User:Cyfraw/Indictment of Nicolás Maduro

On 26 March 2020, the United States Department of Justice charged ongoing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, senior Venezuelan government officials and some Colombian former FARC members, for what William Barr described as "narco-terrorism": the shipping of cocaine to the US to wage a health war on US citizens. According to Barr, Venezuelan leaders and the FARC faction organised an “air bridge” from a Venezuelan airbase transporting cocaine to Central America and a sea route to the Caribbean.

The US government offered $15 million for any information that would lead to his arrest. The indictment has been criticized as purely political – more cocaine is shipped from Colombia through Central America (via the Pacific Ocean) than Venezuela, but the US has more positive relationships with their leaders – and as serving to hinder Venezuela properly organizing their response to, and accessing aid to help during, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in Venezuela. In particular, Maduro had been offering to hold talks with the opposition about handling the outbreak in the country shortly before the indictment, and then called this off.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]