There is a long history of tensions between Venezuela and the United States.
Joe Biden lowered those tensions when he waived sanctions to get oil when he went to war with the U.S. fossil fuel industry.
Trump reversed that after taking office, and now he is upping the ante with a $50 million bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
When Biden started his war on fossil fuels, he began begging other countries for oil.
The United States at the time had massive sanctions in place against Venezuela over election integrity concerns, among other issues.
In order to free up the oil trade, Biden made a deal stipulating that the country’s elections would be free and fair and would also be monitored.
In exchange for that concession, Biden lifted sanctions on Venezuela's oil, gas, gold, and sovereign debt.
After taking office, Donald Trump immediately dropped the hammer on Venezuela again.
He announced, “We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolas Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022, and also having to do with Electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been met by the Maduro regime.”
Trump’s moves are warranted, as the previous election was clearly rigged. The opposition leader was way ahead in polling, and Maduro claimed victory without providing election results.
During Trump’s first term, he placed a $15 million reward for information that would lead to the arrest of Maduro, but he just upped the ante.
Attorney General Pam Bondi made the announcement this week that the administration was making moves to arrest Maduro, stating, “Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like [Tren de Aragua], Sinaloa, and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country.”
This is also a strategic move for the administration, linking Maduro to border drug activity, which could solidify Trump’s desire to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport criminal illegal immigrants.
In announcing that the bounty has been raised to $50 million, Bondi added, “The DOJ has seized over $700 million of Maduro-linked assets, including two private jets, nine vehicles, and more. Yet Maduro’s reign of terror continues. He is one of the largest narco traffickers in the world, and a threat to our national security.”
Loyalty only goes so far, and $50 million would make someone very happy for a long time. But we also know that Maduro leads with an iron fist, so the question now is if someone can get far away quickly enough to drop that dime. If Trump pulls this off, it would be a huge feather in the cap of the administration and the Republican Party.
