Just two days after Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, stunned everyone by saying the US tried to get her to give up control of Saint Martin island, it’s now come to light that the US made a similar offer to Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro. The Wall Street Journal has uncovered that Washington is desperately trying to get Maduro to step down by offering him amnesty in exchange for a peaceful exit from power. Fresh intelligence has suggested that a Color Revolution is also being planned to overthrow Serbia. If you follow GreatGameInternational, you might remember that US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, recently hinted at a similar threat against India, as well.
A recent report from the Wall Street Journal shows how anxious U.S. officials are to see Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro leave office quickly. The U.S. has accused Maduro and his team of rigging the election and has been holding former diplomat Edmundo González from taking power while allegedly jailing thousands of opposition supporters.
The WSJ reveals that the U.S. is making a dramatic effort to persuade Maduro to step down in exchange for legal protection. According to the report, there’s strong evidence that Maduro lost last month’s election, and the U.S. is exploring a deal where he might be given amnesty for himself and his top officials who are facing serious charges.
People close to the Biden administration have said that U.S. officials are considering all options to get Maduro to resign before his current term ends in January. In simple terms, the U.S. is essentially pleading with Maduro to resign voluntarily.
Despite this, Maduro has declared himself the winner of the July 28th election and is preparing to start a third six-year term. He has repeatedly accused the U.S. of trying to overthrow his government, and there’s a lot of evidence suggesting these accusations have some basis.
In 2020, GreatGameInternational reported how Venezuelan intelligence had crushed a secret plot to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro funded by US billionaires and organized by the former security chief of British billionaire Richard Branson, an ex-Green Beret running the private security firm Silvercorp USA, in Florida. The coup followed Maduro’s announcement that Venezuela will sue the US in International Criminal Court (ICC) for severe damage caused by the economic sanctions – the sanctions that an India-Russia partnership helped Venezuela to bypass. Now, the federal investigators have found former U.S. Green Beret Jordan Goudreau’s DNA on assault rifles smuggled from the U.S. to South America.
The WSJ report highlights how weak and desperate U.S. efforts to deal with Venezuela seem. The idea that Maduro would agree to step down in exchange for not being prosecuted on drug charges seems far-fetched. The U.S. had previously offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest on drug trafficking charges.
The U.S. discussions offer a glimmer of hope for the Venezuelan opposition, which has shown evidence that their candidate, the lesser-known Edmundo González, won the election in a landslide. Over the past two weeks, Maduro has been cracking down on dissent, keeping the military on his side, and using the Supreme Court, which is filled with his supporters, to stall the political crisis.
In a recent press conference, Maduro made it clear: “Don’t mess with Venezuela’s internal affairs.”
Recently, U.S. National Security Advisor John Kirby warned Venezuela to release full election results or face mounting international pressure, with even Elon Musk suggesting President Maduro’s days are numbered. In response, Maduro made a dramatic move by removing WhatsApp from his phone on live TV and urging his supporters to do the same, claiming the app is being misused by “fascists” to incite violence against his government.
As for U.S. policy, Biden’s plan to ease sanctions on Venezuelan oil and bring Maduro back into the fold seems to be stuck. The idea of offering amnesty to Maduro might seem ridiculous to Venezuelan officials. It looks like the U.S. might need to try another approach.
In an earlier GGI intel report, we examined the chain of events and the Secret Gold War that led to the chaos in Venezuela now. Amidst this pressure, Maduro is turning to the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—as crucial allies to boost Venezuela’s oil, gas, and metals industries. With U.S. investments waning, Maduro sees BRICS as the key to reviving Venezuela’s economy and possibly securing a powerful new partnership.
