US set to announce seizure of Venezuela Vice President’s plane

The Trump administration is set to announce it has formally seized a Venezuelan government plane that’s been held in the Dominican Republic since last year, a move that may complicate efforts to cooperate on deportations.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to announce the seizure as soon as this week, people familiar with the situation said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. 

The plane used by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was initially held by Dominican authorities last year, when Joe Biden was still in the White House, but the process for the US to seize it over apparent sanctions violations was only recently completed after Donald Trump took office, the people said. Rodriguez wasn’t on the plane at the time.

The seizure highlights the competing visions on Venezuela inside Trump’s government, with some officials seeking President Nicolas Maduro’s help on immigration issues while Rubio and others favor a hardline approach to the leader the US accused of stealing an election last July.

Last week, special envoy Richard Grenell secured the release of six American citizens held in Venezuela, along with a commitment from Maduro to accept deportation flights from the US. It was an early victory for the administration given its efforts to ramp up deportations and Maduro’s past refusal to receive such flights.

But Rubio, a former Florida senator who is set to visit the Dominican Republic as part of a trip across Latin America this week, has pushed a return to the more aggressive strategy Trump wielded during his previous presidency, when he placed heavy sanctions on Venezuela and sought to oust Maduro by recognizing former opposition head Juan Guaido as the the country’s legitimate leader.

The operation to seize Rodriguez’s plane was coordinated between the US Department of Homeland Security and the government of the Dominican Republic, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Venezuela’s Information Ministry, the Dominican Republic’s Foreign Ministry, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department didn’t immediately reply to requests for comments. 

The Biden administration confiscated another Venezuelan aircraft used by Maduro last year after concluding it had been purchased and operated in violation of sanctions on the South American nation. That plane was also initially held in the Dominican Republic. At the time, Maduro’s government said it considered the seizure “illegal.”

The first flight carrying deportees from the US has not yet arrived in Venezuela, and it is unclear whether an announcement of the seizure would affect the agreement. The US and Venezuelan governments are still working on logistical details around the flights, according to people familiar with the situation.

Biden declared opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez the legitimate winner of Venezuela’s presidential election after the July 28 vote, and Trump referred to him as the country’s president-elect before taking office last month. Gonzalez attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington but has not yet met with the president or Rubio.