On Thursday, the US administration accused Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and more than a dozen senior officials in Venezuela of practicing "drug terrorism", in the latest escalation of the pressure campaign exerted by President Donald Trump's administration to topple the socialist leader.
The State Department offered a reward of up to $ 15 million for providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of Maduro, whose country has been plagued by a severe economic crisis and political turmoil for years.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that bonuses of $ 10 million were offered in exchange for information "that would allow the arrest or conviction" of those close to the socialist president.
Pompeo's announcement came after the US Department of Justice revealed charges against Maduro and senior members of his government.
Pompeo said, "The Venezuelan people deserve a transparent, accountable and broad-based government that serves their needs and does not betray its confidence by employing officials involved in illicit drug trafficking activities."
US officials said Maduro led a cocaine-smuggling group called the "Sun Cartel", which includes prominent politicians, members of the Venezuelan army and the judiciary.
The indictment, a rare US measure against a foreign head of state in power, is a new and dangerous stage against Maduro by Washington at a time when some US officials have said in private statements that Trump's frustration is increasing over the results of his policy in Venezuela.
The US attorney general, William Barr, has announced accusations of a conspiracy with drug terrorism, corruption and drug trafficking, accusing Maduro and others of plotting with a breakaway faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which laid down their arms, "in order to flood the United States with cocaine."
"While the Venezuelan people are suffering, this gang is filling their pockets with drug money and the proceeds of their corruption," Barr said of Maduro and the others who were charged.
On the other hand, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Ariza, considered that accusing Maduro and other Venezuelan officials of "terrorism linked to the drug trade" represents "a coup in a new form."
Ariza added, in a televised speech, that US President Donald Trump "is once again attacking the Venezuelan people and their democratic institutions by resorting to a new form of coup on the basis of miserable, cliched and flimsy accusations."