Venezuelan foreign minister’s stopover revives questions on SYRIZA-Maduro ties

A mysterious four-hour Athens stopover of a Venezuelan state aircraft carrying Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on 2 March was reported by Greek SKAI television and radio today.

The aircraft had taken off from Caracas and arrived in Greece without a flight plan. It had previously been denied permission to land in both Portugal and Switzerland (Geneva).

Once over Greece, the aeroplane requested and was granted a one-hour stopover at Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport for refueling, but for reasons yet unknown remained on the tarmac for four hours.

SKAI reported that the Venezuelan minister met in the airport's VIP lounge with a person whose identity remains unknown, and it was unclear if it was a Greek government official or a diplomat from the Venezuelan Embassy in Athens.

Main opposition New Democracy tabled a question about why Athens allowed the aircraft to land.

Gold shuttle?

Members of the Venezuelan opposition maintained that the aircraft took off the day that the government removed a large amount of gold from the country's central bank.

The final destination of the flight was the United Arab Emirates.

The reason that Greece was chosen for the landing without a flight plan raised questions and some in Athens linked the development to ruling SYRIZA's longstanding ties (even before it came to power) with the Venezuelan leadership - both with the late Hugo Chavez and Maduro.

Greece is the only EU country that has not condemned the Maduro regime and the civil strife and deaths over the last weeks.

The international press has repeatedly lambasted Tsipras for what it views as his scandalous support for Maduro.

SYRIZA-Venezuela ties

A recent in...