S. State Department's statement suggesting otherwise. The fees had been one focus of President Donald Trump's complaints about the canal, which he has threatened to retake from Panama unless Panama severely limits Chinese influence in the area. Given that the US has a treaty obligation to protect the canal, Rubio said, 'I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.' Associated Press writer Alma Solís in Panama City contributed to this report.
