SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Trump management on Thursday seized a 2nd aircraft belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s executive this is these days within the Dominican Republic.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio watched as American officers affixed the seizure warrant to the aircraft all over a discuss with to Santo Domingo, the final forestall of his five-nation excursion of Latin The usa.
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Wearing out the seizure required that Rubio log out on a waiver to a freeze that President Donald Trump imposed on international assist to pay greater than $230,000 in garage and upkeep charges, in keeping with a State Division report received by way of The Related Press. It additionally required approval by way of the U.S. Division of Justice.
The aircraft is a Dassault Falcon 200 that has been utilized by Maduro and most sensible aides, together with his vice chairman and protection minister, to commute the sector, together with visits to Greece, Turkey, Russia and Cuba, in what Washington says are violations of U.S. sanctions, the State Division mentioned.
The seizure of the aircraft comes only a week after President Donald Trump’s envoy for particular missions, Richard Grenell, visited Caracas and met with Maduro to talk about the repatriation of Venezuelan nationals who illegally entered the USA. Grenell returned with six American citizens who have been detained in Venezuela.
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The U.S. seized any other of Maduro’s planes from the Dominican Republic in September 2024.
On the time, the U.S. Justice Division mentioned Maduro mates in overdue 2022 and early 2023 used a Caribbean-based shell corporate to cover their involvement within the acquire of the aircraft — a Dassault Falcon 900EX valued at $13 million — from an organization in Florida.
Associated with Rubio’s first forestall on his travel, he mentioned Thursday that he used to be “no longer puzzled” concerning the standing of an settlement about getting rid of charges for U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal and understood that Panama has to practice a felony procedure to take the step.
A “seized” signal is put on a Venezuelan executive aircraft all over a information convention the place Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced its seizure at Los angeles Isabela Global Airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Feb. 6, 2025. Picture by way of Mark Schiefelbein/ Pool by the use of Reuters
“They’re a democratically elected executive. They have got laws. They have got rules. They’re going to practice their procedure,” he mentioned.
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It comes after the U.S. State Division mentioned overdue Wednesday on X that the Panamanians had agreed to waive the costs.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino later denied that, pronouncing Thursday he had advised U.S. Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth an afternoon previous that he may neither set the costs to transit the canal nor exempt somebody from them and that he used to be stunned by way of the U.S. State Division’s commentary suggesting another way.
The charges have been one center of attention of President Donald Trump’s lawsuits concerning the canal, which he has threatened to retake from Panama except Panama critically limits Chinese language affect within the space.
For the reason that the U.S. has a treaty legal responsibility to give protection to the canal, Rubio mentioned, “I to find it absurd that we must pay charges to transit a zone that we’re obligated to give protection to in a time of war.”
Related Press creator Alma Solís in Panama Town contributed to this record.
