The Biden Administration said Friday it is offering $25 million for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The announcement It is Washington's response to Mr. Maduro's decision accept the third term on Friday at the office. Mr. Maduro has provided no evidence that he won the July election, while his opponent, Edmundo Gonzalez, has presented thousands He says the publicly available vote numbers show won easily the most votes.
The United States recognized Mr. González as Venezuela's president-elect and called on Mr. Maduro to step aside.
In 2020, during the Trump administration, the State Department offered a $15 million reward for helping arrest Mr. Maduro. At the time, he was indicted in the United States on charges of conspiracy in connection with decades of narco-terrorism and international cocaine trafficking. Mr. Maduro remains under indictment.
of the Ministry of Justice formal charge this move by a foreign head of state was an unusual step that indicated that the United States would take an increasingly tough stance against Mr. Maduro.
The new $25 million award represents an increase.
The United States will also offer $25 million, up from $10 million, for information on the capture of the country's Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello.
The State Department has added another award: $15 million to help secure Venezuelan Defense Minister Padrino Lopez.
Minutes after Mr Maduro was sworn in for another term on Friday, the US Treasury Department also announced new sanctions against eight Venezuelan officials, adding to the long list of Maduro allies already under sanctions.
The measures freeze officials' US assets.
“The United States and its allies in the region have pushed Maduro to commit to a democratic transition,” Treasury official Bradley T. Smith said in a statement. “Instead, Maduro and his proxies have continued their violent repression in an attempt to hold on to power and ignored the Venezuelan people's calls for democratic accountability.”
The Biden administration also announced it would extend protections to the roughly 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States with temporary protected status, a program that allows migrants from crisis-stricken countries to live and work legally in the United States.
The status of Venezuelan migrants who apply can be extended for another 18 months.