On Friday, shortly before Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was scheduled to be inaugurated for a third five-year term in power following the widely contested election that took place the previous year, the United States of America reportedly offered a new reward of $25 million for his arrest or conviction.
Following Maduro’s indictment in the United States on allegations of narco-terrorism and other offenses, the United States Department of State stated in the year 2020 that it would offer a reward of fifteen million dollars for his arrest or conviction.
A total of eight Venezuelan economic and security executives, including the head of the national oil firm, were subjected to sanctions by the United States Treasury Department on Friday.
The Treasury Department stated that these officials facilitated “Maduro’s repression and subversion of democracy in Venezuela.
Maduro, on the other hand, has increased the severity of his crackdown on the opposition, which, according to international observers, defeated him in the election held the previous year with relative ease.
There have been hundreds of arrests, and many of them have been pushed into hiding or exile. After making an unexpected appearance at a rally in Caracas on Thursday, opposition leader María Corina Machado was temporarily imprisoned for a short period of time.
It has been maintained by Edmundo González, the candidate for the opposition, that he will arrive in Venezuela in the near future to accept the presidency.
Analysts, on the other hand, feel that Gonzalez’s chances of securing power continue to be poor, given that the army is supporting Maduro and that the next administration in the United States has a conflicting view.
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