State Department cries false over WSJ report claiming US offered Venezuela’s Maduro amnesty

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The State Department on Monday denied a Wall Street Journal report that claimed the Biden administration had offered Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro amnesty in exchange for him stepping down from his 11-year reign.

"That is not true," Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters during the question-and-answer portion of a press briefing Monday. "We have not made any offers to Maduro or others since this election."

Patel’s comments were in stark contrast to claims made by "three people familiar with the Biden administration deliberation[s]" regarding secret meetings held in Doha, Qatar in June and September 2023 between the U.S. and Venezuela, according to the Wall Street Journal report.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a news conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, July 31, 2024, three days after his disputed reelection.  (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)

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Details following the meetings have been scarce, though reports released last year indicated that chief adviser to Maduro, Jorge Rodríguez, and the White House National Security Council’s former senior director for the Western Hemisphere, Juan González, met at least twice to discuss an array of issues on top of the alleged amnesty proposal, including sanctions relief, according to a document posted by Maduro to X. The U.S., however, has never verified this information. 

The Wall Street Journal report further suggested that Maduro’s top officers facing judicial indictments over offenses relating to charges of conspiring to export cocaine to the U.S., could also see amnesty agreements. 

The State Department did not return Fox News Digital’s questions regarding the Wall Street Journal report, though a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council echoed the department's claims.

"Since the July 28 election, we have not made any specific offers of amnesty to Nicolás Maduro or others," Director of Strategic Communications and Assistant Spokesperson to the National Security Council Vanessa Vidal Castellanos told Fox News Digital.  

"In coordination with our partners, we are considering a range of options to incentivize and pressure Maduro to recognize the election results and will continue to do so, but the responsibility is on Maduro and the Venezuela’s electoral authorities to come clean on the election results," she added. 

According to the report, an amnesty proposal was allegedly floated as a way to incentivize Maduro to step down before his term was set to end.

Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government protest in Caracas on July 29, 2024, a day after the Venezuelan presidential election.  (Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images)

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But Maduro was reportedly unwilling to "discuss arrangements where he would have to leave office" — a position he has only doubled-down on since the national election last month.

Despite international calls for the Venezuelan president to step aside amid mounting evidence that shows he lost to opposition leader Edmundo González, Maduro has refused to relinquish his power. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed those calls last week and said, "In the days since the election, we have consulted widely with partners and allies around the world, and while countries have taken different approaches in responding, none have concluded that Nicolás Maduro received the most votes this election."

"Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election."

An army soldier holds a ballot box as he takes part in a military parade displaying electoral material to be used in the upcoming presidential elections at Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas on July 24, 2024.  (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

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The UN General Assembly has offered to mediate the election results as a third party to resolve the growing unrest in Venezuela.

Despite mounting pressure to step down, Maduro’s regime has arrested thousands of protesters and dissidents, maintained military loyalty and has elected the pro-Maduro Supreme Court to resolve any election disputes. 

Maduro’s position on leaving office is reported to be "unchanged."