Reply To The Confiscation Of Cargo Ships, Venezuela Closes Airspace For All Argentine Flights

JAKARTA - Venezuela has closed its airspace to all flights to and from Argentina, in retaliation for the seizure of Venezuelan cargo ships in 2022.

"No aircraft, arriving or heading to Argentina, can fly through our territory, until our company gets compensation properly for the damage it causes, after the illegal act is carried out just to please its guards in the north," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told X..

Argentina said it would initiate diplomatic action against Venezuela's decision.

Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said they might act within the scope of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for the "violation" of the International Civil Aviation Convention.

On August 12, 2022, Argentina confiscated Venezuelan cargo aircraft at the request of the United States.

The US said the Boeing 747 cargo bag type was purchased by a Venezuelan cargo company from Mahan Air Iran, confiscated as part of an "Iran-related export restriction".

Earlier in 2019, the US Treasury added Iranian airline Mahan Air to its list of sanctions for alleged links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.