MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela issues arrest warrants against Milei, his sister and Minister Bullrich

Saab called Milei “the most ferocious violator of human rights in the continent”

Venezuela's Public Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday the opening of an inquiry against Argentine President Javier Milei for alleged crimes against humanity and the “theft” of a Venezuelan state-owned airplane handed over to the United States. As a result, arrest warrants were issued against Milei, his sister and Presidential Secretary Karina Milei, and Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

Caracas' move comes days after the Argentine government asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for the violent events following the controversial July 28 elections which he claimed to have won, as did opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzálerz Urrutia, currently under asylum in Spain.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab also explained that Milei and his aides were wanted in connection with seven crimes regarding the aircraft seized in Buenos Aires.

In statements broadcast on the State-run channel VTV, Saab said the Boeing 747-300 had been “totally dismantled” in the United States and therefore the charges against the Argentine officials pursuant to Venezuelan legislation included “aggravated robbery, legitimization of capital, illegitimate deprivation of freedom, simulation of a punishable act, illicit interference, disabling of an aircraft and association to commit a crime” were committed, according to Venezuelan legislation.

Saab also announced the appointment of a “specialized prosecutor for the protection of human rights to carry out the corresponding investigations” against Milei and Bullrich for “the actions committed against the Argentine people” and asserted that “we could be in the presence of serious violations to human rights that could constitute crimes against humanity.”

He also called Milei a “fascist” and a “neo-Nazi,” who was nothing short of “the most ferocious violator of human rights in the continent” and represents “a brutal danger for the whole hemisphere.”

“The Argentine Republic repudiates the arrest warrants issued by the Attorney General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela against the President of the Nation, Javier Milei, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, and the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, as a result of the incident of the Emtrasur company plane,” the Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The aforementioned case was resolved by the Judiciary, an independent power over which the Executive cannot and should not have any interference, in the application of an international agreement,” it went on.

“The Argentine Government reminds the Venezuelan regime that in the Argentine Republic the division of powers and the independence of judges prevail, something that unfortunately does not occur in Venezuela under the regime of Nicolás Maduro,” the statement added.