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Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., has introduced a bill that will give a $100 million reward for the arrest and conviction of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
In a news release, Scott said Maduro is continuing his efforts to steal a third Venezuelan election, after Maduro’s highly contested victory during Venezuela’s presidential elections this year.
Joined by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Scott will be introducing the STOP MADURO Act – otherwise known as the Securing Timely Opportunities for Payment and Maximizing Awards for Detaining Unlawful Regime Officials.
The legislation increases the maximum reward amount from $15 million to a maximum of $100 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Maduro. To fund the reward, the federal government will be using Maduro’s already seized assets.
“The time has come for Venezuela to be liberated from the illegitimate regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro. For years, I have urged the Biden-Harris administration to put the full weight of the federal government to put an end to the Maduro regime, but it has refused and continued its failed appeasement that has only enriched and emboldened Maduro and his puppet masters in Cuba at the expense of the Venezuelan people. In 2020, the Trump administration did the right thing by offering a reward of up to $15 million, but it’s time to up the ante,” Scott said.
According to Scott, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Florida along with federal law enforcement partners already have seized assets worth approximately $450 million.
The bill has bipartisan support, and companion legislation will be introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.
“My STOP MADURO Act will increase the maximum reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Maduro to $100 million, using seized assets instead of U.S. taxpayer money to bring an end to the tyranny caused by this narcoterrorist. The Venezuelan people overwhelmingly voted for a new day of freedom and democracy on July 28 when they elected Edmundo González in an effort led by opposition leader María Corina Machado. It’s clear Maduro will not step down on his own, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill to rid Venezuela and the world of Maduro’s oppression and make way for President-elect González to bring democracy, freedom and opportunity back to Venezuela,” Scott said.
Rubio said in a statement that U.S. lawmakers must do more to stop Maduro, and the new legislation will help make that happen.
“The U.S. must do more to arrest narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro. I’ve called for Interpol to issue a red alert notice to facilitate this, and this legislation builds on that call by increasing the reward for his arrest to $100 million. Maduro is one of the Venezuelan regime’s most corrupt schemers and it’s past time he is held accountable for his crimes,” Rubio said.
Maduro, who became interim president following the death of President Hugo Chavez in 2013, is a socialist who has plunged his once prosperous nation into poverty. During his rule, Maduro has become increasingly more authoritarian, which has led to attempts by opposition to have him removed from office. Maduro’s competitor Edmundo Gonzalez was forced to flee Venezuela for Spain after Maduro issued a warrant for his arrest.
The President-Elect of Venezuela Edmundo Gonzalez has fled the country.
After the Maduro regime issued an arrest warrant, he decided to leave for Spain.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 9, 2024
While at a cultural meeting in Caracas on Friday, Maduro warned his government officials against accepting any electronic devices as Christmas gifts, according to MenaFN.
Maduro’s comments come in the wake of the mass detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon, which targeted terrorist group Hezbollah. The detonation led to around 3,000 people being injured, while 37 people were killed.
“You’ve seen what happened in Lebanon; everyone should be on alert,” Maduro reportedly said during the meeting.
According to the Miami Herald, a federal court in Argentina has court ordered the immediate arrest of Maduro, and Maduro’s second-in-charge Diosdado Cabello, for alleged crimes against humanity.
The court order was issued in response to Venezuela’s Supreme Court issuing its own arrest order for Argentina’s President Javier Milei and two of his senior officials for seizing a Venezuelan cargo plane in Buenos Aires.
The Argentine Forum for the Defense of Democracy described the order against Maduro and Cabello as historic, after the case was first introduced in 2023, allowing countries to prosecute crimes against human rights no matter where they occurred.
“From now on, Maduro has become a fugitive from justice and the world has become increasingly smaller for those who have committed atrocious crimes,” Forum secretary Elisa Trotta said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
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