US Court Gives $153 Million To Miami Man Jailed In Venezuela

CBS Miami

January 25, 2023

A federal judge in Miami has awarded $153 million in damages to the family of an exiled Venezuelan lawyer lured back home by his father's kidnapping only to end up imprisoned for two years on trumped-up charges of working as a "financial terrorist" undermining President Nicolás Maduro's rule.

Carlos Marrón brought the lawsuit after fleeing Venezuela and describing to The Associated Press the beatings, asphyxiation and other abuse he claims to have suffered while detained.

His ordeal drew harsh rebuke from the United Nations Human Rights Council, which determined he had been arbitrarily detained for allegedly operating a website that published the black-market exchange rate of Venezuela's erratic bolivar for U.S. dollars, something the socialist government considered a crime.

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