The second plane that left Caracas and remained in Bolivia left nearly 300 Venezuelans stranded in Argentina

Around 300 Venezuelans are stranded at the Ezeiza International Airport after the Conviasa plane – a company sanctioned by the United States – landed in Bolivia without completing its route to Argentina as a result of the scandal with the Iranians and the other aircraft found held. Among those affected are dozens of families with children, people with disabilities and pets.

The conflict originated from the second plane of the Bolivarian state company acquired from the Iranian company Mahan-Air that departed this Wednesday from Caracas to Santa Cruz de la Sierra and was planning to land in Argentina. However, the last section was suspended, without certainty as to when it will resume, affecting the almost 300 people who are protesting at the Ministro Pistarini International Airport at this time.

There was also expectation among the Venezuelan crew members of the suspicious flight to return to Caracas last night if the Argentine Justice returned their passports.

“Everything is a political issue, we know that with the problem of this plane that was retained, they do not want to accept any flight from a Venezuelan plane to Argentina, nor do they want to leave either,” lamented one of the stranded Venezuelans who spoke with Infobae. The National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) did not approve the Conviasa flight to Argentina, also affecting passengers who are currently stranded in Bolivia.

The plane that was to leave this Wednesday night from Ezeiza was a flight that had been rescheduled this Monday in the midst of the controversy with the Venezuelan-Iranian aircraft: “They had us from 10 at night to notify us at 4 in the morning We weren’t going to fly.” This Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. they were notified again that the flight had been canceled again.

To prevent a new aircraft from being retained, Conviasa had tried in Santa Cruz de la Sierra to buy tickets for a Boliviana de Aviación flight to search in Argentina for the Venezuelans who canceled their trip last Monday. “Now the issue is the responsibility of the Argentine Government, they are telling us that they have not authorized the Boliviana de Aviación flight -which has nothing to do with Conviasa- to land; It is a humanitarian issue, I have two babies, two pets, there is a girl in a wheelchair, elderly people,” explained another of the stranded who asked the Alberto Fernández administration “to put a hand on your heart and at least let that flight come.”

Without certainty about when the situation will be resolved and fearing that they would continue to be stranded in Ezeiza, Venezuelans began to organize themselves in WhatsApp groups to coordinate measures to raise the claim with the Argentine government authorities.

The situation in Ezeiza has its counterpart in the Bolivian airport where the passengers of the Conviasa flight that Argentina restricted are stranded. In an audio accessed by Infobae, the Bolivian authorities are heard notifying that “passengers in transit to Caracas who have arrived from Buenos Aires can take a seat because we are going to leave at 1”, however those who had a ticket to Buenos Aires “They have denied the operating permit in Argentina to operate with our Boliviana de Aviación plane.” Faced with the complaints and laments of the people, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra they were offered two options: return to Caracas or travel through another airline. “We have done everything possible to collaborate,” they excused themselves from the airport organization in the face of popular outrage.

This Thursday marks 10 days since the plane with a suspicious crew landed in Argentina and 6 since the measure to immobilize it and retain the passports of those involved became public.

Among the Venezuelans who traveled on the Emtrasur plane – a subsidiary of Conviasa – there is one who caught the attention of those investigating the case. This is Cornelio Trujillo Candor, identified as one of the pilots who participated in the coup attempt by Hugo Chávez on November 27, 1992, which resulted in more than 170 deaths. The 1992 uprising was aimed at the release of Chávez, who was in prison after his surrender in the failed February 4 coup, and the capture of President Carlos Andrés Pérez.

In that list of 14 Venezuelans there is another soldier: Vicente Antonio Raga Tenias. “In 2006 he was an Aviation Lieutenant Colonel and was designated as a National Reserve Airman. Until 2021 he lived in Malaga (Spain) ”, says a report circulating among Argentine officials.