CARACAS, September 3. /TASS/. The arrest of the Venezuelan president's plane by the US authorities is nothing but an act of piracy and an example of the 'rules-based order,' the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"This (the arrest of the Venezuelan plane - TASS) is an example of the alleged 'rules-based order' that, ignoring international law, seeks to establish the law of the strongest, create rules that suit its interests and follow them with total impunity," the ministry said.
The Venezuelan diplomats pointed out that "the US authorities have once again resorted to criminal acts that can only be qualified as piracy, illegally seizing an aircraft used by the president of the republic." "They justify their actions by the coercive measures they unilaterally and illegally impose around the world," the statement said. The ministry added that "Venezuela reserves the right to take any legal action to repair this damage to the state, as well as any other damage caused by the criminal policy of unilateral coercive measures."
Earlier, CNN reported, citing sources, that the US had seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's plane worth about 13 million dollars and diverted the aircraft from the Dominican Republic, where it had been for the past months, to the state of Florida. The US Justice Department later confirmed the information.