The Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice has issued an arrest warrant for Argentine President Javier Milei at the request of the country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Venezuelan court has also requested the arrest of Milei’s sister and Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, and Argentine Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, for the delivery to the United States of an aircraft belonging to the Venezuelan state-owned company Emtrasur.
In a statement published this Monday (23), the Criminal Cassation Chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court reported that it ordered the arrests for the alleged crimes of “aggravated robbery, legitimization of capital, simulation of punishable acts, illegitimate deprivation of liberty, illicit interference in the operational safety of civil aviation, rendering aircraft useless and association”.
The charges stem from the confiscation and shipment of a Venezuelan Boeing 747, which was in Argentina, to the United States in February of this year. The Americans alleged that the Boeing had previously belonged to the Iranian company Mahan Air, an airline targeted by sanctions for alleged links to the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which the US Department of Justice classifies as a “terrorist organization”.
At the time, Venezuela accused Argentina and the United States of promoting a “blatant theft” of the aircraft. In response, it banned Argentine aircraft from flying over its airspace. The Venezuelan aircraft was eventually destroyed in the United States.
Argentine reaction
After the Venezuelan Public Prosecutor’s Office announced last week that it would request an arrest warrant, the Milei government repudiated the measure, stating that the seizure was ordered by the Argentine Judiciary.
“The Argentine government reminds the Venezuelan regime that in Argentina the division of powers and the independence of judges prevail, something that unfortunately does not happen in Venezuela under the regime of Nicolás Maduro,” the Argentine foreign ministry said in a statement.
Argentina’s Foreign Minister, Diana Mondino, in turn, described the arrest warrant as “cowardly” in a post on the social network X, the former Twitter account, and expressed “absolute support” for Milei, the president’s sister and Argentina’s Security Minister.
“Maduro once again demonstrates that he is a tyrant and that we are on the right side of history. We are not afraid,” he wrote.
Context
The Venezuelan Public Prosecutor’s Office’s request for an arrest warrant against Milei was made a week after Argentina asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against Nicolás Maduro and other members of the Venezuelan government in light of the “commission of new acts that may be considered crimes against humanity” in Venezuela.
Last week, the Argentine Federal Court heard testimonies from alleged victims of crimes against humanity in Venezuela, as part of an investigation into human rights violations in the country. Minister Bullrich, one of the targets of the arrest warrant issued by the Venezuelan courts, participated in the hearing.
Applicability
According to Renato Zerbini, a doctor in international law and professor at the University Center of Brasília (CEUB), the arrest warrant would only be applicable outside Venezuelan territory if the names were included on Interpol’s red list. “In this case, it would be up to the Judiciary of each country to authorize Milei’s arrest and the respective Executive to hand him over,” he explains.
This content was originally published in Venezuelan judiciary issues arrest warrant against Milei for plane seizure on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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