Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid (VIA)
September 2025

The U.S. government’s decision to double the reward from \$25 to \$50 million for information leading to the capture of the leader of Venezuela’s authoritarian regime—together with the continued validity of rewards for members of his inner circle and the reaffirmation that this is a criminal organization engaged in drug trafficking—must serve as a wake-up call to those countries that still maintain diplomatic and commercial ties with them: they are not dealing with a political organization, but with a narco-state.

This official announcement validates the testimonies of more than 9 million Venezuelans who have fled across continents in search of international protection and who, inexplicably, are still not recognized as refugees. Those forced to escape have repeatedly described the persecution, harassment, and repression carried out by para-police and paramilitary groups—both national and foreign—organized by the regime itself to silence dissenting voices.

The U.S. decision—also backed by governments such as Ecuador, Argentina, and Paraguay—confirms what we have been denouncing for years: that Venezuela has no institutions that protect ordinary citizens, but rather an armed and corrupt system that uses violence as a tool of control. The international community can no longer ignore a crisis that manifests not only in the suffering of millions inside the country, but also in the most significant forced displacement in the world without a conventional war, with over 9 million Venezuelans in diaspora.

Venezuelans call on the world’s truly democratic nations to echo this recognition.

We likewise issue an urgent appeal to the International Criminal Court, which holds in its hands more than nine thousand cases and testimonies from victims of crimes against humanity in Venezuela. We cannot continue waiting indefinitely. We demand that it act now, issuing rulings that condemn and prosecute those responsible for these heinous crimes, and that it secure the release of more than one thousand political prisoners who today remain in inhumane conditions. Without access to light, isolated from their families, and denied the right to a fair defense.

Venezuelans need justice, and we know justice cannot come from within Venezuela, a country taken over by organized crime at every level. That is why we need international support from democracies that value human dignity to put an end to this tragedy that has already reached regional and global dimensions.

At VIA, we support the position of those countries that have chosen to stop ignoring this reality, and we demand that more nations join this call. Because in Venezuela, there is no legitimate government, but rather a criminal system holding an entire nation hostage.

Niurka Meléndez & Héctor Arguinzones
Co-Founders and Co-Directors
Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid (VIA)