Senators press Biden admin on efforts to extradite Venezuela's Maduro

Maduro is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and maintains close relations with other nations hostile to the United States.

By Ben Whedon

Published: November 15, 2023 8:42pm

A pair of Republican senators on Wednesday pressed Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on efforts by the Biden administration to extradite Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The Venezuelan leader came to power in 2013 and was officially reelected in 2018, in a contest widely viewed as a sham by international observers and he has effectively ruled as a dictator. The Department of Justice in 2020 announced indictments against him over an alleged conspiracy with a Columbian terrorist group to spread cocaine within the United States.

"We are deeply concerned about the ability of Nicolas Maduro [sic], a fugitive of U.S. justice, to elude arrest and extradition despite numerous international trips since January 2021," wrote Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley and Idaho GOP Sen. James Risch.

Grassley-Risch Maduro letter

"[W]e have noted that Maduro has traveled at least three times since January 2021 to countries with which the United States has extradition treaties," they added. "In September 2021, Maduro attended a meeting of Latin American officials in Mexico. In May 2023, Maduro traveled to Brazil. This October, Maduro had the nerve to travel to Mexico again to participate in conversations about the illegal immigration crisis caused in great part by the actions of the narco-terrorist organization he leads."

"“Failure to enforce the U.S. indictment of Nicolas Maduro prolongs the illegal immigration and illicit drug crisis threatening the security of the United States and the Western Hemisphere at large," they continued. "Therefore, we ask that you inform us by November 26, 2023, what, if any, legal actions you took to seek the arrest and extradition of Nicolas Maduro during his international travels since January 2021."

Maduro is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and maintains close relations with other nations hostile to the United States. Nonetheless, the Biden administration has maintained some degree of relations with Caracas, resulting in an October announcement that the U.S. would lift sanctions on the Maduro regime's oil and gas industry in exchange for allowing more competitive elections.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.