Old debt mix-up strands passengers booked on Aeropostal to Isla Margarita

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): Passengers booked on Aeropostal to Isla Margarita nearly didn't get there Wednesday amid argument over whether the airline owed money to a company called Eurovalores. Confusion reined over a Bs.F.15 million loan extended by Eurovalores to Aeropostal, when it was under different ownership.

Eurovalores served a writ to recover the debt, and seems to have been unaware the new owners paid Bs.F.8 million with the rest to follow on July 15.

A judge and a phalanx of National Guard (GN) troops turned up to embargo the aircraft, which doesn't belong to Aeropostal. Terminal manager Leida Castillo leapt into the fray and reportedly used rough language as she suspended Aeropostal operations.

By three o'clock in the afternoon, 115 passengers including Foreign Ministry officials going to the information ministers' conference and the Caracas Globetrotters basketball team to a match had waited since nine in the morning. Two hours later, somebody at Eurovalores confirmed that payment had indeed been made. Flight 308 finally got off the ground two hours later.