The US State Department is dangling millions of dollars in reward money in exchange for information that could be used to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his VP, or other senior officials on drug trafficking charges.
The eye-popping reward of up to $15 million is being offered for “information related to Nicolas Maduro Moros” with regard to his alleged involvement in “international narcotics trafficking,” the State Department announced on Thursday, signaling a hard shift in its regime-change policy against the socialist nation.
Tips leading to the narcotrafficking arrest or conviction of National Constituent Assembly President Diosdado Cabello Rondon, retired generals Hugo Carvajal Barrios and Clive Alcala Cordones, or Minister for Industry and National Production Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah can net as much as $10 million, the statement continued.
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro fired back at the US, which is offering a $15 million bounty for information leading to his arrest, dismissing the narco-terrorism charge as a smear to deflect attention from its coronavirus woes.
A generous reward of up to $15 million is promised to anyone who provides a tip to the US government leading to the Venezuelan president’s capture and arrest. A hefty sum of $10 million could also await those willing to help nab any of Maduro’s high-profile “co-conspirators.”
Maduro minced no words, brushing off the terrorism allegations as coming from a country that has zero credibility on the issue due to its long history of foreign interventions that have led to mass civilian casualties.
Are the world’s terrorists, those who bomb towns, going to accuse us of terrorism?
“If I have done anything, it is to fight the [narco] mafias,” the Venezuelan leader said, adding that Caracas has achieved record results in its battle against drug trafficking in the past 15 years.
By framing him, the US wants to distract attention from its incompetence in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, Maduro said. The pandemic has claimed over 1,200 lives in the US and has dealt a heavy blow to the economy.
Venezuela, he argued, has been successful in fending off the spread of the disease.
“We are succeeding and as we are succeeding the empire is getting desperate,” he said in a televised address on Thursday.
The one-two punch is a profoundly cynical move in the US’ continuing assault on sanctions-starved Venezuela, especially in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic.
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US State Dept offers $15 MILLION REWARD for help arresting Venezuela’s Maduro after indictments
26 Mar, 2020 16:37 / Updated 17 hours ago
US State Dept offers $15 MILLION REWARD for help arresting Venezuela’s Maduro after indictments
File photo © REUTERS/Manaure Quintero
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The US State Department is dangling millions of dollars in reward money in exchange for information that could be used to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his VP, or other senior officials on drug trafficking charges.
The eye-popping reward of up to $15 million is being offered for “information related to Nicolas Maduro Moros” with regard to his alleged involvement in “international narcotics trafficking,” the State Department announced on Thursday, signaling a hard shift in its regime-change policy against the socialist nation.
Tips leading to the narcotrafficking arrest or conviction of National Constituent Assembly President Diosdado Cabello Rondon, retired generals Hugo Carvajal Barrios and Clive Alcala Cordones, or Minister for Industry and National Production Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah can net as much as $10 million, the statement continued.
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The rewards were unveiled on the same day as the US Justice Department unsealed indictments against the Venezuelan leaders for the same drug trafficking crimes – suggesting that Washington’s evidence isn’t as solid as Attorney General William Barr has claimed.
Indictments in Miami and New York accuse the officials of participating in a “narco-terrorism conspiracy” with Colombian guerrilla group FARC, to “flood the United States with cocaine.” But if evidence against Maduro and his compatriots is at such a premium that the State Department will pay $15 million for it, the Venezuelans are unlikely to see the inside of a US court anytime soon.
The one-two punch is a profoundly cynical move in the US’ continuing assault on sanctions-starved Venezuela, especially in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic.
After over a year of pushing its preferred leader, Juan Guaido, accomplished nothing except wearing out the latter’s welcome in the opposition National Assembly, Washington appears to have lost patience with their golden boy’s failed coup attempts, pushing him aside to play hardball.
The last Latin American leader charged with drug trafficking by the US was Panama’s Manuel Noriega, whom Washington essentially stabbed in the back after a long and profitable partnership running drugs with the CIA, invading his country and hauling him back to Miami to stand trial on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
