Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused tech tycoon Elon Musk of “investing” at least $1 billion in inciting violence in the South American country after the presidential election earlier this year.
Maduro was declared the winner of the July 28 poll by the national election authorities, though the US claimed that victory had been stolen from opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
During his weekly television program on Monday, Maduro alleged to have direct knowledge that Musk – with whom he has been engaged in a long-running public feud – had spent “no less than $1 billion” on “the coup d’etat, the fascist outbreak, the violence against the electoral process in Venezuela.”
The Venezuelan leader named his political opponent, businesswoman Maria Corina Machado, as the distributor of the alleged funding to “fascist” groups, claiming that the US government was ultimately behind attempts to oust him from power.
Following the vote in July, Musk accused Maduro of “major election fraud,” while the Venezuelan president declared the South African-born billionaire his “arch enemy” who “controls the virtual reality” created by social media. The two agreed to settle their differences in a fistfight, which never happened. Musk has also threatened to singe Maduro’s famous mustache “from space” in response to a threat to suspend his social network X in Venezuela.
US policy has long been to put economic and political pressure on Venezuela in an attempt to replace its government. For years, Washington and other Western nations recognized opposition politician Juan Guaido rather than Maduro as leader of Venezuela. This allowed the US-backed figure to press claims on Venezuelan national assets in Western jurisdictions, including stakes in oil companies on US soil and gold reserves held in the Bank of England.
Musk has previously expressed support for removing foreign governments in pursuit of his corporate interests. In July 2020, he was challenged online with a claim that Washington had orchestrated a coup against Bolivian President Evo Morales so that his electric car company, Tesla, could secure access to the country’s rich lithium reserves. Musk responded with a post: “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.”
Morales was ousted by right-wing political forces during the mass protests of 2019, which followed a disputed presidential election. His political force, Movement for Socialism, made a comeback by winning the 2020 general election and defeating an attempted military coup earlier this year.