The United States administration has expanded its sanctions against Venezuela, specifically targeting the inner circle of President Nicolas Maduro and the country’s oil operations.
According to a statement from the US Department of the Treasury, the new measures are designed to crackdown on those attempting to evade existing sanctions. The updated blacklist includes:
Three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. A businessman with close ties to Maduro. Six shipping companies operating within the Venezuelan oil sector. Six specific vessels accused of using “deceptive and unsafe” shipping practices to funnel financial resources to what the US termed a “narco-terrorist regime.”
The report highlights the controversial history of Cilia Flores’ nephews: Two of the nephews were previously arrested in Haiti in 2015 while attempting to traffic hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into the US. They were convicted in 2016 but were later pardoned by former US President Joe Biden in 2022. The third nephew individual previously served as Venezuela’s National Treasurer and Vice President of the state oil company, PDVSA. He was originally sanctioned in 2017 but had been removed from the list in 2022, only to be targeted again now.
Separately, the report notes that the US has seized a tanker off the coast of Venezuela, alleging that it was transporting oil to Iran in violation of international restrictions.
