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President-elect Donald Trump issues warning ahead of inauguration Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro controversial, He was re-elected to the top job for a third time on Friday.
The Venezuelan leader, considered a “dictator” by U.S. lawmakers, is currently expected to remain in office until 2031 despite strong domestic and international opposition to the July election, which Maduro declared winner without providing evidence at the ballot box. .
Thursday, Opposition Leader Maria Collina Machado After months in hiding, he joined hundreds of anti-Maduro protesters in the capital, Caracas, demanding that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez be sworn in.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 31, 2024, three days after his controversial re-election. Maduro banned social network X in Venezuela for 10 days after accusing it of being used by his opponents to sow unrest after the election. (AP Photo/Matthias Delacroix, File)
Two Americans arrested in Venezuela on ‘terrorism’ charges ahead of Maduro’s inauguration
According to the Associated Press, Machado was briefly detained by government security forces after they “violently intercepted” her convoy as she tried to leave the protest.
Trump asked her on social media to stay “safe and alive.”
“Venezuela pro-democracy activist Maria Colina Machado and President-elect González are demonstrating with hundreds of thousands of people against the regime, peacefully expressing the voice and will of the Venezuelan people,” he wrote. “These freedom fighters are not should be harmed and must be kept safe and alive.”
The opposition figure was apparently forced to record several videos before being released, despite Details of these recordings remain unclear.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado holds a rally against President Nicolás Maduro during a rally against President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, January 9, 2025, one day before he is to be inaugurated for a third term. Maduro speaks to supporters at a protest. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Maduro supporters reportedly deny Machado’s arrest.
The Biden administration backed the opposition leader’s efforts on Friday, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying, “President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia should be sworn in and the democratic transition should begin.
“Today, Nicolás Maduro held an illegal presidential inauguration in Venezuela in a desperate attempt to seize power. The Venezuelan people and the world know the truth – Maduro clearly lost the 2024 presidential election and has no right to claim that he is President,” the secretary of state said in a statement. A statement. “The United States rejects the National Electoral Council’s fraudulent claim that Maduro won the presidential election and does not recognize Nicolás Maduro as President of Venezuela.
“We stand ready to support the restoration of democracy in Venezuela,” Blinken added.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Friday imposed a new round of sanctions on the Maduro regime, this time targeting “officials who lead key economic and security agencies that have enabled Nicolás Maduro’s repression and Subverting Venezuelan Democracy“.
Eight officials were included on the sanctions list, including Hector Obregon, the recently appointed head of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, and the country’s Transport Minister Ramon Bay, according to a statement from the ministry. Ramon Velasquez.
“In addition, OFAC is sanctioning senior officials in Venezuela’s military and police who lead entities that have been complicit in Maduro’s repression of pro-democracy activists and human rights abuses,” the statement said.
A supporter of the Venezuelan opposition reacts as President Nicolas Maduro gathers with other supporters ahead of President Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration for a third term, January 9, 2025 in Caracas, Venezuela. (Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
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Maduro has also once again become the target of sanctions from Washington, with the reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction increased to $25 million.
Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, also received the same bonus, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino also received $15 million.
Members of the military and police are also included on the sanctions list.
Blinken confirmed on Friday that about 2,000 Maduro supporters were subject to visa restrictions.
