Florida Republican senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio will introduce a bill in the United States Senate proposing to increase the reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from 15 million to 100 million dollars.
According to El Nuevo Herald, the Stop Maduro Act allows the U.S. government not to use taxpayer money to pay the reward, following the indictment filed in 2020 by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The goal is to take assets already confiscated in the United States from Maduro and his allies, which amount to nearly 450 million dollars, according to Scott's office, which published the intention on the social network X.
Senator Rubio also used the platform to announce the project.
Earlier this month, federal authorities seized a plane frequently used by Maduro, valued at 13 million dollars, which had been held in the Dominican Republic.
The Republican congressman from Florida, Mario Díaz-Balart, will introduce complementary bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives, with the support of Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Republicans Carlos Giménez, María Elvira Salazar, and Mike Waltz, as well as Puerto Rico Representative Jenniffer González Colón and Republican Chris Smith from New Jersey, the mentioned media outlet reported.
The U.S. government and others worldwide have accused Maduro of stealing the presidential elections held on July 28 with the help of the Electoral Council and the Supreme Court of Venezuela, both under his control.
Despite the evidence that he lost to opposition candidate Edmundo González, Maduro was declared the winner. The opposition published online the voting receipts from more than 80 percent of the machines, showing that the former won with at least 67 percent of the votes.
However, the Electoral Council has not yet disclosed the official results, despite repeated requests from foreign governments.
"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," stated Senator Scott.
"It is clear that Maduro will not resign on his own, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill to free Venezuela and the world from Maduro's oppression and allow the elected president González to bring back democracy, freedom, and opportunities to the country," he added, quoted byThe New HeraldPlease provide the text you want to be translated.
González had to exile himself in Spain since last Sunday after receiving arrest threats from officials of the Maduro government.
In a video posted on Wednesday, he claimed that he was forced to sign a letter accepting Maduro's alleged electoral victory in order to leave the country, under the threat of facing prison.
“Either I signed or I faced the consequences,” he recounted about the meeting at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas. “It was a very tense few hours of coercion, blackmail, and pressure.”
Last week, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned 16 Venezuelan officials from the National Electoral Council and the Supreme Court who assisted Maduro in the electoral fraud.
On Thursday, meanwhile, the European Parliament officially recognized González as the elected president, a measure that the Biden administration has not yet taken, without an official explanation, noted El Nuevo Herald.
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