MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Venezuela on Saturday condemned new sanctions imposed by the United States, Britain and the European Union the day before, when President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third term after a six-month election dispute.
“The Venezuelan Armed Forces categorically and strongly reject the new sanctions imposed by the notorious Imperial Brotherhood,” Gen. Domingo Hernandez Larez, head of the Strategic Operations Command of the Venezuelan National Armed Forces, wrote in a statement posted on social media.
He described the sanctions as a “desperate act outside the scope of international law.”
The conviction came after the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden increased its reward to $25 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro on drug trafficking charges. The previous reward was $15 million.
It also issued a $25 million reward to Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and a $15 million reward to Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, in addition to new sanctions on eight other officials including the head of state oil company PDVSA, Hector Obregon.
The United States indicted Maduro and others on drug and corruption charges, among other charges, in 2020. Maduro has rejected the charges. Hernandez said in his statement that the Venezuelan government carried out a “direct attack against the scourge of drug trafficking.”
The American move coincided with sanctions imposed by Britain and the European Union, each targeting 15 officials, including members of the National Electoral Council and security forces, and Canadian sanctions targeting 14 current and former officials.
Venezuela's Electoral College and Supreme Court declared Maduro, who has been president of the country since 2013, the winner of the July elections, although detailed statistics confirming his victory were never published.
The Venezuelan opposition said that the results of the vote counting at the ballot box level showed a landslide victory for its former candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez.
Maduro's period in power, which lasted nearly 12 years, witnessed a deep economic and social crisis and a mass exodus of millions of Venezuelans fleeing the country. His government has long rejected all sanctions, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” aimed at paralyzing Venezuela.
