Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Audio By Carbonatix
Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, several Florida politicians shared their thoughts about what unfolded overnight in Venezuela.
Early Saturday morning, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the U.S had carried out “a large-scale strike” in Venezuela and that U.S. forces had captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Videos circulating online show smoke billowing near military sites in Caracas. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi shared the unsealed indictment against Maduro and his wife with charges that include narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.”
As Venezuelans in South Florida celebrated the news of Maduro’s capture, Florida officials echoed similar sentiments.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott praised President Trump’s actions, calling Maduro a “thug and narco-terrorist” who terrorized the Venezuelan people.
“Maduro was never the president of Venezuela,” Scott wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “He’s a thug and narco-terrorist whose regime enacted terror on the people of Venezuela and sent drugs into our country to kill our kids and grandkids. Today, I’m grateful that, thanks to @POTUS’ leadership and our brave military, he will be held accountable.”
U.S. Rep María Elvira Salazar also celebrated the action, writing “Venezuela will be FREE!” on X and echoing much of Scott’s language on the matter.
After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was noticeably silent over the weekend, he finally spoke out at a Monday morning news conference at the former Baker Correctional Institution, now dubbed “Deportation Depot.” He neither mentioned nor praised Trump in his statement.
“[Maduro] deserves to be brought to justice, and my sincere hope is that the people of Venezuela are going to be able to liberate themselves from the yoke of the Chávez-Maduro reign because it has been one of the most destructive reigns of any in the western hemisphere’s history,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose district includes the Broward County suburb of Weston, which is home to a large Venezuelan population, welcomed the news of Maduro’s capture but remains concerned about Trump bypassing Congress.
“I’ll demand answers as to why Congress and the American people were bypassed in this effort,” she wrote on X. “The absence of congressional involvement prior to this action risks the continuation of the illegitimate Venezuelan regime. “Congress must be properly informed and hold hearings on this invasion. As always, I will work to bring about the promise of a liberated Venezuela.”
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava also expressed concerns about the military action.
“Our community is home to the largest Venezuelan population in the country,” Levine Cava said in a statement posted on X. “So many families are watching these actions closely because the hope for peaceful change that finally ends the dictatorship and moves past the Chavismo era is something people here feel so deeply. We’re still learning the full scope of today’s U.S. action, and taking military action without congressional approval or bipartisan briefings is deeply concerning, as a precedent has been set.”
Miami Congressman Carlos Giménez compared the capture of Venezuela’s president to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
“President Trump has changed the course of history in our hemisphere,” he said on Newsmax. “Our country and the world are safer for it. Today’s decisive action is this hemisphere’s equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
Sen. Ashley Moody celebrated Maduro’s capture at a Monday morning press conference in Doral alongside Scott and Giménez. She criticized other senators and representatives who took issue with the military action.
“So I wanted to make sure this is very clear and one thing that has been disheartening to me as one of the newest United States senators is to hear some of my colleagues immediately start being the mouthpiece of a criminal without understanding the historical facts that led us to this day and without understanidng the law that allows for the United States to go after a drug trafficker that cooperates with cartels, with narcoterrorists that has resulted in the destruction and devastation of this country and our families,” Moody said.
Newly elected Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins called on President Trump to reinstate Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan residents.
“We must also confront a harsh reality: the elimination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans earlier this year was reckless, dangerous, and wrong,” she said in a statement. “I said so then, and the instability unfolding in Venezuela today makes it even clearer that the country remains unsafe for people to return. No one should be forced back into chaos and uncertainty.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant.
