The United States doubles the reward for the capture of Nicolas Maduro, accused of drug trafficking and electoral flaps. In the background, Trump’s challenge in Beijing for influence in Latin America.
Size doubled to 50 million dollars
The fibrillations between the Trump administration are increased Nicolas Maduro. The United States General Prosecutor Pam Bondi brought the reward for those who offer useful information to the arrest of the Venezuelan President to 50 million dollars. This is a double figure compared to that which had been established by the US government last January.
“He is one of the largest drug traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. For this reason, we have doubled his size, bringing it to 50 million dollars,” said Bondi, referring to Maduro. “Under the guidance of President Trump, Maduro will not escape justice and will be held responsible for his despicable crimes,” he added. Bondi also accused the Venezuelan leader of backing up the dangerous Gang Tren de Aragua. Not only that. According to the American State Department, “in the Venezuelan presidential elections of 28 July 2024, Maduro declared himself fraudulently winner, despite the contrary evidence”.
Caracas’s reply
The Caracas government replied hard to Bondi’s decision. “While we sell the terrorist conspiracy organized in her country, this woman invents a media show to please the extreme right defeat in Venezuela. It does not surprise us, considering by those who come. The same person who promised a ‘non -existent secret list,” said the Venezuelan foreign minister, Yvan Gil, referring to the question of the list of Jeffrey Eptein.
A long clash already in progress
In 2020, during Donald Trump’s first presidency, Maduro had been offending the United States with accusations inherent in drug trafficking. His administration then placed a size of $ 15 million on him: a figure that Joe Biden subsequently led to 25 million. In short, the ongoing tensions between Washington and Caracas have mainly in the center, the issues of drugs and illegal immigration. However, digging more deeply, geopolitical elements also emerge.
The link with China and Trump’s strategy
The Maduro regime entertains significant bonds with Beijing. Last May, the Venezuelan president met with Xi Jinping in Moscow. On this occasion, the Chinese leader said that the popular Republic will “firmly support Venezuela in safeguarding sovereignty, national dignity and social stability”. “China”, added Xi, “has always considered and developed relationships with Venezuela from a strategic and long -term perspective”. Now, it is not a mystery that Trump is focusing a lot on an updated re -edition of Monroe doctrine: it is a strategy aimed at steming Beijing’s influence on Latin America. It is therefore also in this context that the hard line of the American president must be inserted towards the Caracas regime.
