Trump imposes new sanctions on Maduro’s entourage after oil tanker seized

The first two nephews, known as “narco-nephews”, They were arrested in 2015 for trying to send cocaine to the United States and convicted in 2016, before receiving pardon in 2022 from Biden. According to the Treasury, they resumed their drug trafficking activities after returning to Venezuela. The third, Malpica, former national treasurer and former director of PDVSA, had already been sanctioned in 2017 and is now on the list again for his role within the regime.

Sanctions also affect Panamanian businessman Ramón Carretero Napolitano, accused of benefiting from contracts with the Venezuelan government and facilitating oil shipments. Added to this are six companies and six vessels dedicated to the transport of Venezuelan crude oil, registered in the Marshall Islands, Panama, the British Virgin Islands, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and the Cook Islands. All are flagged for deceptive practices aimed at hiding shipments and routes.

They also prohibit any financial, commercial or service transaction with these actors.

The sanctions block all property and assets of designated individuals and companies that are in the United States or under the control of U.S. entities. They also prohibit any financial, commercial or service transaction with these actors. Companies owned 50% or more by sanctioned parties are also blocked. Any violation of these restrictions may result in civil or criminal penalties.

In a statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Maduro and his entourage were “flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people.” He adds that these sanctions nullify “the Biden administration’s failed attempt to reach an agreement with Maduro.” a process which he said only strengthened “his dictatorial and brutal control”. He maintains that, under Donald Trump’s leadership, the Treasury Department holds the regime, its associates, and the companies that support them accountable.

Seizure of the tanker off the coast of Venezuela

This follows the seizure of the tanker off the coast of Venezuela, an operation which Washington presented as part of the same strategy aimed at cutting off the regime’s sources of financing and increase pressure on Maduro.

At the White House, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt framed both the tanker seizure and the new measures as part of a broader Trump offensive in the continent’s “backyard,” focused, she said, on stemming the flow of drugs to the United States and “breaking up the cartels.”

He remembered it The Justice Department has requested an order to seize the tanker suspected of being linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. and already sanctioned, that the ship will be transferred to an American port and that the authorities are questioning the crew.

He avoided launching military action in Venezuela, but stressed that a protracted war “is not” the goal and used the opportunity to emphasize the story that Trump has “resolved nine conflicts” and, therefore, “deserves” the Nobel Peace Prize.

Biden pardoned the two “narco-nephews” in 2022, when the White House sought to open a negotiation channel with Nicolás Maduro. Both were arrested in 2015 while closing a shipment of cocaine bound for the United States. and they were convicted a year later. After receiving the pardon, they returned to Caracas and, according to the Treasury, resumed their illicit activities.

This same rapprochement process also led to the removal from the sanctions list of Malpica Flores, former national treasurer and key figure in the regime’s financial network. Although Maduro promised to accept free elections, he ended up committing judicial fraud in 2024.