MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Venezuela on Saturday condemned new sanctions imposed by the US, Britain and the European Union the previous day, as the country swore in President Nicolas Maduro for a third term in six months. election dispute.

“The Venezuelan Armed Forces categorically and energetically reject the new sanctions imposed by the bad imperial brotherhood,” wrote general Domingo Hernandez Larez, head of the Strategic Operational Command of the National Armed Forces of Venezuela in a statement posted on social media.

He called the sanctions a “desperate action, outside the rule of international law.”

The condemnation 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 award was $15 million.

It also issued a $25 million reward for Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and a $15 million reward for Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, as well as new sanctions against eight other officials including the head of the state oil company PDVSA Hector Obregon.

The US indicted Maduro and others on charges of narcotics and corruption, among others, in 2020. Maduro has denied the accusations. In Hernandez’s statement, he said the Venezuelan government is making a “head-on attack against the scourge of drug trafficking.”

The US move coincided with sanctions by Britain and the European Union, each targeting 15 officials including members of the National Electoral Council and security forces, and sanctions by Canada targeting 14 current and former officials.

Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of the July election by both Venezuela’s electoral authority and the high court, although detailed tallies confirming his victory have not yet been published.

Venezuela’s opposition says ballot box-level tallies show a landslide victory for its former candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez.

Maduro’s nearly 12 years in office have been marked by a deep economic and social crisis and an exodus of millions of Venezuelans fleeing the country. His government has consistently rejected all sanctions, saying they are illegitimate measures amounting to an “economic war” designed to defeat Venezuela.