Florida Republican Senators Rick Scott and Ashley Moody celebrated the arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro and stood in support of the Venezuelan community.
U.S. military personnel, working alongside federal law enforcement, extracted Maduro and his wife from their home and brought them to America to face multiple felony charges including: narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
Senator Ashley Moody applauded the action taken by President Trump, to bring a major narco-terrorist to account and keep dangerous drugs out of American communities. Senator Rick Scott led a press conference in Doral in South Florida following the successful arrest of Venezuelan narco-terrorist and dictator Nicolás Maduro after the Trump administration’s decisive actions to deliver freedom and democracy in Venezuela.
“It’s incredible to see the community come together with such excitement for the future of Venezuela,” Republican Senator Rick Scott said. “For years now, I have been fighting alongside the people of Venezuela as they fought for freedom and this is a new day, a new opportunity to achieve that. I’d like to thank President Trump, Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth for their incredible feat to finally arrest Nicolás Maduro and ensure he can face justice here in the United States. This is a clear example of Trump’s peace through strength agenda in action.”
“After more than two decades under an authoritarian regime, Venezuelan families finally woke up to the news they’ve waited years to hear—Nicolas Maduro, an illegitimate dictator, wanted criminal and narco-terrorist, has been captured and will be held accountable,” Republican Senator Ashley Moody said. “The world is safer today. Florida is safer today. Our kids are safer today. Thank you, President Trump, Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth and the brave law enforcement officers and service members who made this possible.”
Both Republicans are vocal supporters of stopping narcoterrorism, stemming the tide of illegal drugs into the country and bringing Maduro to justice. As Florida’s newest U.S. Senator, Senator Moody is cosponsoring legislative measures to fight back against the drug cartels, and she promoted these measures at a roundtable with law enforcement officials and Venezuelan American leaders. Senator Rick Scott welcomed Venezuela’s rightful President Edmundo González as his guest to President Trump’s inauguration, and he led a meeting with President-Elect Edmundo González on the fight for Venezuela’s freedom.
“Nicolás Maduro is an evil drug trafficker and cartel leader who was sending drugs into our nation and killing hundreds of thousands of Americans, and stolen freedom and resources from the people of Venezuela for years,” Florida Senator Rick Scott said. “Now, the people of Venezuela are closer than ever to peace and freedom thanks to the actions of President Trump and incredible fighters like María Corina Machado and Edmundo González. From day one, President Trump has held Maduro accountable — cutting off his resources, reversing Biden’s appeasement policies and oil license, designating violent cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and initiating targeted strikes to stop the flow of drugs across our border. The world will be better off now that Maduro is out of power. I am proud to stand with the Venezuelan people and all of Latin America in celebrating this momentous occasion.”
This follows Senator Rick Scott’s years-long efforts standing alongside the Venezuelan people in their fight for freedom and democracy against the illegitimate regime led by Nicolás Maduro and his thugs. As Governor, Senator Scott worked to ban the state’s pension system from investing in companies that do business with the Maduro regime and worked to codify into law this ban and further, prohibiting any state agency from doing business to ensure that no tax dollars were spent to benefit the Maduro regime’s brutality. Then-governor Scott also met consistently with exiled Venezuelan leaders and pro-democracy and human rights advocacy groups to call on the U.S. federal government and Congress to impose heavier sanctions and take swift action against Maduro and his gang of thugs threatening Venezuelan families.
As Florida’s former Attorney General, Senator Moody worked to get victims of the Maduro regime legal relief and met with Venezuelan exiles to discuss the dangers of court packing.
Florida Democrats reacted to the capture of Nicolás Maduro and President Donald Trump’s military strikes in Venezuela, with one Congressman calling it all “illegal.”
