U.S. says it hasn’t offered Maduro amnesty to leave power, but is open to suggestions

The Biden administration has not offered Nicolás Maduro and his aides any form of amnesty to leave power in Venezuela, but is open to all possibilities as it works to find a way out of the country’s political crisis, a senior administration official told McClatchy on Sunday.

The U.S. has concluded that Maduro lost last month’s presidential election there in a decisive vote. But Maduro has refused to acknowledge the results, declaring himself the victor instead and cracking down on democratic opposition with sweeping arrests.

“We have not made any offers of amnesty to Maduro or others since the election,” the official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said. “We are considering a range of options to incentivize and pressure Maduro to recognize the election results and will continue to do so.”

“The responsibility is on Maduro and the Venezuela’s electoral authorities to come clean on the election results,” the official added.

The official made the comments in light of an article in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday saying the administration is pursuing a long-shot bid to encourage Maduro to step down in exchange for amnesty.

Citing three people familiar with the situation, the Journal reported that the pardons being offered would also cover top Maduro lieutenants, some of whom face the same U.S. drug trafficking charges filed against the Venezuelan ruler.

If Maduro agrees to step down before January, the administration would be willing to provide guarantees not to pursue the extradition of regime members, according to the Journal story. Maduro and other top regime members have been accused of conspiring to “flood the U.S. with cocaine” and the U.S. issued a $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the Venezuelan strongman.

Biden administration officials have been in intensive talks with allies throughout the region to find a way forward, with some, including Panama, suggesting Maduro be offered asylum to leave.

“We have made it clear that Maduro needs to recognize the results of the July 28 election, in which [opposition candidate] Edmundo González received the most votes,” the official said. “We are in close contact with our regional and international partners to find a solution to this electoral impasse.”

The efforts to find a negotiated solution to the Venezuelan crisis intensified last week amid Maduro’s violent effort to put down a wave of protests triggered by the controversial announcement from the regime-controlled National Electorate Council that he had won the election with close to 52% of the vote.

The opposition, which claims González resoundingly beat Maduro by a margin of 65% to 30%, has been able to provide the official election tallies from 80% of the voting stations supporting their claim, while the regime has been unable to do the same despite repeated calls from the international community to prove that Maduro won.

In the face of the adverse national and international public opinion, Maduro has launched a wave of repression against protesters and opposition figures that has led to the arrests of at least 2,000 people, while causing the death of 21 others and severe injuries to dozens more.

The regime also attempted to tighten its control over the population by taking steps to shut down social media apps inside the country, and block the access to the websites of independent news organizations abroad.