The United States imposed fresh sanctions on individuals linked to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Dec. 19 as part of an escalating pressure campaign targeting alleged drug trafficking and corruption by the regime.
“We will not allow Venezuela to continue flooding our nation with deadly drugs,” U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a press release on Dec. 19. “Maduro and his criminal accomplices threaten our hemisphere’s peace and stability.”
The U.S. Treasury Department announcement builds on sanctions from earlier this month targeting Malpica Flores, a nephew of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, and Panamanian businessman Ramon Carretero. Both were accused of being “responsible for or complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged in, any transaction or series of transactions involving deceptive practices or corruption and the Government of Venezuela or projects or programs administered by the Government of Venezuela.”…