New U.S. sanctions have been imposed on family members and associates of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as Washington increases pressure on Caracas.
The measures have targeted seven people who are family members or associates of Malpica Flores, a nephew of Maduro, and Panamanian businessman Ramon Carretero.
Newsweek has contacted the Venezuelan foreign ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
The sanctions come as the Trump administration continues to build up US forces on Venezuela’s borders and attack boats off the country’s coast that Washington said are linked to narcotics trafficking, which have so far killed over 100 people.
What To Know
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Friday further sanctions on family members and associates of the Maduro-Flores family in a move “aimed at the narco-corruption structure that sustains Nicolás Maduro’s regime”.
Along with most western countries, the U.S. does not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro’s presidency following disputed elections in 2024.
Maduro and his government have previously denied any involvement in drug trafficking while repeatedly claiming the U.S. government is trying to force him out of power. The Venezuelan president has offered to engage in direct talks with the White House following the strikes.
The latest sanctions target the relatives of Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, the nephew of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. The U.S. sanctioned him on December 11 accusing him of involvement in a corruption plot at state oil company PDVSA.
The sanctions announced on Friday target Eloisa Flores de Malpica, Malpica Flores’s mother, Carlos Evelio Malpica Torrealba, his father.
Also named were Iriamni Malpica Flores, his sister; Damaris del Carmen Hurtado Perez, his wife and Erica Patricia Malpica Hurtado, his adult daughter.
The sanctions were also slapped on Panamanian businessman Ramon Carretero, who was named in an earlier round of US sanctions that targeted six Venezuela-flagged oil tankers and shipping firms, on December 11.
What People Are Saying
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent: “We will not allow Venezuela to continue flooding our nation with deadly drugs.”
He added that Maduro’s “criminal accomplices threaten our hemisphere’s peace and stability. The Trump Administration will continue targeting the networks that prop up his illegitimate dictatorship.”
Tommy Pigott, State Department’s deputy spokesman, on X: “Maduro and his cronies have destroyed Venezuela’s economy and continue to threaten our region’s stability. Today, the U.S. is sanctioning 7 relatives of individuals tied to Maduro’s corrupt network. We will continue to hold his cronies accountable who destabilize our region.”
What Happens Next
The US has claimed that tackling drug trafficking is behind military escalation in the region since September but Maduro and his government have denied links to crime and say that the U.S. is seeking to oust him to take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
The latest round of sanctions will add to anticipation over Trump’s next move towards Venezuela after he warned there could land strikes on the country soon.
