Slain Venezuelan Opposition Activist's Family Wins $73 Million in U.S. Lawsuit

The family of the late Venezuelan activist Fernando Alban won a lawsuit against Venezuela's socialist government, as a Miami federal judge awarded them $73 million in damages.

Alban was a former Caracas council member who was arrested and allegedly committed "suicide" from the 10th floor of a building owned by the country's intelligence services.

He was arrested in 2018 upon arrival in Caracas from New York, where he was part of a delegation that had protested Maduro's government on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. Three days later, he allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the 10th floor of a building belonging to the intelligence services of Venezuela.

Fernando Alban's Family Sues Nicolas Maduro and Venezuelan Officials

The death of a vocal critic such as Fernando Alban sparked international outrage, with the United States government condemning the Venezuelan government. Last year, his widow and two children sued several Venezuelan officials, including President Nicolas Maduro himself, for Alban's kidnapping, torture, and murder.

They also accused a purported drug-smuggling ring involving top Venezuelan officials and guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia known as the "Cartel of the Suns" of being part of the plot to kill Alban.

According to the Associated Press, the "Cartel of the Suns" allegedly sends 200 metric tons of cocaine from Venezuela into the U.S. each year. Because the cartel did not respond to the lawsuit in a previous ruling last week, Judge Darrin P. Gayles issued a default judgment.

In it, the court found what it called the "Maduro criminal enterprise" liable for the opposition activist's death, as well as racketeering offenses to exercise "unlawful authoritarian control over Venezuela through narcotics trafficking, acts of terrorism and human rights violations."

The court also found that Venezuelan operatives from the Maduro government tailed Alban while he was in New York. They allegedly took surveillance photos and sent them back to Venezuela before facilitating his kidnapping and murder.

"Mr. Alban's murder was a murder for hire because members of the Maduro Criminal Enterprise who committed the murder received payment (in the form of salaries) from the Maduro regime," the court noted.

Yahoo! News reported that it is still unclear how the "Cartel of the Sun" will pay Alban's family compensation for his death.

International Criminal Court Investigating Government of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro

The Maduro government is also being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged torture and killings by Nicolas Maduro's security forces.

The UN and the EU have both called for an investigation into Fernando Alban's death. Venezuela is also investigating the former Caracas councilman's death, with Attorney General Tarek William Saab announcing in 2021 that two members of the SEBIN intelligence service were found guilty of negligence for the death of Alban.

According to a report by the Caracas Chronicle, the two were sentenced to nearly six years in prison. However, the Venezuelan government still insists that the former councilman-turned-activist committed suicide.

Family, friends, and members of the opposition said the government's findings were false. Opposition leaders noted that the suicide allegations added insult to injury.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: UN Calls for Probe Into Death of Venezuelan Opposition Politician Fernando Alban - From France 24 English