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Since May 2023, the plane has flown almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela. The South American country was rocked by protests when Maduro was declared the winner of a disputed July 28 election, with dozens killed and more than 2,400 people arrested.

The opposition claims it won by a landslide and that it has the voting records to prove it. The leftist Maduro government, brushing off accusations of authoritarianism, has resisted international pressure to release vote tally numbers to back up its claim of victory.

“Maduro and his representatives’ have tampered with the results of the July 28 presidential election, falsely claimed victory, and carried out widespread repression to maintain power by force,” a US National Security Council spokesperson said. The seizure of the plane “is an important step to ensure that Maduro continues to feel the consequences from his misgovernance of Venezuela,” they added.

The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro as having won without seeing detailed voting results. Violence that accompanied the protests left 27 people dead and at least 192 wounded. Since 2005, Washington has imposed sanctions on Venezuela that target individuals and entities “that have engaged in criminal, antidemocratic, or corrupt actions,” according to a Congressional briefing document.

“In response to increasing human rights abuses and corruption by the government of Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, the Trump Administration expanded US sanctions to include financial sanctions, sectoral sanctions, and sanctions on the government.” Caracas was yet to comment on the seizure. – AFP