During his official trip to the Dominican Republic on 6 February 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took time to be at the La Isabela International Airport in northern Santo Domingo where a Venezuelan jet has been in storage. Rubio watched as US agents posted a sticker formalizing the seizure of the jet.
This is the second plane that would have been used by the government of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela that was parked at the La Isabela International Airport that has been confiscated by the US government in collaboration with the local authorities. A first plane had been seized in September 2024.
The US authorities justified the action on grounds that the aircraft would have been used by a state-owned Venezuelan Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) to evade US sanctions and export control laws for the benefit of the Maduro regime officials. Rubio on his X accuont explained: “The seizure of this Venezuelan aircraft, used for evading US sanctions and money laundering, is a powerful example of our resolve to hold the illegitimate Maduro regime accountable for its illegal actions.”
The US Justice Department has said that Maduro associates in late 2022 and early 2023 had used a Caribbean-based shell company to hide their involvement in the purchase of the plane – a Dassault Falcon 900EX valued at US$13 million from a Florida company.
The Dominican authorities did not place impediments to the actions of the US law enforcement agents. But a Dominican lawyer, Ramon Antonio (Negro) Veras criticized Rubio’s personal participation in the act of expropriation. “No government should tolerate the presence of a foreign authority carrying out judicial acts within its national territory. This is an action of omnipotence, of an all-powerful entity,” stated the influential Dominican lawyer.
In his opinion: “Dominican national sovereignty was reduced to the will of Marco Rubio once he decided to take action to formalize the seizure of the Venezuelan plane. The authority of our country remained, for a period of time, in Marco Rubio, at least where the aircraft was located,” observed the lawyer.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally oversaw the operation during his visit to Santo Domingo as tensions between Washington and Caracas continue.
Venezuela foreign ministry protested the seizure through a note stating: Through a statement, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the action, claiming that “using his position, Marco Rubio is stripping Venezuela of its assets.”
“His hatred turns him into an international criminal, capable of violating any rule in order to harm our homeland,” the statement added.
It also condemned the “puppet Dominican government” for cooperating in the seizure of the “controversial plane.”
The 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.
Last year, following the Dominican support to Edmundo Gonzalez, who has the ballot proof he won the July 2024 presidential election, Dominican Republic and Venezuela closed their embassies removing their diplomatic personnel. Relations are served by the Spanish embassy.
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10 February 2025