The Ministry of Foreign Relations of Mexico (SRE) demanded that the Venezuelan government offer a diplomatic explanation after an incident occurred on Monday in which a private plane with a Mexican registration tag was allegedly shot down by Venezuelan Air Force units.
On Wednesday, the head of Venezuela's Strategic Command, Vladimir Padrino, posted a message on his Twitter account regarding the downing of the private plane which had allegedly entered Venezuelan airspace without permission.
"Day 4 Nov 22:36 Aerospace Defense Command @ceofanb detected and intercepted Hawker 25 plane tag XBMGM", the General wrote.
This aerial intruder was immobilized by air units of our AMB, 7 NM north of Buena Vista del Meta, Apure State
— Vladimir Padrino (@vladimirpadrino) November 5, 2013
The "aerial intruder", Padrino said on the social network, was immobilized by units of Bolivarian Military Aviation (AMB) 7 nautical miles north of Buena Vista del Meta, in the state of Apure.
After this information was made public, José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, Mexico's Minister of Foreign Relations, asked through the Mexican Embassy in Venezuela that the event be cleared up with strict adherence to international law, according to the newspaper El Informador.
On his part, the Mexican Minister of the Interior, Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong, said at a conference in the state of Veracruz that he had already asked for information from Venezuelan authorities regarding Monday's incident.
According to CNN, Osorio Chong explained that the priority for the SRE is to clarify whether any Mexican nationals were involved or "if there are any responsibilities."
"I can tell you what the Government of Venezuela told us officially: that they asked a plane to land, led it somewhere; when they approached it, they proceeded as they have lately, shooting down the plane", said the Minister of the Interior, quoted by CNN.
After the Mexican government's position was made public, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said during a government broadcast on national radio and television that the plane shot down by the Venezuelan Air Force Monday is just one of 30 planes shot down in adherence to the Control Law for the Integral Defense of Airspace, a law which passed in May.
According to Univisión, without going too much into details, Maduro pointed out that the planes shot down in Venezuelan airspace are linked to drug trafficking and said that his government won't stop these actions,.
"Recently, over national waters, we shot down plane number 30, the third shot down this way, linked to drug trafficking. We will fight them with everything, let everyone know it", Maduro warned.