Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that the state is exploring potential criminal charges against former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro over claims he deliberately released prisoners who later entered the United States.
The Tampa Free Press reported that while speaking in Clearwater, DeSantis said he supports an effort by the Florida Attorney General’s office to examine whether a state-level case could be brought against Maduro.
DeSantis noted that Maduro already faces federal indictments in New York related to narcotics trafficking, but said those cases do not address what he described as consequences felt in Florida.
He said the state has seen an influx of members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which he attributed to actions taken by the Venezuelan government.
“To me, that is a very hostile act,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis described what he characterized as a deliberate process in which inmates were released from Venezuelan prisons and directed toward the U.S. border.
He said Venezuelan Americans in Doral had warned him years earlier about the practice and its potential impact.
DeSantis also referenced the state-funded relocation of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022 and said criticism predicting political fallout in South Florida did not materialize.
“These guys are high-fiving me,” DeSantis said. “They said Maduro is sending people to the border who should not be in this country, and so they knew better than anyone what was going on.”
DeSantis said any potential case would rely on Florida narcotics laws and statutes addressing the importation of criminal activity into the state.
He said Florida has an obligation to examine the issue on behalf of residents who, he said, were harmed by Tren de Aragua members.
“He was obviously very involved with bringing drugs, particularly to Florida,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis has consistently voiced disgust with the Maduro regime. In March 2022, he met with Venezuelan Americans in Miami-Dade County to condemn the former administration of Democratic President Joe Biden for resuming high-level diplomatic contact with the Maduro government, which he described as illegitimate and brutal.
DeSantis said the move deeply angered Floridians and Venezuelan Americans who fled the regime and accused the Biden administration of ignoring the record of repression and violence tied to Maduro.
“Many Americans and a lot of Floridians are very angered by the Biden administration’s recent attempts to legitimize the brutal Maduro regime in Venezuela,” DeSantis said.
He added that the administration was repeating a pattern of disregarding South Florida communities while seeking foreign energy partnerships.
“Now, Biden is going hat in hand to legitimize Nicolas Maduro, who is responsible for countless atrocities and has driven Venezuela into the ground,” he said.
DeSantis rejected the idea that engagement with Maduro could justify rising energy costs in the United States and said domestic policy failures were being masked by outreach to hostile governments.
“The answer is American energy independence, not propping up Nicolas Maduro,” DeSantis said. “We do not accept Joe Biden legitimizing a murderous tyrant.”
Maduro appeared in a U.S. federal court on Monday to face the narco-terrorism charges against him after President Donald Trump ordered his capture and removal from Venezuela by U.S. military special ops units based on federal indictments.
Maduro and his wife made a brief court appearance that is expected to initiate an extended legal dispute over whether he can be tried in the U.S.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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