US Imposes New Sanctions on Maduro Family Members and Venezuelan Oil Shipments Under Trump Administration

The United States has imposed sanctions on three nephews of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as part of broader measures announced on Thursday, furthering President Donald Trump's campaign to increase pressure on the South American nation.

The sanctions target Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores, and Efrain Campo, all nephews of President Maduro. This announcement follows Trump's statement the previous day regarding the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela's coast. Additional sanctions were placed on Panamanian businessman Ramon Carretero Napolitano, six companies, and six Venezuela-flagged vessels allegedly involved in transporting Venezuelan oil.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control officially published the sanctions list on Thursday. These measures effectively block access to any property or financial assets held in the United States and prohibit US companies and citizens from conducting business with the sanctioned individuals. Financial institutions that violate these restrictions risk facing their own sanctions or enforcement actions.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated, "Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people. Under President Trump's leadership, Treasury is holding the regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes."

This is not the first instance of Maduro's family being caught in diplomatic tensions between the two countries. In October 2022, Venezuela released seven imprisoned Americans in exchange for the US freeing Flores and Campo, who had been imprisoned on narcotics convictions. The two were arrested in Haiti during a Drug Enforcement Administration operation in 2015 and convicted the following year in New York.

Carlos Flores had previously been sanctioned in July 2017 but was removed from the Treasury's list in 2022 during the Biden administration as part of efforts to encourage negotiations for democratic elections in Venezuela.

The latest US actions against Venezuela come amid a series of deadly strikes conducted by the US on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, which have resulted in at least 87 fatalities since early September.

President Trump has defended these attacks as a necessary escalation to combat drug trafficking into the United States, asserting that the US is engaged in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels.