US seizes Venezuelan government plane in Dominican Republic

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By Simon Lewis

SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday oversaw the seizure of a Venezuelan government plane in the Dominican Republic.

U.S. authorities had “determined that there is a basis to file a civil forfeiture action to recover the aircraft, based on violations of U.S. sanctions, export controls, and money laundering,” the State Department said in a statement.

It is the second Venezuelan plane that the United States has seized in the Dominican Republic in recent months.

On Thursday, Rubio – on the last stop of his Latin American tour this week – watched as a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official affixed a warrant to the plane, formally seizing it. The plane had been undergoing maintenance at a Santo Domingo airport.

The State Department said high-ranking members of the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had used the Dassault Falcon 200 aircraft for travel to Greece, Turkey, Russia, Nicaragua and Cuba.

During his time as a U.S. Senator, Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, advocated harsh sanctions on the government of Maduro, an ally of the communist-run Cuban government. Rubio has said this week that the U.S. does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Richard Grenell met with Maduro for talks and left Caracas with six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela. He was also pushing Venezuela to accept its nationals that the U.S. wants to deport.

Maduro and his government have always rejected sanctions by the U.S. and others, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela.

Maduro’s government-backed victory in the July 2024 vote has been contested by the opposition, international observers and numerous countries, including the United States.

The Venezuelan government did not respond to a Reuters request for comment about the plane seizure.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Costas Pitas and Rosalba O’Brien)