Argentina. Arrest warrant issued for Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro

Argentine judicial authorities issued an arrest warrant for the leader on Monday Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and his right-hand man, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. They accused them of being responsible for systematic kidnappings, torture and killings.

On the same day, the Venezuelan prosecutor's office issued an arrest warrant for the president. Argentina Javier Mileia, accusing him of “theft and dismantling” a Venezuelan plane seized in Buenos Aires in 2022 and later handed over to the authorities USA on suspicion of violating US sanctions.

The arrest warrants for the leaders, issued by Argentine and Venezuelan authorities, are the latest in a series of heightened tensions between the countries following Venezuela’s July presidential election, which Maduro declared the winner of but whose integrity has been widely questioned.

“It has been proven that there is a systematic plan of repression, enforced disappearances, torture, murder and persecution in Venezuela against a section of the civilian population, developed at least from 2014 to the present,” Argentine judges said in justifying the arrest warrant.

The decision is the result of a complaint filed in 2023 before the Argentine justice system by the organization Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy (FADD). It invoked the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows states to prosecute crimes against humanity, regardless of where they occurred, TN reported.

The right-wing government of Javier Milei, sworn in in December 2023, has been one of the most vocal critics of the socialist regime in Caracas. Argentina has given shelter to several Venezuelan opposition figures fleeing persecution in its embassy in the Venezuelan capital. Milei also routinely refers to Maduro as a dictator and has not recognized his victory in the July 28 election.