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Mysterious empty Boeing 777 lands in Venezuela. Rumored to smuggle venezuelan gold to Moscow.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/30/russia-claims-no-knowledge-plane-sent-venezuela-extract-20-tonnes/Russian authorities have moved to quash suspicions that 20 tonnes of gold are about to be moved from the Venezuela’s national bank to Moscow.
Allegations that a Russian jet which landed in Caracas was due to load an $840 million portion of the country's gold reserves surfaced early on Wednesday.
Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament, sidelined by the Maduro regime, said in a tweet that they received information from the Bank of Venezuela that a plane from Moscow arrived to Caracas to “extract at least 20 tons of gold” - 20 per cent of the bank’s holdings.
“We are demanding the Bank [to reveal] details of what is happening. That gold does not belong to Calixto Ortega, [head of the Bank]. It belongs to the Venezuelan people,” the tweet read.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, said on Wednesday that he is not aware of any plans to bring gold to Moscow.
...
The Boeing 777, with space for some 400 passengers and belonging to Russia's Nordwind Airlines, was parked by a private corner of the airport after flying direct from Moscow, according to flight tracking data and Reuters photos.
It was the first time it had made the route, the data showed.
Novaya Gazeta said that the plane carried two crew teams and suggested there was no obvious reason for it to fly there: Russian tourists are officially recommended not to visit Venezuela, sales of package tours to the country have stopped long ago, and Russia’s Foreign Ministry hasn’t announced plans to evacuate Russian citizens from the country.
...
Venezuela's Finance Minister Simon Zerpa claimed there were no Russian planes in the Caracas airport, despite the pictures.
Allegations that a Russian jet which landed in Caracas was due to load an $840 million portion of the country's gold reserves surfaced early on Wednesday.
Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament, sidelined by the Maduro regime, said in a tweet that they received information from the Bank of Venezuela that a plane from Moscow arrived to Caracas to “extract at least 20 tons of gold” - 20 per cent of the bank’s holdings.
“We are demanding the Bank [to reveal] details of what is happening. That gold does not belong to Calixto Ortega, [head of the Bank]. It belongs to the Venezuelan people,” the tweet read.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, said on Wednesday that he is not aware of any plans to bring gold to Moscow.
...
The Boeing 777, with space for some 400 passengers and belonging to Russia's Nordwind Airlines, was parked by a private corner of the airport after flying direct from Moscow, according to flight tracking data and Reuters photos.
It was the first time it had made the route, the data showed.
Novaya Gazeta said that the plane carried two crew teams and suggested there was no obvious reason for it to fly there: Russian tourists are officially recommended not to visit Venezuela, sales of package tours to the country have stopped long ago, and Russia’s Foreign Ministry hasn’t announced plans to evacuate Russian citizens from the country.
...
Venezuela's Finance Minister Simon Zerpa claimed there were no Russian planes in the Caracas airport, despite the pictures.
My guess: Russia would prop up Maduro, just to spite the US, but they won't do so for free.
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