The United States has dramatically raised the stakes in its long-running feud with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Officials announced they are doubling the reward for information leading to his arrest. The new bounty now stands at a staggering $50 million, making him a prime target in the eyes of Washington. US authorities claim Maduro is “one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers.”
Pam Bondi, a US Justice Department official, publicly declared this significant increase in the reward. She pointed to serious accusations of drug dealing and deep ties to various criminal organizations. This move quickly drew sharp criticism from Venezuela, where Foreign Minister Iván Gil called the new reward “pathetic” and nothing more than “political propaganda.” Gil snapped that he wasn’t surprised by the source of the accusations. He even suggested Bondi was trying to pull attention away from other news, perhaps the controversy surrounding how US officials handled the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
This isn’t the first time the US has gone after Maduro. During the previous US administration, Maduro and other top Venezuelan officials faced a range of charges. These included drug terrorism, corruption, and general drug trafficking. At that time, the US Justice Department even suggested Maduro worked with the FARC rebels in Colombia. The idea was that they planned to use cocaine as a weapon against the United States.
More recently, Bondi shared a video on social media platform X, stepping up the accusations against Maduro. She claimed he worked closely with groups like Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that the US government has labeled a terrorist organization. He also allegedly coordinated with the Sinaloa Group, a powerful criminal network from Mexico. Bondi added that the US Drug Enforcement Administration, known as the DEA, seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his allies. Nearly 7 tons of that haul were directly connected to Maduro himself, she stated.
For his part, Maduro has always denied these serious drug-related accusations from the US. The latest statements from Bondi certainly make the already strained relationship between the US government and Venezuela even worse. However, US prosecutors didn’t share how they expect this huge reward and public challenge to actually lead to Maduro’s capture or a breakthrough.
Maduro leads the United Socialist Party and took over from Hugo Chávez in 2013. Critics say he has cracked down on opposition groups and silenced people who disagree with him in Venezuela, often using violence. He managed to hold onto power after last year’s post-election protests. Still, some recent events hint at cracks in his inner circle.
Just this past June, Hugo Carvajal, who used to be Venezuela’s military intelligence chief, was found guilty of several drug trafficking charges. Carvajal, once a feared spy nicknamed “El Pollo” or “The Chicken,” was arrested in Madrid and then brought to a US court. He had fled Venezuela after urging the military to support an opposition candidate and remove Maduro from power. Carvajal first said he was innocent of the drug charges. But later, he changed his plea to guilty. This led many to believe he had made a deal with US authorities. People speculated he agreed to a lighter sentence in return for crucial information about Maduro.
It’s not just the US applying pressure. Both the United Kingdom and the European Union have put sanctions on Maduro’s government. These measures came after he began his new term in office earlier this year. The increased bounty adds another layer to this complex international standoff.
Source: BBC