{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://wassermanschultz.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3249", "Wasserman Schultz and D\u00edaz-Balart Lead House Bill to Set $100 Million Reward for Arrest and Conviction of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro", "2024-09-19", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Debbie Wasserman Schultz", "W000797", "wassermanschultz.house.gov", "wassermanschultz", "https://wassermanschultz.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C .\u2013 Today, Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25) and Mario D\u00edaz-Balart (R-FL-26), co-chairs of the Congressional Venezuela Democracy Caucus, along with Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ-4), Carlos A. Gim\u00e9nez (R-FL-28), Jenniffer Gonz\u00e1lez-Colon (PR-At-Large), Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Mike Waltz (R-FL-06), and Darren Soto (D-FL-09) introduced a bill to raise the U.S. Department of Justice's bounty on dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro from $15 million to $100 million. The increase would be funded by assets already seized from Maduro and his regime.\n\nThe reward would be paid out by the federal government using seized assets already being withheld from Maduro, officials of the Maduro regime and their co-conspirators, not taxpayer funds. According to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in South Florida and its federal law enforcement partners who have brought dozens of criminal charges against high-level regime officials, asset seizures total approximately $450 million.\n\nThe Senate companion was introduced by U.S. Senators Rick Scott (FL) and Marco Rubio (FL).\n\n\u201cSuper-sizing the reward that leads to Maduro\u2019s conviction will reinforce the already-decisive actions taken by the Biden-Harris Administration to target the criminal enterprise behind Venezuela\u2019s election theft and the violent repression of its people,\u201d said Wasserman Schultz. \u201cThe Biden-Harris White House deftly marshaled swift international pressure onto the Maduro regime, expanded existing sanctions, and rallied global support around this reality: Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez won in a landslide and the Venezuelan people deserve to have their votes counted and rights respected. As Vice President Harris laid out emphatically in a recent letter, the United States 'will remain steadfast with the Venezuelan people in their fight for freedom.' This magnified reward for Maduro\u2019s arrest would amplify those efforts.\u201d\n\n\"For nearly two months since the July 28th presidential elections, in which the Venezuelan people overwhelmingly voted for President-elect Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, the Maduro regime has only escalated its brutal repression. According to reports, arbitrary detentions, torture, and politically motivated persecution \u2013 have intensified under Maduro's oppressive rule.\n\nMaduro's regime is a criminal enterprise that fuels narco-terrorism, suppresses independent media, and violates human rights with impunity. 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, aiding a regime closely allied with dangerous adversaries like Russia, Iran, Cuba, and the PRC.\n\nInstead of easing sanctions, the Biden-Harris Administration should stand in solidarity with the Venezuelan people in their fight for freedom by increasing this bounty and strengthening sanctions,\" said D\u00edaz-Balart.\n\n####\n\nWasserman Schultz y D\u00edaz-Balart lideran esfuerzo bipartidista para establecer una recompensa de $100 millones por el arresto y condena de Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Hoy los legisladores Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25) y Mario D\u00edaz-Balart (R-FL-26), copresidentes del Comit\u00e9 Parlamentario a favor de la Democracia en Venezuela, junto con los Representantes Chris Smith (R-NJ-4), Carlos A. Gim\u00e9nez (R-FL-28), Jenniffer Gonz\u00e1lez-Col\u00f3n (Puerto Rico), Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Mike Waltz (R-FL-06), y Darren Soto (D-FL-09) presentaron la Ley para Asegurar Oportunidades de Pago y Maximizar Recompensas por la Detenci\u00f3n de Funcionarios de Reg\u00edmenes Ileg\u00edtimos (Ley STOP MADURO). Esta legislaci\u00f3n aumentar\u00eda la recompensa del Departamento de Justicia de EE.UU. sobre el dictador Nicol\u00e1s Maduro de $15 millones a un m\u00e1ximo de $100 millones, por informaci\u00f3n que conduzca a su arresto y condena.\n\nLa recompensa ser\u00eda pagada por el gobierno federal utilizando activos incautados que ya est\u00e1n retenidos a Maduro, a funcionarios de su r\u00e9gimen y a sus c\u00f3mplices, sin utilizar fondos de los contribuyentes. Seg\u00fan la Oficina del Fiscal de EE.UU. en el Sur de Florida y sus socios federales de aplicaci\u00f3n de la ley, quienes han presentado decenas de cargos criminales contra altos funcionarios del r\u00e9gimen, las incautaciones de activos suman aproximadamente $450 millones.\n\nEl Proyecto del Ley compa\u00f1ero en el Senado fue presentado por los Senadores Rick Scott (R-FL) y Marco Rubio (R-FL).\n\n\u201cAumentar la recompensa que conduzca a la condena de Maduro reforzar\u00e1 las acciones ya decisivas adoptadas por la Administraci\u00f3n Biden-Harris para apuntar a la organizaci\u00f3n criminal detr\u00e1s del robo electoral de Venezuela y la represi\u00f3n violenta de su pueblo\u201d, dijo Wasserman Schultz. \u201cLa Casa Blanca de Biden-Harris dirigi\u00f3 h\u00e1bilmente una r\u00e1pida presi\u00f3n internacional contra el r\u00e9gimen de Maduro, ampli\u00f3 las sanciones existentes y reuni\u00f3 apoyo mundial en torno a esta realidad: Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez gan\u00f3 de manera aplastante y el pueblo venezolano merece que se cuenten sus votos y se respeten sus derechos humanos. Como lo expres\u00f3 enf\u00e1ticamente la vicepresidenta Harris en una carta reciente, Estados Unidos 'permanecer\u00e1 firme junto al pueblo venezolano en su lucha por la libertad'. Esta recompensa engrandecida por el arresto de Maduro amplificar\u00eda esos esfuerzos\u201d.\n\n\u201cPor casi dos meses desde las 'elecciones' del 28 de julio, en las cuales el pueblo venezolano vot\u00f3 abrumadoramente por el presidente electo Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, el r\u00e9gimen de Maduro solo ha intensificado su brutal represi\u00f3n. Seg\u00fan informes, las detenciones arbitrarias, la tortura y la persecuci\u00f3n pol\u00edticamente motivada se han intensificado bajo el r\u00e9gimen opresivo de Maduro.\n\nEl r\u00e9gimen de Maduro es un grupo criminal que alimenta el narco-terrorismo, suprime los medios de comunicaci\u00f3n independientes y viola los derechos humanos con impunidad. El a\u00f1o pasado advert\u00ed que el apaciguamiento de esta dictadura por parte de la Administraci\u00f3n Biden-Harris solo envalentonar\u00eda a Maduro y el levantamiento de sanciones ha puesto en peligro nuestra seguridad nacional, ayudando a un r\u00e9gimen estrechamente aliado con peligrosos adversarios como Rusia, Ir\u00e1n, Cuba y la Rep\u00fablica Popular China.\n\nEn lugar de aliviar las sanciones, la Administraci\u00f3n Biden-Harris deber\u00eda solidarizarse con el pueblo venezolano en su lucha por la libertad aumentando la presi\u00f3n y fortaleciendo sanciones\", afirmo D\u00edaz-Balart.\n\n####", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://wassermanschultz.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3249"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9607613794505596, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}