United States offers five million dollars for any information to arrest Maikel Moreno

The United States has offered this Tuesday a reward of five million dollars for any type of information leading to the arrest or conviction of the Venezuelan citizen, Maikel José Moreno Pérez, for "participating in transnational organized crime". This has been announced by the head of the United States diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, who has also informed that Maikel Moreno, the president of the Chavista Supreme Court of Justice, and his wife will be sanctioned by the US Executive. 

The U.S. diplomat has described Moreno as a "buddy" of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and has warned that he "used his position of authority for personal gain, accepting bribes to influence the outcome of criminal cases in Venezuela". "By appointing him publicly today, we are sending a clear message: the United States is firmly against corruption," he has stressed through the social network Twitter. 

At the same time, the State Department has issued a statement saying that "in the framework of the program against transnational organized crime, the Executive Branch led by Donald Trump has decided to offer up to five million dollars for any type of information that leads to Moreno's arrest". In this same official document, the U.S. accuses Moreno of money laundering crimes associated with bribery, following a federal complaint filed on March 12, 2020, and accuses the president of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of "accepting bribes in exchange for judicial actions, such as ordering Thursdays to dismiss particular cases or release specific defendants. 

The magistrate - already on the U.S. Treasury blacklist since 2017 - has been charged by Florida state prosecutors with several crimes related to various bribes he received in the Latin American nation.  The U.S. State Department has reported that this reward offer is being made under the umbrella of the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program. Since 1986, when these programs began, more than 75 transnational criminals have been brought to justice. "This action demonstrates the State Department's commitment to supporting law enforcement efforts and a whole government approach to combating transnational organized crime," the official statement said. 

For his part, the president of the Venezuelan Supreme Court has responded to these accusations by "ratifying his autonomy and that of the Judiciary" of the Latin American nation, "in the face of any interference that seeks to intimidate and divert the course of the administration". The Venezuelan magistrate has defined the U.S. decision to offer a reward for any type of information leading to his arrest as "cowardly and unfounded accusations" and has announced that he "will maintain his unwavering fight against the flagging of corruption in any of its forms". 

"It is not the first time that the spokesmen of the US empire intend to attack me, in their clumsy, desperate attempts, full of manipulations and lies, through which they seek to subvert the democratic institutionality and peace in Venezuela, but they will not be able to achieve it, because the independence and sovereignty of the Homeland are not in question. I reiterate that the Venezuelan Judiciary does not accept any tutelage from any foreign government. In our country we owe ourselves to the Constitution, the laws and the people," he said. 

In response to this announcement, the Venezuelan Executive has issued an official statement in which it once again rejects what it has called "illegal and coercive actions" by the Donald Trump government against the Venezuelan people.  "In this opportunity they disrespect the Supreme Court of Justice [...] through false accusations and the offer of cowboy-style rewards from the wild and far west," they have denounced. 

In this same declaration, the government led by Nicolás Maduro has stated that "the United States deserves an Executive that stands out for respecting international law and not for violating it".  The American nation should have -according to Maduro- "institutions that are dedicated to solving the serious problems of its society, including a justice system that is dedicated, for example, to determining the truth and the responsibilities of politicians and businessmen involved in the aberrations of the scandalous Epstein case". 

Through this document, Venezuela has denounced "the obsessive persecution of the US ruling elite against the Venezuelan government and people". According to the Maduro government, these types of measures are fabricated "on false premises and accusations". "The Venezuelan state will enforce national and international laws. This new action of aggression will be added to the file against U.S. officials that Venezuela has submitted to the International Criminal Court," the statement concludes.

In recent weeks, Tehran has challenged Washington by sending several oil tankers to Venezuela. In early July, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit and seizure order with a District of Columbia court to confiscate the Iranian oil on four ships headed for the same country, just one week after it imposed new sanctions on the masters of the cargo ships belonging to the Islamic Republic.

Venezuela -- a country with the world's largest crude oil reserves -- is suffering from a serious shortage of gasoline, caused by government mismanagement and sanctions imposed by the United States on its oil sector. All this, while the nation presided over by Nicolás Maduro is facing an unprecedented crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed 120 people and infected about 12,774. 

The US decision to put a price on any information leading to Moreno's capture is a new chapter in the tension that defines the relationship between the US giant and Venezuela. The magistrate was - as reported by the Infobae- one of the authors of initiatives such as the declaration of contempt of the National Assembly.