Venezuela: On 7 August Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yván Gil rejected the decision announced the same day by the US administration led by President Donald Trump that it was doubling the reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro to US$50m. The announcement by the US was made in a video statement posted on social media by US Attorney General Pam Bondi who said that Maduro has been working with criminal organisations such as the Venezuelan transnational criminal organisation Tren de Aragua and the Mexican drug cartel, Cártel de Sinaloa, both designated as foreign terrorist organisations by the US in February. Responding on messaging app Telegram the same day, Gil called the US’ move “the most ridiculous smokescreen we’ve seen”, describing it as “a media circus” designed to “please Venezuela’s defeated far-right”. Gil also accused Bondi of attempting a “desperate distraction” from headlines relating to her handling of the case of convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Two days later, Venezuela’s national assembly issued a statement condemning what it described as “new attempts by US imperialism to repeat old formulas of blatant interference and useless threats aimed at destabilising the peace, tranquillity, and consolidation of prosperity throughout the Venezuelan homeland”.
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