The US on Friday announced it was raising a bounty on President Nicolas Maduro to $25 million, as the Venezuelan leader was sworn in for a third term in office.
Also named in the sanctions announced by the Treasury Department are eight Venezuelan officials who lead “key economic and security agencies enabling Nicolas Maduro’s repression and subversion of democracy in Venezuela”.
The bounty on Mr Maduro's head was raised from an initial $15 million in 2020 to the current amount following elections last July that were viewed widely as fraudulent.
“Since last year’s election, Maduro and his associates have continued their repressive actions in Venezuela,” said acting undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence Bradley T Smith. “The United States, together with our like-minded partners, stands in solidarity with the Venezuelan people’s vote for new leadership and rejects Maduro’s fraudulent claim of victory.”
The US is also offering $15 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela's Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, and Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino.
The State Department also imposed visa restrictions on Maduro-aligned individuals for their roles in “undermining the electoral process or in acts of repression in Venezuela”. Similar action was taken by the UK, Canada and the EU.
The announcement comes a day after reports that security forces had arrested opposition leader Maria Corina Machado during a protest march in Caracas. She later stated in a post on X that she had been released. The Venezuelan government denied that she had been detained.
The opposition has said the elections were stolen by Mr Maduro and that their own tallies showed they had won 67 per cent of the vote – a claim supported by international observers including the Carter Centre and the Colombian Electoral Mission.
During the elections, Ms Machado ran as vice president to Edmundo Gonzalez, a former diplomat who, after his electoral defeat, fled to Spain fearing arrest. Mr Gonzalez travelled to Washington this week, where he met President Joe Biden.
“President Biden emphasised that the world was inspired by the millions of Venezuelans who courageously voted for democratic change in Venezuela’s deeply flawed July 28 presidential election, as demonstrated through the collection of voting tally sheets that indicated that [Edmundo] Gonzalez Urrutia received the most votes by an insurmountable margin,” the White House said in a readout.
Also on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuela for 18 months, meaning about 600,000 Venezuelans living in the US can remain in the country legally.
“The extension of TPS is due to extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent eligible Venezuelan nationals from safely returning,” the department said in a release.
