Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday has been sworn in for a third six-year term following an election that saw his opponent Edmundo Gonzalez as well as Washington claim voter fraud.
Gonzalez, meanwhile, has been recognized by the US as 'president-elect' instead of Maduro. On the same day Maduro was sworn in, the US unveiled a $25 million reward for information leading to his arrest. This represents a significant increase from a prior similar reward of $15 million for narco-trafficking related charges.
Additionally a fresh reward of up to $15 million been offered for the arrest of Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.
A senior US official has said the expanded reward reflects "the gravity of his crimes and the continued threat he poses to international stability."
The Venezuelan leader has remained defiant in the face of international pressure. "May this new presidential term be a period of peace, of prosperity, of equality and the new democracy," Maduro said in televised remarks upon his inauguration. "I swear on history, on my life, and I will fulfil [my mandate]."
The US reward is largely symbolic. Given Maduro is the leader of a sovereign country, with a military and security services, it would be just about impossible for someone collect on the reward. Instead it appears meant to encourage internal defections:
Anyone outside the US with information about Maduro is urged to contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. In the U.S., tips can be directed to the local Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office.
Meanwhile Venezuelan opposition groups have been reporting an uptick in political persecution:
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she is now safe after her aides said she was “intercepted” at a protest in Caracas on the eve of President Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration. Machado’s political group wrote on X that she had been “violently intercepted” on Thursday while leaving the rally.
In a later update, her team posted that “during the period of her kidnapping she was forced to record several videos and was later released.”
Maduro has been paranoid about US government-backed plots against him. He has long accused the opposition of serving the interests of enemies of Caracas.
Trump is likely to restart an even more muscular policy toward the Latin American country...
Bloomberg also reports Friday, "In a show of brute force, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro has once again backed his rivals into a corner."
"The strongman closed airways and land crossings through neighboring Colombia to prevent Edmundo González from entering the country to disrupt his inauguration Friday," the report said. "That, along with a dramatic ramp up in repression, has sent his challengers scattered and reeling."