US to push for increased reward for Maduro to $100 million
US senators introduce bill to increase reward for tips leading to arrest of Nicolás Maduro
A new bill in the US Senate, led by Florida Republican senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, seeks to increase the reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The proposal, which will be introduced this Thursday, would increase the reward from the current $15 million to $100 million.
The US Department of Justice accused Maduro of drug trafficking in 2020, and since then, the State Department has offered up to $15 million for information that facilitates his arrest or conviction. However, the new law, dubbed “Stop Maduro,” stipulates that the reward will be paid with assets seized from Maduro and his allies, not taxpayer funds.
According to Senator Scott’s office, those assets held in the U.S. are worth nearly $450 million. Among these assets is a plane, valued at $13 million, seized in the Dominican Republic earlier this month and frequently used by Maduro.
In the House of Representatives, complementary bipartisan legislation will be introduced by Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, with the support of legislators such as Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Republicans Carlos Gimenez, Maria Elvira Salazar and Mike Waltz, among others.
In addition to the drug trafficking accusations, the US government and other countries have accused Maduro of manipulating the presidential election on July 28, 2024. Despite evidence presented by the opposition, which published voting receipts from more than 80% of the machines, indicating that opposition candidate Edmundo González won with 67% of the votes, Maduro was declared the winner. The Electoral Council and the Supreme Court, both controlled by the regime, have yet to release their official data.
Senator Rick Scott expressed his support for the Venezuelan people and for Edmundo González, who recently had to flee to Spain after receiving threats from the regime. In a video, González revealed that he was coerced by the influential siblings Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez, who forced him to sign a statement accepting Maduro's victory under the threat of imprisonment. "The Venezuelan people voted for freedom and democracy on July 28," Scott said, urging Congress to pass the legislation and support the transition to a democratic government led by Gonzalez.