Donald Trump has doubled the reward for the capture of Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, accusing him of fuelling drug trafficking and terrorism that brings \u201cdeadly violence\u201d to the US.<\/p>\n
On Thursday (7 August), Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the Trump administration is now offering a $50 million bounty for information leading to Maduro\u2019s arrest, the largest ever offered by the US for a foreign leader, CBS News reports.<\/p>\n
Bondi claimed Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela since 2013, is at the centre of an international cocaine operation linked to violent cartels, including Tren de Aragua, Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa cartel, and Venezuela\u2019s own Cartel of the Suns.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaduro uses foreign terrorist organisations to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country,\u201d Bondi said in a video statement. \u201cToday, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine tied to Maduro and his associates, nearly seven tons connected to Maduro personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that cocaine from Maduro\u2019s network is \u201coften laced with fentanyl,\u201d a synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of deaths in the US.<\/p>\n
According to Bondi, more than $700 million in assets linked to Maduro have been seized by US authorities, including two private jets and nine vehicles. \u201cYet Maduro\u2019s reign of terror continues,\u201d she said. \u201cHe is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security.\u201dMaduro was first indicted in March 2020 on multiple federal charges in New York, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. At the time, the Trump administration offered a $15 million reward for his capture. That figure later rose to $25 million under Joe Biden, and Trump has now doubled it again, per Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
The move comes amid years of political turmoil in Venezuela. Maduro\u2019s presidency has faced widespread allegations of election fraud, human rights abuses, and corruption. His 2018 re-election was rejected by the country\u2019s opposition, with the National Assembly declaring opposition leader Juan Guaid\u00f3 as the rightful president.<\/p>\n
Trump recognised Guaid\u00f3 in 2020 and invited him to the White House. In Venezuela\u2019s 2024 election, authorities declared Maduro the winner again, but opposition groups claimed former diplomat Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez had actually won with twice the votes. Both Gonz\u00e1lez and Guaid\u00f3 have since fled the country after Maduro ordered their arrests.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaduro is not the President of Venezuela,\u201d US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month. \u201cHis regime is not the legitimate government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Donald Trump has doubled the reward for the capture of Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, accusing him of fuelling drug trafficking and terrorism that brings \u201cdeadly violence\u201d to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n