The US has announced an increased $25 million (Sh3.2 billion) reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on the day he was sworn in for a third six-year term in office.
The inauguration ceremony was overshadowed by recrimination from the international community and Venezuelan opposition leaders.
Rewards have also been offered for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
A new reward of up to $15 million (Sh2.2 billion) for Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino has also been offered.
Maduro has been sworn in for a third term as president, six months after disputed elections, which the opposition and international community say he lost.
He took the oath of office before parliament on Friday, vowing his third six-year term in office would be a “period of peace”.
The official results of July’s election have been widely rejected by the international community, including neighbours Brazil and Colombia.
The 62-year-old’s inauguration comes one day after Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado was briefly arrested and then freed after addressing a protest rally.
Information Minister Freddy Nanez dismissed the reports of Machado’s detention as a “media distraction” after her team said she was “violently intercepted” in eastern Caracas.
In a speech during his inauguration, Maduro said: “I swear that this new presidential term will be one of peace, prosperity, equality and new democracy. I swear it by history, I swear it on my life. I will keep my word.”
Maduro was declared the winner of July’s presidential election by the official electoral commission. The opposition and many countries, including the US, had rejected the result and recognised opposition candidate Edmundo González as the legitimate president-elect.
González fled Venezuela in September and has been living in Spain, but this month he went on a tour of the Americas to rally international support.
The Maduro government has issued an arrest warrant for him, offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his detention.
It comes as Maduro was declared the winner of July’s presidential election by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government.
Machado, whom González replaced on the ballot after she was barred from running herself, has also been targeted. She went into hiding soon after the disputed elections, and was last seen in public in August before Thursday’s rally.
