US sanctions Maduro family members amid escalating tension with Venezuela

The imposed new sanctions against three family members of the Venezuelan president, and six companies linked to the transport of oil from the South American country, in an even greater escalation of tension with Caracas. Washington also announced that it will escort the oil tanker seized by American forces off the coast of the United States to a US port, raising fears of an open conflict between the two countries.

The United States took control of the vessel loaded with Venezuelan oil on Wednesday (10), in an operation in which its forces descended onto the ship from helicopters.

The US Treasury Department simultaneously announced new sanctions against three nephews of Cilia Flores, wife of the Venezuelan president, stating that two of them are “drug traffickers operating in Venezuela”. “Nicolás Maduro and his criminal partners in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that poison the American people,” said Treasury Secretary, , in a statement.

On Thursday (11), the Venezuelan president classified the seizure of the oil tanker as an act of “criminal naval piracy”. “They kidnapped the crew, stole the boat and inaugurated a new era, the era of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean,” said Maduro at a presidential event in Caracas.

Hours earlier, the Venezuelan leader spoke by telephone with the Russian president, who reiterated his support.

The secretary general of , , declared himself “concerned” about the seizure of the ship, which had been sanctioned for years for transporting oil from countries such as Venezuela and Iran.

From Oslo, where she managed to arrive this Thursday after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Venezuelan opponent María Corina Machado expressed her support for the American president and his campaign against Maduro.

Blow to Maduro’s socialist ‘regime’

The ship’s crew is being interrogated and the vessel will be taken to an American port, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt announced.

The tanker, which once sailed under the name Adisa, had been identified by the Treasury Department in 2022 for alleged ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.

At the time of the approach, it was carrying 1.1 million barrels of oil, according to records on the MarineTraffic website. Maduro, in turn, claimed this Thursday that it was 1.9 million.

The seizure was a blow to the socialist “regime” in Caracas, United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem declared in Congress. “It was a successful operation […] to ensure we are fighting back against a regime that systematically fills our country with deadly drugs,” he said.

Unlike the lethal attacks on the high seas against speedboats allegedly used by drug traffickers, which have caused at least 87 deaths since September, this operation was accompanied by a confiscation order, in the hands of the FBI.

Confiscating oil represents a significant escalation in the campaign of hostility against Venezuela, a country devastated by the economic crisis and politically isolated, which survives thanks to the sale of its natural resources.

The attack was a “brazen robbery” and an “act of international piracy,” Maduro’s government protested. The president, himself the target of sanctions for allegedly leading the so-called Cartel de los Soles, spoke by telephone with Putin.

“Vladimir Putin expressed his solidarity with the Venezuelan people and confirmed his support for the Maduro government’s policies,” the Kremlin said.

Cuba also expressed its solidarity with the Maduro government, on which it is dependent for its energy needs.

Charges and sanctions

Washington has accused Venezuela for years of being a state in the hands of drug traffickers. In addition to the formal charges against Maduro himself in a New York court, two of his nephews were detained in Haiti in 2016, accused of drug trafficking.

Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and his cousin Efraín Antonio Campos Flores — nephews of Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife — were convicted in 2017 in New York and later released by Democratic President Joe Biden, in exchange for seven American prisoners in Venezuela.

The Treasury Department has now resumed the case and announced new sanctions against them, as well as another nephew, Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, and six shipping companies that transport Venezuelan oil.

Washington deployed a considerable attack and deterrence force to the region, with the largest aircraft carrier in the world and dozens of fighters, in addition to thousands of marines. Trump also stated that he gave the green light to his intelligence agency, the CIA, to operate inside Venezuela.

Opponent María Corina Machado assured, upon arriving in Oslo, that the United States helped her leave the country. “I came to receive the award on behalf of the Venezuelan people and I will take it to Venezuela at the appropriate time,” she added in front of journalists.

*With information from AFP
Published by Nícolas Robert