MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Relatives of Emtrasur's 747 crewmembers land in Buenos Aires

Maduro insists the aircraft has been hijacked by Argentina's judiciary

A group of relatives of the crew members of the Emtrasur Boeing 747-300 freighter seized by Argentine authorities since early June Thursday landed in Buenos Aires to step up the pressure on the Judiciary.

The Venezuelan-flagged aircraft has been grounded at the Ezeiza international airport after it was blacklisted by the United States for its alleged involvement in terrorist-support activities sponsored by Iran.

Venezuelan Transport Minister Ramon Celestino Velázquez Araguayán, who also chairs flag carrier Conviasa, of which Emtrasur is a cargo subsidiary, admitted the delegation trip was ordered by the Venezuelan government. As per “instructions of President Nicolás Maduro we activated a special mission to reunite the Emtrasur crew members with their families. Our humanist and socialist government is in solidarity with those in need. The struggle for the release of the crew continues,” he said.

“At 1:05 p.m. local time in Argentina, the solidarity flight that facilitated the reunion of the Emtrasur crew members with their families arrived at Ezeiza International Airport. Our Bolivarian government has given its full support to this reunion mission,” he added.

Velázquez Araguayán also explained that “Lisset Díaz achieved what she longed for: the reunion of her son and her husband who remains kidnapped in Argentina, due to the unjust decision of the judiciary system of that country, which under the order of the US intends to steal the Emtrasur plane and keep the crew prisoner.”

The minister also released a video in which Isabel Cabello, wife of the mechanic technician José García, announces her trip to Argentina: “Hello, I am the wife of mechanic technician José García. We are already in the antechamber to board the flight that will take us to Argentina to reunite as a family again. We are extremely excited, grateful for the support of Emtrasur-Conviasa and all the people who have been involved in this process that they have made possible. What we expect from all this is to bring us back to our families, to bring us back to our airplane, to everything that belongs to us,” she said.

Earlier this month, Maduro called on “the social, trade union and political movements of patriotic Argentina and Peronist Argentina” to achieve “the rescue of the hijacked plane and pilots” after Federal Judge Federico Villena ordered to maintain the ban on the Iranian pilot and 6 other people from the plane held in Ezeiza to leave the country while allowing 12 crew members to return to depart.

Judge Villena ratified the ban on the Iranians Gholamreza Ghasemi, Abdolbaset Mohammad, Mohammad Khosraviaragh, Seid Vali Zadeh and the Venezuelans Mario Arraga Urdaneta, Víctor Pérez Gómez and José García Contreras.

A Conviasa flight took the relatives to Bolivia from where they flew on to Ezeiza.