U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to request an Interpol red alert notice for the arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro so he can be brought to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
Maduro is currently outside his country in the middle of an international tour claiming to represent Venezuela even though the United States and a large number of countries accuse him of stealing the 2019 presidential election, the Republican senator from Florida said in a letter also addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“As you know, Maduro is a criminal accused of partnering with terrorist organizations to use illegal drugs as weapons against the United States. In the interest of U.S. national security and regional stability, Maduro must stand trial for his crimes against the Venezuelan people,” Rubio said in the letter obtained by the Miami Herald.
The Justice Department accused Maduro and 13 other high-ranking regime officials of turning Venezuela into a narco-state. In the announcement made by then-Attorney General William Barr, the U.S. offered a $15 million reward for the capture of Maduro and $10 million for the other regime members, accusing them of heading the The Suns drug cartel.
Top Venezuelan figures accused include the regime’s No. 2, Diosdado Cabello, and former Vice President Tareck El Aissami, as well as former intelligence chief Hugo Carvajal and Gen. Clíver Alcalá.
Alcalá and Carvajal have already been arrested, with the former fighting charges brought against him in New York and the latter being held in Spain fighting an extradition request filed by the United States.
But despite the charges brought against him, Maduro continues to use the usurped presidency of Venezuela to enjoy the diplomatic benefits of office. He is currently on a tour of Asian and African countries, all of which are members of Interpol, Rubio said.
“To this day, Maduro still leverages his control over the machinery of the Venezuelan state to maintain his criminal empire,” he said.
The charges brought against Maduro and his followers are based “on the regime’s long history of embezzling the national resources and wealth that rightfully belong to the Venezuelan people, support for international terrorist organizations like the Army of National Liberation (Ejército de Liberación Nacional), and support for a decadeslong policy of flooding the United States with cocaine and other illegal drugs,” Rubio added.
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