Biden administration denies report it offered Maduro amnesty to step down

The Biden administration denied a Wall Street Journal report on Monday, Aug. 12, claiming that the United States had offered Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro amnesty for U.S. drug trafficking charges in exchange for his resignation. The outlet reported that it was part of a larger effort to push Maduro to leave office before his term ends in January.

Allegedly, the deal would give members of the Maduro regime the ability to avoid extradition for the same drug trafficking charges Maduro faces. The Wall Street Journal report comes as Venezuela’s opposition party shows mounting evidence that Maduro lost the presidential election overwhelmingly in July.

Maduro has called the opposition’s declaration of victory a coup and launched a crackdown on political opponents, reportedly pledging to investigate them. Meanwhile, thousands of dissidents and protesters have been jailed by the Maduro regime, and national guard troops and state-funded gangs have attacked protesters.

Maduro ordered Elon Musk’s company X, formerly Twitter, to be blocked for 10 days. He also demanded that Venezuelans get rid of WhatsApp to limit information about election results and violence against protesters.

Millions have fled the country out of fear of persecution and human rights groups said that 24 people have died. Maduro has warned adversaries that “there will be no forgiveness” and announced two prisons will be built for new political prisoners.

The United States became swayed to engage in talks after extensive documentation of vote tallies by Maduro’s opposition showed that Edmundo Gonzalez beat Maduro in a landslide. Gonzalez got 7.3 million votes compared to Maduro’s 3.3. million votes.

Maduro has shown a willingness to engage in talks in the past with Washington. However, on Friday, Aug. 9, Maduro told the United States to stay out of Venezuela’s internal affairs.