American officials have proposed a deal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an attempt to resolve the ongoing political crisis in the country. The Wall Street Journal reported that the offer involves dropping “narco-terrorism” charges against Maduro if he transfers power to his opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who was backed by the West.
Maduro secured a third term in office after winning last month’s presidential election with 51.2% of the vote, defeating Gonzalez by a narrow margin of 7 percentage points. However, Gonzalez’s supporters have claimed that the election was rigged, and the US officially recognized him as Venezuela’s president-elect earlier this month.
In an effort to persuade Maduro to cede power to Gonzalez, Washington has reportedly offered to pardon both the Venezuelan president and his allies who are currently wanted in the US on drug charges. The Wall Street Journal’s sources indicate that American officials are also trying to enlist Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia – countries whose leftist governments have shown sympathy for Caracas – to convince Maduro to accept the deal. Meanwhile, Gonzalez’s allies have offered security guarantees to Maduro if he were to step down.
The US Justice Department unsealed indictments against Maduro and over a dozen Venezuelan political and military leaders in 2020, accusing them of “narco-terrorism” and implicating them in a plot to flood the United States with cocaine. The State Department announced a $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro, and rewards of up to $10 million for each of his co-defendants.
The charges against Maduro followed previous attempts to dislodge him from power that had failed. Economic sanctions and veiled threats of military intervention from Washington were insufficient to break Maduro’s grip on power in 2018, while the US recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s ‘interim president’ in 2019 amounted to little more than a symbolic gesture, with Guaido currently living in exile in Miami.
Despite these setbacks, American officials involved in the secret talks told the Wall Street Journal that they hope to strike a deal before Maduro’s scheduled inauguration next month. They also mentioned the potential return of former President Donald Trump as a point of leverage that the US holds over Maduro. While Trump imposed heavy sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and backed Guaido, President Joe Biden temporarily lifted these penalties last year. However, the Wall Street Journal’s sources believe that “Maduro mistrusts Washington, no matter who inhabits the White House.
In response to these developments, Maduro said at the beginning of this month that he is willing to restart sanctions-relief and prisoner-exchange talks with the US, on the condition that Washington “should stay out of Venezuela’s internal affairs.