US offering Maduro âamnestyâ â WSJ
The long-shot deal would reportedly involve Washington dropping narcotics charges against the Venezuelan president
American officials have offered to drop ânarco-terrorismâ charges against Nicolas Maduro if the Venezuelan president transfers power to his political opponents, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Maduro defeated Western-backed opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia by 51.2% to 44.2% in a presidential election last month, securing himself a third term in office. Gonzalezâs supporters, however, claim that the vote was rigged, and the US officially recognized Gonzalez as Venezuelaâs president-elect earlier this month.
According to the Wall Street Journalâs sources, Washington is now attempting to persuade Maduro to cede power to Gonzalez. In secret talks with confidants of Maduro, the White House has offered to pardon the Venezuelan president and his allies, who are currently wanted in the US on drug charges.
American officials are also trying to enlist Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia â whose leftist governments are seen as sympathetic to Caracas â to convince Maduro to accept the deal, the newspaper reported. Meanwhile, Gonzalezâs allies have also offered security guarantees to Maduro if he were to step down.
The US Justice Department unsealed indictments against Maduro and more than a dozen Venezuelan political and military leaders in 2020, accusing them of ânarco-terrorism,â and implicating them in a plot to âflood the United States with cocaine.â The State Department announced a $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the Venezuelan leader, and rewards of up to $10 million for each of his co-defendants.
The charges against Maduro came after previous attempts to dislodge him from power failed. Economic sanctions and veiled threats of military intervention from Washington were insufficient to break Maduroâs grip on power in 2018, while the USâ recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuelaâs âinterim presidentâ in 2019 amounted to little more than a symbolic gesture, with Guaido currently living in exile in Miami.
With the Venezuelan military and security forces still loyal to Maduro, the WSJâs sources conceded that the amnesty deal is unlikely to succeed. A similar deal was offered to Maduro during secret talks in Qatar last year, they said, adding that the Venezuelan leader refused to discuss any arrangement that would involve him leaving office.
Maduroâs inauguration is scheduled for January. US officials involved in the secret talks told the WSJ that they hope to strike a deal before then, while the newspaper described the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House as a point of leverage that the US holds over Maduro.
Whereas Trump imposed heavy sanctions on Venezuelaâs oil industry and backed Guaido, President Joe Biden temporarily lifted these penalties last year. However, the WSJâs sources believe that âMaduro mistrusts Washington, no matter who inhabits the White House.â
Maduro said at the beginning of this month that he is willing to restart sanctions-relief and prisoner-exchange talks with the US, on the condition that Washington âshould stay out of Venezuelaâs internal affairs.â
https://www.rt.com/news/602457-us-maduro-amnesty-deal/
You clearly don't know what you're talking about.
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