(Reuters) – The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on eight Venezuelan officials and increased to $25 million the reward it is offering for the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro on the day of his inauguration to a third term following a disputed election last year.
It was the latest in a series of punitive steps by the outgoing Biden administration against Maduro’s government in the aftermath of the July vote, which both his ruling Socialist party and the OPEC nation’s opposition claim to have won.
The new officials sanctioned include the recently appointed head of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, Hector Obregon, and Venezuela’s transportation minister, Ramon Velasquez.
The U.S. move coincided with Venezuela sanctions announced by Britain and the European Union.
Maduro and his aides have always rejected sanctions by the U.S. and others, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela. He and his allies have cheered what they say is the country’s resilience despite the measures, though they have historically blamed some economic hardships and shortages on sanctions.
The country’s electoral authority and top court claim Maduro, whose time in office has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won last year’s presidential vote, though they have not published detailed tallies.
The government, which has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, said it will arrest opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez should he return to the country from exile and has detained prominent opposition members and activists in the lead-up to the inauguration.
The opposition says Gonzalez, 75, won in a landslide. It has published its own vote tallies as evidence, winning support from governments around the world, including the United States, who consider Gonzalez the president-elect. International election observers have said the vote was unfair.
Maduro, 62, has been in power since 2013, and the new sanctions come little more than a week before U.S. President Joe Biden will end his term and be succeeded by Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
In addition to the sanctions, the U.S. government increased to $25 million the reward it is offering for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Maduro, who has long faced U.S. drug trafficking charges. The reward had been $15 million.
Maduro has held onto power despite heavy pressure from successive U.S. administrations, retaining the support of Venezuela’s military as well as China, Russia and Iran.
The new measures had been in the works before the brief detention on Thursday of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado following an anti-government march in Caracas, her first public appearance after months out of the public eye.
Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Marianna Parraga
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