Why US doubled bounty on Venezuela's Maduro to record $50 million: summary

What we know

• The US has increased its reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from $25 million to $50 million.
• US officials accuse Maduro of being “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world” and link him to major drug smuggling operations.
• Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed the US Drug Enforcement Administration seized 30 tons of cocaine tied to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons allegedly connected directly to him.
• Bondi accused Maduro of working with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua—declared a terrorist organisation by the Trump administration—and Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.
• Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil rejected the allegations as “pathetic” and “political propaganda,” linking them to attempts to distract from unrelated US controversies.
• Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denied having any evidence of Maduro’s ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, urging the US to present proof.
• The US has recognised opposition figure Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate winner of the July 2024 Venezuelan election, which observers said was not “democratic.”
• The UK and EU have imposed sanctions on Maduro’s government following his return to office earlier this year.
• Former Venezuelan intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal was convicted in the US on drug trafficking charges in June, after pleading guilty and raising speculation of cooperation against Maduro.
• During his first term from 2017 to 2021, US President Donald Trump implemented a “maximum pressure” campaign against Maduro, starting with a $15 million reward that was later increased to $25 million during President Joe Biden’s final weeks in response to Maduro’s contested 2024 re-election.

What they said

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro was “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world” and accused him of coordinating with criminal groups. “The DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself,” she stated in a video posted on X. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil called the new reward “pathetic” and “political propaganda,” adding, “We’re not surprised, coming from whom it comes from,” and accusing Bondi of seeking “a desperate distraction” from the Jeffrey Epstein case backlash. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said, “On Mexico’s part, there is no investigation that has to do with that. As we always say, if they have some evidence, show it. We do not have any proof.”