Former New York GOP Rep. George Santos announced on Sunday that he has plans to visit Venezuela just one day after U.S. troops attacked Venezuela and captured its now-former president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia.
“Going to be heading to Caracas in the coming days to help with Aide [sic] … many people need help and for far too long it was impossible to bring them any relief,” Santos posted on X. “I look forward to being part of the solution and ending the problems of a people oppressed for far too long.”
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This would be the first known international trip for Santos since President Donald Trump pardoned him last year. Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in 2024 and was ordered to pay $373,749 in restitution and a forfeiture payment of $205,002, in addition to serving a seven-year prison sentence. However, because Trump commuted his sentence, he is no longer mandated to do so.
Santos teased a future in prison reform following his release from jail, which at times included solitary confinement. Many Venezuelans were imprisoned as a result of protesting Maduro’s leadership last year after he was declared the winner of a widely disputed election.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE US STRIKES ON VENEZUELA AND MADURO’S FALL
Currently the U.S. State Department has a “Level 4” travel advisory against Venezuela. It recommends Americans avoid travel to the South American country “due to the high risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure.”
During the first Trump administration, all U.S. diplomatic personnel left the embassy in Venezuela’s capital of Caracas and suspended operations in early 2019.