Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and fellow opposition leader María Corina Machado wrote a letter to Laken Riley’s family promising reparations for her and those affected by the crimes of the Tren de Aragua gang.
Gonzalez is the U.S.-recognized president-elect of Venezuela, although Nicolas Maduro claimed continued power after the country’s 2024 election.
Gonzalez and Machado wrote to Riley’s family, “Laken’s life, full of potential and promise, was tragically cut short by an individual who should have never been allowed to cross your border.”
Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela linked to Tren de Aragua, murdered Riley, a nursing student in Georgia, in February 2024. He was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison in November 2024. In response, lawmakers attempted to pass the Laken Riley Act in 2024, which would mandate federal detention for illegal immigrants arrested on charges of burglary or theft, but the bill initially stalled in the Senate.
It was passed earlier this year and signed into law.
Gonzalez said that if he is sworn in as president, he would “hold accountable all those responsible for the devastation they have wrought, both within Venezuela and internationally.”
“We intend to establish a comprehensive framework for reparations, both for the countless Venezuelans harmed by this narco-state and also for victims abroad, including your family,” he added.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order when he took office in January declaring Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization. “TdA has engaged in and continues to engage in mass illegal migration to the United States to further its objectives of harming United States citizens, undermining public safety, and supporting the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States,” the executive order reads.
Gonzalez and Machado added in their letter that the “vast majority of Venezuelans who have sought safety in the United States are committed to upholding the law and contributing to your nation’s economy and society. They long for the day they can return home to reunite with their families and work toward a free and prosperous Venezuela. We look forward to welcoming them back.”
“Please accept this letter as a message of our deepest condolence and a solemn promise: Laken will never be forgotten,” they added. “She will be remembered as an innocent victim of tyranny and a powerful catalyst for the change we are determined to bring about.”
The pair called Riley’s murder “a direct consequence of Nicolás Maduro’s regime.” Gonzalez is in exile in Spain after Maduro issued an arrest warrant for him. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Machado is in hiding and that the political opposition to Maduro is as “brave as they’ve ever been” but that they remain in a perilous position.
“People have to understand, being in the political opposition in Venezuela at this point is a life-threatening circumstance to be in,” Rubio said on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast. “They will put you in jail. They’ve jailed everybody around her, everybody — and these are not like normal jails. I mean, these are atrocious conditions that they’re in.”
Rubio called the Venezuelan election “fake” and said the Biden administration foiled a deal with the country promising to lift sanctions if it held a fair election.
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“So I think it’s one more example of stupidity in our foreign policy, which other countries look at and say, ‘Well, hell, they got away with that … we could be able to get away with whatever we want as well,’” he said. “It’s really both weakness and stupidity.”
The Supreme Court vacated a lower court’s decision earlier this week that barred Trump from deporting Venezuelan nationals under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, allowing the administration to resume deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members at least while the case moves forward.