Two Americans have accused Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro of leading a massive “criminal enterprise” and using unjustly imprisoned Americans as bargaining chips in negotiations with the United States. The Associated Press filed a lawsuit in Miami federal court accusing the reported on monday.
The two Americans, identified as former U.S. Marine Corporal Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, claim in the lawsuit that Maduro regime officials wrongfully detained them and subjected them to “threats of waterboarding, electrocution, and rape with batons.” It is alleged that he committed acts of torture. “Mind-altering medicine.” The two also accused the Maduro regime of coercing them. El Tigrito (“Little Tiger”), small punishment cell The Associated Press reported that prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are conducting an investigation.
Heath and Khan both seek damages under the Anti-Terrorism Act, a “little-used federal law” that allows U.S. citizens who are victims of foreign terrorist organizations to seize the victims' assets. are.
“The kidnapping, torture, and ransom demands of American citizens were part of an ongoing and systematic plan to force the U.S. government into making policy concessions, lifting the oil embargo, and exchanging prisoners,” the complaint said. are.
The two Americans, the Associated Press said in a report, are Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores De Maduro, nephews of President Maduro who were convicted of drug trafficking in 2022.・He explained that he was one of the seven unjustly detained citizens who were released in exchange for Mr. Freitas. of narcosobrinos (“Drug Nephew”). of narcosobrinos It was released It was carried out by the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden as part of a prisoner exchange agreement with President Maduro.
Heath, a former US Marine Corporal from Tennessee, was unjustly imprisoned for 752 days by the Maduro regime. The Associated Press detailed in its report that Heath was taken into custody. 2020 He was arrested at a barricade in Venezuela and charged with “terrorism” after police allegedly found weapons and a satellite phone in his possession. Maduro accused Heath at the time of spying on President-elect Donald Trump during his first term for allegedly spying on oil refineries.
According to the complaint, Heath's family said the former U.S. Marine was stranded in Colombia when air travel was halted due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press reported. As a result, Heath “hoped to take a short boat ride to Aruba, so he crossed the border into Venezuela, where he had a trawler moored that he had repaired to start a charter business.”
Khan, who spent 259 days as a hostage of the Venezuelan regime, was arrested in January 2022 as he crossed the border with his girlfriend, who is said to be a Venezuelan citizen, and her father. Maduro regime authorities have charged Khan with “terrorism” and “human trafficking.” Khan reportedly “fell in love” with his Venezuelan boyfriend while working in Colombia after graduating from university in Florida.
In addition to dictator Nicolás Maduro, the indictment reportedly includes members of Venezuela's socialist regime, including Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, Attorney General Tarek William Saab, and the long-suspected interior minister. 17 other members are named as defendants. drug lord — Diosdado Cabello and national oil and gold mining companies.
Mr. Heath and Mr. Khan allege in their lawsuit that Mr. Maduro controls the Sunshine Cartel, an intercontinental cocaine-trafficking operation run by senior Venezuelan military officials and some leaders of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). I accused him of being there. ). U.S. authorities have long accused the Sunshine Cartel of trying to “flood” the United States with cocaine in order to harm its citizens.
Indictment from US Federal Court not sealed In July, it was revealed that Maduro, who was not a leading figure when the cartel was founded, had become more directly involved in its operations and was now in charge of the organization as a whole.
The Associated Press explained in a report that other Americans wrongly imprisoned in Venezuela have won significant judgments against President Maduro and his socialist regime based on similar legal grounds. Neither Maduro nor any of his aides are known to have any real estate or bank accounts in their names in the United States, and “authorities are likely to own whatever wealth they have stolen, so they are unlikely to receive a bounty.'' Collecting them proved “daunting”, the paper said. The assets of the myriad frontmen are difficult to track and seize. ”
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
