Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday (6) that former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, who faces federal charges in the United States, could also be prosecuted in the southern state’s courts.
According to information from the Associated Press agency, the Republican governor said at a press conference in the city of Clearwater that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is analyzing the possibility of opening a state criminal case against Maduro for allegedly sending criminals to the state.
“He emptied his prisons and sent [criminosos] to the United States, across the border, and some of these people ended up in Florida,” DeSantis said. “To me, this is a very hostile act, so we’re looking at the laws to see what we can do.”
On Monday (5), the Attorney General of the United States, Pamela Bondi, had already stated that, in addition to the federal charges, Maduro could face state charges in the country.
“Nothing is ruled out,” he said in an interview with Fox News. “These people should remain behind bars. They are responsible for the loss of so many lives, and they are not street drug dealers. They are drug traffickers.”
On Monday, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were captured in Venezuela in a United States military operation on Saturday (3), pleaded not guilty to the charges they face in American federal court at a hearing in a federal court in New York.
Maduro is charged with conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and explosive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and explosive devices.
Flores is accused of conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and explosive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and explosive devices.
