The United States is pursuing a high-stakes diplomatic gambit to persuade Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to relinquish power, offering amnesty to him and his top lieutenants in exchange for a peaceful transition, according to people familiar with the matter. This bold move comes as overwhelming evidence emerges that Maduro lost last month's election by a significant margin.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, US officials have discussed pardons for Maduro and key regime figures who face Justice Department indictments. One source indicated that the US has put "everything on the table" to convince Maduro to step down before his term ends in January. Another person familiar with the talks said the US would consider providing guarantees against pursuing extradition for these individuals.

This is brilliant. Yeah you miss out on justice but a comfortable life in anonymity somewhere in Wyoming to avert a bloody civil war is an amazing deal if we can swing it https://t.co/WgYUg23Ymf

— Adrian Bonenberger (@AdrianBonenber1) August 11, 2024

 The US placed a $15 million bounty on Maduro in 2020, accusing him of conspiring to flood America with cocaine. This latest diplomatic initiative represents a dramatic shift in approach, driven by the Venezuelan opposition's meticulous documentation of voter tallies showing their candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González, defeated Maduro in a landslide on July 28.

Despite the opposition's efforts, Maduro has maintained his grip on power, jailing thousands of dissidents and tasking the Supreme Court – stacked with his allies – to resolve the election impasse. The strongman's total control over state institutions makes the US proposal a long shot, but it may be the only avenue to force out a leader who has overseen economic collapse, diplomatic isolation, and the exodus of nearly eight million Venezuelans over 11 years of authoritarian rule.

"The US is focusing on carrots, like offering to lift the indictments in exchange for transition talks, rather than sticks like sanctions," said Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela expert at the Atlantic Council think tank, in comments to The Wall Street Journal.

The talks have reportedly taken place virtually between Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela's congress and a Maduro confidant, and Daniel Erikson, who directs Venezuela policy at the White House National Security Council. US officials have signaled they won't force Western oil companies to leave Venezuela as part of any deal.

The opposition's strategy to document the election results played a crucial role in spurring the US initiative. Opposition leaders, expecting Maduro to manipulate the vote, trained tens of thousands of poll watchers to obtain paper tabulations from voting machines. Their efforts revealed González won by almost 38 percentage points, collecting 7.3 million votes to Maduro's 3.3 million. "We were able to show the world the truth and what had happened in Venezuela," opposition leader María Corina Machado said.

Maduro has called the opposition's strategy a coup and launched a fierce crackdown, arresting over 2,400 dissidents and protesters. He warned, "There will be no forgiveness," and announced plans to build two new prisons for political prisoners.

The regime has also moved to suppress information, blocking X for 10 days and urging Venezuelans to uninstall WhatsApp. Despite the repression, opposition figure Juan Barreto, a former Caracas mayor once aligned with the regime, urged: "This is a moment to remain calm and have nerves of steel."

The post US offers pardon to Venezuela's Maduro to step down in secret talks appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In a dramatic turn of events following Venezuela's recent presidential election, President Nicolás Maduro has leveled accusations against his opposition and foreign entities, claiming they are attempting to undermine his declared victory. This development comes as international observers and governments express serious doubts about the legitimacy of the electoral process.

Naturally, Venezuela's Maduro is an antisemite too. pic.twitter.com/Y2Mrqon1fh

— Rev. Johnnie Moore ن (@JohnnieM) August 4, 2024

 According to reporting by The Washington Post, Venezuela's opposition has published election results that suggest Maduro lost his bid for another term by a significant margin. These unofficial tallies, based on more than 23,000 precinct-level tally sheets representing nearly 80 percent of voting machines nationwide, suggest that opposition candidate Edmundo González likely received more than twice as many votes as President Maduro. This conclusion aligns with independent exit polling and similar analyses conducted by other organizations.

Nevertheless, Venezuela's national electoral council declared Maduro the winner with nearly 52 percent of the vote compared to González's 43 percent. However, the council has yet to release precinct-level results to support this claim, a requirement under Venezuelan law.

At a press conference on Saturday, Maduro blamed what he termed the "extremist right" for the unrest that has swept the country since the disputed election. He accused these groups of being "supported by international Zionism." He alleged that Jews were manipulating social networks, media outlets, and even satellite technology in an attempt to "steal the presidential election" from his socialist government, wrote The Sun.

The accusations come amid widespread protests and growing international condemnation of the election process. Many governments and international organizations have criticized the vote as fraudulent.

Venezuelans running for their lives as Maduro's military attack protesters.

This is awful. Pray for the Venezuelans who just want fair elections and freedom.

pic.twitter.com/1K6fqgNwFM

— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) August 4, 2024

 The opposition's published results were compiled with the assistance of thousands of volunteer poll watchers who collected and scanned tally sheets printed by electronic voting machines at polling centers across the country. Independent analyses and on-the-ground verification efforts have corroborated the authenticity of the tally sheets.

As the political crisis deepens, international pressure is mounting on President Maduro to negotiate a peaceful resolution. The United States has rejected Maduro's claim of victory, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken stating that it is "clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes" in the election.

