Venezuelan general slams new sanctions and R25m reward for Maduro’s arrest
Opposition insists its candidate won election
12 January 2025 - 19:13
byLaura Gottesdiener
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President Nicolas Maduro speaks after his presidential inauguration in Caracas, Venezuela, January 10 2025. Picture: JESUS VARGUS/GETTY IMAGES
Mexico City — Venezuela’s military has condemned new sanctions and that the US, Britain and the EU imposed as President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third term after a six-month election dispute.
“The Venezuelan Armed Forces categorically and energetically rejects the new sanctions imposed by the infamous imperial brotherhood,” Gen Domingo Hernandez Larez, head of the strategic operational command of Venezuela’s army, wrote a statement posed on social media.
He called the sanctions a “desperate action, outside the rule of international law”.
The outgoing Biden administration increased its reward to $25m for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro on drug trafficking charges. The previous reward was $15m.
It issued a $25m reward for interior minister Diosdado Cabello and a $15m reward for defence minister Vladimir Padrino, as well as new sanctions against eight other officials including the head of state oil company PDVSA Hector Obregon.
The US indicted Maduro and others on drugs and corruption charges, among others, in 2020. Maduro has rejected the accusations. In Hernandez’s statement, he said the Venezuelan government has carried out a “head-on attack against the scourge of drug trafficking”.
The US move coincided with sanctions by Britain and the EU, each targeting 15 officials including members of the national electoral council and the security forces, and Canadian sanctions targeting 14 current and former officials.
Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of July’s election by Venezuela's electoral authority and top court, though detailed tallies confirming his victory have never been published.
Venezuela’s opposition says ballot box-level tallies show a landslide win for its former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. International election observers said the vote was not democratic.
The months since the election have seen Gonzalez’s flight to Spain in September, his ally Maria Corina Machado going into hiding in Venezuela, and the detentions of high-profile opposition figures and protesters.
Maduro’s nearly 12 years in office have been marked by deep economic and social crisis and an exodus of millions of Venezuelans fleeing the country.
His government has always rejected all sanctions, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela.
Brazil's government said on Friday that officials in Venezuela had ordered the countries shared border temporarily closed, hours after Nicolas Maduro was sworn in.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Venezuelan general slams new sanctions and R25m reward for Maduro’s arrest
Opposition insists its candidate won election
Mexico City — Venezuela’s military has condemned new sanctions and that the US, Britain and the EU imposed as President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third term after a six-month election dispute.
“The Venezuelan Armed Forces categorically and energetically rejects the new sanctions imposed by the infamous imperial brotherhood,” Gen Domingo Hernandez Larez, head of the strategic operational command of Venezuela’s army, wrote a statement posed on social media.
He called the sanctions a “desperate action, outside the rule of international law”.
The outgoing Biden administration increased its reward to $25m for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro on drug trafficking charges. The previous reward was $15m.
It issued a $25m reward for interior minister Diosdado Cabello and a $15m reward for defence minister Vladimir Padrino, as well as new sanctions against eight other officials including the head of state oil company PDVSA Hector Obregon.
The US indicted Maduro and others on drugs and corruption charges, among others, in 2020. Maduro has rejected the accusations. In Hernandez’s statement, he said the Venezuelan government has carried out a “head-on attack against the scourge of drug trafficking”.
The US move coincided with sanctions by Britain and the EU, each targeting 15 officials including members of the national electoral council and the security forces, and Canadian sanctions targeting 14 current and former officials.
Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of July’s election by Venezuela's electoral authority and top court, though detailed tallies confirming his victory have never been published.
Venezuela’s opposition says ballot box-level tallies show a landslide win for its former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. International election observers said the vote was not democratic.
The months since the election have seen Gonzalez’s flight to Spain in September, his ally Maria Corina Machado going into hiding in Venezuela, and the detentions of high-profile opposition figures and protesters.
Maduro’s nearly 12 years in office have been marked by deep economic and social crisis and an exodus of millions of Venezuelans fleeing the country.
His government has always rejected all sanctions, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela.
Brazil's government said on Friday that officials in Venezuela had ordered the countries shared border temporarily closed, hours after Nicolas Maduro was sworn in.
Reuters
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