North Miami-Dade News

Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL-26) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), co-chairs of the Congressional Venezuela Democracy Caucus, have introduced a bill to increase the U.S. Department of Justice's bounty on Nicolás Maduro from $15 million to $100 million. The initiative is supported by Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ-4), Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL-28), Jenniffer González-Colon (PR-At-Large), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Mike Waltz (R-FL-06), and Darren Soto (D-FL-09). The reward would be funded by assets already seized from Maduro and his regime.

The federal government would pay the reward using approximately $450 million in seized assets currently withheld from Maduro, officials of his regime, and their co-conspirators, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Florida.

A Senate companion bill was introduced by U.S. Senators Rick Scott (FL) and Marco Rubio (FL).

"For nearly two months since the July 28th presidential elections, in which the Venezuelan people overwhelmingly voted for President-elect Edmundo González, the Maduro regime has only escalated its brutal repression," said Díaz-Balart. "According to reports, arbitrary detentions, torture, and politically motivated persecution have intensified under Maduro's oppressive rule."

"Maduro's regime is a criminal enterprise that fuels narco-terrorism, suppresses independent media, and violates human rights with impunity," Díaz-Balart continued. "Last year, I warned that the Biden-Harris Administration's appeasement of this dictatorship would only embolden Maduro. Lifting sanctions has endangered our national security."

Wasserman Schultz stated: "Super-sizing the reward that leads to Maduro’s conviction will reinforce the already-decisive actions taken by the Biden-Harris Administration to target the criminal enterprise behind Venezuela’s election theft and violent repression." She added that Vice President Harris emphasized in a recent letter that "the United States 'will remain steadfast with the Venezuelan people in their fight for freedom.' This magnified reward for Maduro’s arrest would amplify those efforts."