The post Venezuela's Maduro accuses 'international Zionism' for protests after disputed vote appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In an extraordinary rebuke of US President Donald Trump, all 10 living former secretaries of defense are cautioning against any move to involve the military in pursuing claims of election fraud, arguing that it would take the country into "dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory."

The 10 men, both Democrats and Republicans, signed on to an opinion article published Sunday in The Washington Post that implicitly questioned Trump's willingness to follow his Constitutional duty to peacefully relinquish power on Jan. 20. Following the Nov. 3 election and subsequent recounts in some states, as well as unsuccessful court challenges, the outcome is clear, they wrote, while not specifying Trump in the article.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

"The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived," they wrote.

The former Pentagon chiefs warned against use of the military in any effort to change the outcome.

"Efforts to involve the US armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory," they wrote. "Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic."

A number of senior military officers, including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have said publicly in recent weeks that the military has no role in determining the outcome of US elections and that their loyalty is to the Constitution, not to an individual leader or a political party.

The 10 former Pentagon leaders also warned in their Post article of the dangers of impeding a full and smooth transition at Defense Department prior to Inauguration Day as part of a transfer to power to President-elect Joe Biden. Biden has complained of efforts by Trump-appointed Pentagon officials to obstruct the transition.

Without mentioning a specific example, the former defense secretaries wrote that transfers of power "often occur at times of international uncertainty about US national security policy and posture," adding, "They can be a moment when the nation is vulnerable to actions by adversaries seeking to take advantage of the situation."

Tensions with Iran represent just such a moment. Sunday marked one year since the US killing of Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian general; Iran has vowed to avenge the killing, and US officials said in recent days that they are on heightened alert for potential Iranian attack on US forces or interests in the Middle East.

In a further sign of US-Iranian tension, the acting secretary of defense, Christopher Milller, announced Sunday evening that he has changed his mind about sending the Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, home from the Middle East and instead will keep the vessel on duty. Just last week, Miller announced that he was sending the Nimitz home, a decision that had been opposed by senior military officers.

In reversing himself, Miller cited "recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other US government officials." He did not elaborate, and the Pentagon did not respond to questions.

The opinion article in the Post was signed by Dick Cheney, William Perry, Donald Rumsfeld, William Cohen, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel, Ash Carter, James Mattis and Mark Esper. Mattis was Trump's first defense secretary; he resigned in 2018 and was succeeded by Esper, who was fired just days after the Nov. 3 election.

The Post reported that the idea for writing the opinion piece began with a conversation between Cheney and Eric Edelman, a retired ambassador and former senior Pentagon official, about how Trump might seek to use the military in coming days.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post 10 former Pentagon chiefs warn Trump not to drag military into election fraud claims appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In the Bedouin town of Rahat, a man who reportedly tried to slip multiple envelopes into the ballot box was arrested on suspicion of fraud.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Three polling stations in the Druze village of Yarka were shut down due to suspected fraud. Authorities suspect that attempts were made to insert multiple envelopes into the ballot box, and the chair of the local election committee ordered the stations to be closed until the matter could be clarified.

In Jerusalem, police detained a 17-year-old youth who tried to vote using someone else's ID. In Israel, voters must be 18 on the day of the election.

The Labor-Gesher list filed a complaint with the Central Elections Committee about ballots for the list being removed from a polling station in Tel Aviv. Party officials claim that the polling station committee told voters it had removed the ballots because the list would not make it past the minimum electoral threshold.

Labor-Gesher also reported attempts at fraud at polling stations in Beersheba, claiming that Likud volunteers had put old ballots for the Labor party under former leader Avi Gabbay in the tray in place of ballots for Labor-Gesher. Old ballots would be invalid. Officials filed a complaint with the Central Elections Committee.

A man who arrived at an Ashdod polling station to vote for Yisrael Beytenu discovered that he was listed as already having voted. The man filed complaints with the police and with the Central Elections Committee.

Yisrael Beytenu filed a complaint with the Central Elections Committee against the Likud, arguing that Likud activists were photographing people outside a polling station in Or Akiva. The party also claimed that in Arad, members of the Gur hassidic sect had removed Yisrael Beytenu ballots from the voting booths.

In addition, the party complained that at two polling stations in Ashdod, the party's three-letter code had been covered up, and voters had been told not to seal the ballot envelopes, in violation of election law.

The Democratic Union reported an incident in Petach Tikva in which they claimed that one of the party's activists had been assaulted by a Likud activist. The Democratic Union issued a statement: "We will continue to fight bravely for democracy. The sectoralization of Netanyahu and the Right will not deter us. We call on the public not to be afraid, and to come vote."

The Democratic Union said that in light of tips about alleged attempts by the Likud to tamper with the election, it had opened a special hotline to deal with reports of irregularities.

Blue and White reported that at a few polling stations in Herzliya, the party's ballots had been printed with an error that invalidated them. The party asked the public to be on the alert.

The police closed one polling station in Umm al-Fahm due to rioting that erupted after police were informed that one of the observers had started to photograph voters. The observer was removed, and residents began to gather. The polling station was closed until the police could gain control of the situation.

The post Play nice, kids: Parties report dirty tricks at polling places nationwide appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.