Bipartisan Group Pursues Raising Nicolas Maduro's Bounty

A bipartisan group of House members have reintroduced a bill raising the U.S. Department of Justice's bounty on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to $100 million.

Florida Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R), Darren Soto (D), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), María Elvira Salazar (R), Mario Díaz-Balart (R), and New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith (R) have joined forces to reintroduce the bill. The increase in funds is from assets that have been seized from Maduro and his regime.

News of the effort comes after Maduro took the oath of office in front of Venezuela's National Assembly, effectively securing another term in office despite mounting evidence that he lost the election last year to Edmundo González Urrutia. Urrutia also recently took a trip to the Capitol, meeting with lawmakers and encouraging pushback against the Maduro regime.

In a statement, Rep. Wasserman Schultz explained that "increasing the reward that leads to Maduro's conviction will reinforce the actions taken by the Biden-Harris Administration to target the criminal enterprise behind Venezuela's election theft and the violent repression of its people." "The Biden-Harris White House marshaled swift international pressure onto the Maduro regime, expanding existing sanctions, and rallied global support around the reality that Edmundo González won in a landslide."

Rep. Díaz-Balart countered the praise of the Biden-Harris Administration, arguing that the incumbent's "appeasement" has only emboldened the Maduro regime.

"The decision to weaken sanctions has jeopardized our national security and empowered a regime closely allied with dangerous adversaries like Russia, Iran, Cuba, and the People's Republic of China," he said in a statement.

Looking forward to the incoming Trump Administration, he warned that "the days of impunity are over. There will be severe consequences and accountability for the harm inflicted on the Venezuelan people."

The Senate companion was reintroduced by Florida Senator Rick Scott (R), Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R), and Louisiana Rep. Bill Cassidy (R).