Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded harshly to the decision of former President Donald Trump's administration, which doubled the reward for his arrest, bringing it to $50 million.
In a video that quickly went viral, Maduro addresses Trump with defiant words:
"Here I am. Coward, come if you dare. I am here in Miraflores, come out to me, coward."
The United States accuses the Venezuelan president of being one of the world's largest drug traffickers and an accomplice to cartels that supply the American market with cocaine laced with fentanyl.
In an official statement, the US government stressed that, “under the leadership of President Trump, Maduro will not escape justice and will be held accountable for his crimes.”
Maduro has been indicted since 2020 in Manhattan Federal Court, during Trump's first term, on charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy for international drug trafficking, along with several of his close allies.
The initial $15 million reward for his capture was increased to $25 million during the Biden administration — an amount equal to that for the capture of Osama bin Laden. With the latest decision by the Trump administration, the amount is now $50 million.
At the same time, the US Department of Justice has seized over $700 million in assets linked to Maduro, including two private jets and about 7 tons of cocaine.
