(L-R) Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab, Deputy Nicolas Maduro Guerra, President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice Caryslia Rodriguez, and Inspector General Reinaldo Munoz attend a forum organized by the "Network of Lawyers for the Release of President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores" at the Teresa Carreno Theater in Caracas on January 16, 2026. US Central Intelligence Agency chief John Ratcliffe met Venezuela's interim leader Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas on January 15, a US administration official said, in the highest-level American visit since the fall of Nicolas Maduro. (Credit: by Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)
On July 14, 2026, a federal judge in Florida issued a default judgment against Nicolás Maduro, businessman Alex Saab, five other former Venezuelan officials, and the group known as the "Cartel de los Soles," ordering them to pay more than 314 million in damages to three American citizens who say they were kidnapped and tortured in Venezuela. None of the defendants answered the lawsuit or appeared in court, so U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles, of the Southern District of Florida, resolved the case without a trial.
A regime described as a "criminal enterprise"
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