Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis weighs in on Venezuelan President Maduro's capture: 'Destructive reign'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis calls Nicolás Maduro's leadership 'destructive'

During his Jan. 5 press conference in Sanderson, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis opened with remarks following Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's capture, saying that Maduro "deserves to be brought to justice."

BAKER COUNTY, Fla. - Following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Maduro deserves to be brought to justice. 

"My sincere hope is that the people of Venezuela are going to be able to liberate themselves from the yolk of the Chavez-Maduro reign," DeSantis said. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a Jan. 5 press conference Sanderson, Florida.

What we know:

In his opening remarks during a Jan. 5 press conference about the state's "immigration successes," DeSantis supported President Donald Trump's actions in capturing Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 3, saying that the Venezuelan people have been "miserable" and "repressed" under Maduro's leadership, which began in 2013, following the death of Hugo Chavez.

DeSantis also criticized Chavez's leadership, saying, "You'll be hard-pressed to find a reign as destructive as the Chavez-Madura reign has been – taking a country that had been prosperous as an abundance of resources, basically destroying it."

The backstory:

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by U.S. forces in Caracas on Jan. 3, in which Attorney General Pam Bondi later said Maduro and Flores would face charges in the U.S. after an indictment in New York. 

Bondi said in an X post that Maduro was charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.

"They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts," Bondi said. 

Flores faces three charges: cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices, FOX News reported. 

The other side:

U.S. Democrat leaders also responded to the U.S. strikes on Venezuela and the capture of Maduro, saying: 

"The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who oppressed Venezuela's people is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule. However, cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., wrote on X.

Wasserman Schultz's home state of Florida is notably home to a significant number of Venezuelan refugees, as well as refugees from other communist Latin American dictatorships like Cuba, FOX previously reported. 

"The Trump administration launched a large-scale military attack on a sovereign nation and kidnapped its sitting president, without congressional approval and without consideration of any of the consequences their illegal actions may bring," Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., wrote on Facebook. "This act of aggression is unconstitutional, un-American, and a direct threat to our democracy."