The Defense Minister Javier Garciaannounced at a press conference that it was he who disavowed the landing of the Venezuelan-Iranian planeretained in Buenos Aires, at the Carrasco Airport. The aircraft tried unsuccessfully to land last Wednesday in Montevideo.
“We had information that the minister (Luis Alberto Heber), from the Ministry of the Interior, gave us. Based on that information that was given at the time, it was decided not to authorize this plane to enter the airspace,” he said.
“I, as defense minister, (…) I ordered based on that information and the peremptory times of all the information that could not be checked to return, if there was no humanitarian reason, and that entry into Uruguayan airspace was not authorized,” he explained.
García clarified that he did not consult President Luis Lacalle Pou about this case, but preferred to “assume responsibility” on his own.
This is what he indicated: “It is information that the Ministry of the Interior had received from foreign agencies, which was turned to Uruguay and, since the jurisdiction belongs to the Ministry of Defense, I am the person responsible for making that decision.”
The minister confirmed the presence of Iranians and Venezuelans on the flight. The Argentine authorities retained a total of 17 passports that were on board the aircraft.
Argentine judicial sources with access to the file told The Observer that on Wednesday, June 8, after flying over the Río de La Plata for 20 minutes, the plane landed again in Ezeiza at 11:44after Uruguay did not enable its landing, closing the skies to the ship subject to the sanctions of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
