A federal court in Florida found former representative David Rivera guilty of crimes related to conspiracy and money laundering. Specifically, the jury accepted the arguments of the Prosecutor's Office that accused the former legislator of having operated in favor of the interests of the Government of Nicolás Maduro in the first Administration of Donald Trump, while posing as an activist in favor of the Venezuelan opposition and the departure of Chavismo from power.

First modification: 05/02/2026 - 01:41 Last modification: 05/02/2026 - 01:41

The former Republican congressman, David Rivera, was found guilty of helping to "move the chips" of the Government of Nicolás Maduro within the US political system.

This Friday, May 1, 2026, the jury in a federal court in Miami ruled that the man, who represented Florida in the Caja Chamber in Washington between 2011 and 2013, committed crimes related to conspiracy, for trying to influence within the first Government of Donald Trump, to do business as an emissary of Chavismo.

The former legislator was prosecuted because he did not formally present himself as a foreign lobbyist, while he was doing work to try to help Venezuelan state companies in the North American country.

Rivera was also found guilty of money laundering, along with political advisor Esther Nuhfer, a crime for which he faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

They are two offenses considered serious by the criminal system of the state of Florida, since they not only violate administrative regulations, but also imply deliberate manipulation of state systems, which are designed to combat bad practices in the relationship between foreign governments and the United States political system.

The trial that lasted six weeks featured the testimony of the current Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who at the time the events occurred was a senator for the state of Florida, and at the time was close to Rivera.

Likewise, the House representative for Texas, Pete Sessions, also testified before the court to try to clarify what happened.

The member of the Republican Party was free on bail, but Judge Melissa Damian ordered his immediate arrest while waiting to issue the length of the sentence, since according to the togada "there are risks of flight" derived from Rivera's good economic position.

According to witnesses at the court session, the former congressman remained impassive while the jury delivered its verdict.

The evidence against the 'lamb in wolf's clothing'

For months, the Prosecutor's Office collected evidence that indicated that Rivera collaborated with the authorities of the Government of Nicolás Maduro, although in his public life he showed himself as an activist in favor of the opposition and the departure of Chavismo from power.

"His public image was that of an anti-communist, but he was working for the Maduro regime all the time, and he knew it," prosecutor Roger Cruz said during the trial, according to statements reported by the Miami Herald newspaper.

In one of the first accusations by the Department of Justice, presented in 2022, prosecutors argued that the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, now acting president, connected with Rivera to try to get the first Administration of Donald Trump to relax its sanctions against the Government, then in the hands of Maduro.

At that time, in addition to being Venezuela's head of diplomacy, Rodríguez served as vice president of International Affairs of PDVSA.

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Thus, according to the evidence collected by the prosecutor, Rivera and his partner Nuhfer manipulated influential businessmen and politicians in the White House, including Marco Rubio and Pete Sessions, as if “they were pawns on a chessboard.”

At the center of the accusations is a contract signed by a one-person consulting firm of the former congressman with a US subsidiary of the state-owned PDVSA for $50 million.

Rivera and Nuhfer's defense argued that the deal focused exclusively on attracting oil giant ExxonMobil back to Venezuela, a trade mission that according to them was exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Law, so it was not necessary to formally present itself as a lobbyist for Venezuela.

When asked by one of the prosecutors what his reaction would have been at that time, if he had known that Rivera was working with the Maduro government, Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded: "I would have been surprised."

President Trump's now right-hand man also asserted that he had known Rivera since the 1990s and noted that in 2017 he had two meetings with the accused to discuss a plan whose objective was to facilitate the departure of Maduro and the holding of free elections in Venezuela.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, Rivera and his partner did not reveal their lobbying work as required, for fear that this would affect the political work of the Republican leader in Florida, where he presented himself “as an anti-communist pillar.”

According to the investigation by Justice Department officials, Rivera created an encrypted chat group called MIA, which included his main conduit within the Maduro government, Venezuelan media mogul Raúl Gorrín, who is accused by the United States of offering bribes to benefit the Caracas Executive.

Members of the group used code words to communicate: Maduro was the "bus driver," Sessions was "Sombrero," Delcy Rodriguez was "The Lady in Red" and millions of dollars equaled "melons," according to copies of text messages given to the jury.

"As long as the money kept coming in, they didn't care where it came from," prosecutor Roger Cruz concluded of the defendants during his closing arguments to the jury.

What were US-Venezuela relations like during Trump's first term?

During his first stay in the White House, Donald Trump attacked the government of the then head of state, Nicolás Maduro, with sanctions.

By 2017, the White House blocked the Chavista Administration's access to financial markets and prohibited international buyers from acquiring official debt bonds issued by Caracas.

One point to keep in mind is that at the same time the South American country was going through an inflationary spiral, which unleashed great social unrest against the Chavista leadership, which had already been in power for almost two decades.

Subsequently, Nicolás Maduro was reelected in 2018, under strong criticism from the opposition, which argued a lack of guarantees for the normal development of democratic elections.

These questions caused an electoral boycott by the majority of the opposition and led to a political crisis, which worsened when in 2019 the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, proclaimed himself interim president, with the approval of the United States and several Latin American countries.

At that time, the Donald Trump Administration expanded sanctions to oil, mining and banking companies with links to the Miraflores Palace.

It was in this context that Representative Rivera operated within the US political system, seeking to provide oxygen to the Maduro Government, then suffocated by Washington sanctions and international pressure for him to abandon power.

With AP, Reuters and EFE

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