Venezuela responds to the US after increase in “reward” against Maduro

The Moral Republican Council of Venezuela responded this Monday to the U.S., regarding the recent accusations against the Venezuelan head of state, Nicolás Maduro, who is accused of allegedly being linked to international drug trafficking, a narrative that Washington has been promoting for years without presenting minimal evidence to support such a claim. The Venezuelan State Organ of Citizen Power, comprised of the Comptroller General’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Office, held a meeting of its highest representatives, who issued a joint statement to repudiate and reject the “brutal, criminal, and ferocious campaign” against President Maduro, an action “unprecedented in the Western Hemisphere.”

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The position expressed by the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, along with the Comptroller, Gustavo Vizcaíno, and the Ombudsman, Alfredo Ruiz, is in rejection of the announcement issued by the U.S. Attorney General, Pamela Bondi, regarding the increase to 50 million dollars of a reward, which was previously 25 million, for information leading to the arrest of the Venezuelan president. “This action is being used as a cover for a farce of a supposed fight against drug trafficking,” said Saab, who alleged that the country that produces the most drugs like marijuana is precisely the U.S. In addition, the Venezuelan prosecutor said that it is illogical for Washington to accuse Venezuela of having ties to the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, especially when the United Nations (UN) itself has declared Venezuelan territory free of drug crops. According to Saab, the U.S. is only looking for a pretext to justify and militarily attack Venezuela, invade its territory and try to overthrow the Maduro government. In that sense, he said that this media campaign only seeks to “brainwash to justify the bad”, just like their manipulated reports to talk about human rights violations in other countries when “the empire” is the biggest violator of people’s fundamental rights. The prosecutor added that the accusation against Maduro is “an infamy” and a “flagrant violation” of international law, as well as a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty. Saab indicated that the U.S. uses its judicial apparatus as an “instrument of extraterritorial political persecution” and is linked to “the terrorist plans of the Venezuelan extreme right.” “It is a slander and desperate attempt” to build a false record against Venezuela, he added.

U.S. Signage

Washington accuses, without evidence, Maduro of having alleged links with “foreign terrorist organizations” such as the TDA [Tren de Aragua, dismantled in Venezuela] and the Sinaloa and Soles cartels to introduce lethal drugs and violence” into the North American country. Bondi then said in an interview with Fox News that the U.S. had allegedly seized recently from President Maduro several of his “properties” abroad that would be valued at 700 million dollars, including “multiple” mansions, cars, planes and jewelry. According to the prosecutor, Maduro would lead an international “mafia”, which the U.S. baptized as the “Cartel of the Suns”. This alleged “criminal” organization would have bribed the governments of Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico to open their airspace and thus allow a route for the illicit trafficking of drugs and weapons to U.S. territory. Following the announcement by the U.S. State and Justice Departments regarding the payment for the capture of Maduro, various foreign governments such as Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, Iran, among others, and Venezuelan institutions, state officials, and politicians in the region have expressed their rejection of the price set by the Donald Trump administration against President Maduro. The Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) issued a statement to reject the “buffoonish declarations” of the US prosecutor and described them as “fanciful, illegal and desperate offers in the style of Hollywood westerns”, which also “represent another act of interference in the internal affairs of the nation”. For his part, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil described Bondi’s announced ‘reward’ as “pathetic” and called it “the most ridiculous smokescreen we have seen.” Likewise, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez indicated that the US prosecutor “shamelessly displays a cardboard ‘render’ to persist in her ridiculous and cheap show against President Nicolás Maduro Moros.”