The U.S. administration has decided to escalate its efforts against Nicolás Maduro’s regime, targeting the very core that keeps it afloat: his family and financial network. On Thursday, the Department of Treasury, via the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), sanctioned several key family members and associates of the so-called Maduro-Flores clan, identifying them as integral to the narco-corruption scheme supporting the Venezuelan dictatorship.
This measure directly impacts the network linked to Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, the nephew of Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife, and that of Panamanian businessman Ramón Carretero Napolitano, both accused of facilitating financial operations and shady dealings with the Chavista regime.
“The Treasury has sanctioned individuals bolstering Nicolás Maduro’s criminal narco-state. We will not allow Venezuela to continue flooding our nation with deadly drugs,” stated Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, warning that the criminal structure of Chavismo poses a direct threat to hemispheric stability and security.
OFAC reminded that Malpica Flores was designated on December 11, 2025, under Executive Order 13692, due to his role as a Venezuelan government official and his repeated connections to corruption within PDVSA. According to Treasury, Malpica exploited his family ties to operate transnational financial schemes benefiting the regime.
The new round of sanctions tightens the noose, including his close circle: his mother, Eloísa Flores de Malpica, sister of Cilia Flores; his father, Carlos Evelio Malpica Torrealba; his sister, Iriamni Malpica Flores; his wife, Damaris del Carmen Hurtado Pérez; and his adult daughter, Erica Patricia Malpica Hurtado. All were designated under Executive Order 13850, which punishes those involved in or benefiting from corrupt practices linked to the Venezuelan state.
The offensive also extends to the network of Panamanian businessman Ramón Carretero Napolitano, previously sanctioned for his transactions with the Chavismo and his ties to the Malpica Flores family. OFAC has now added his relatives Roberto Carretero Napolitano and Vicente Luis Carretero Napolitano to the blacklist, identified as part of the same web of business and favors connected to the regime.
The consequences are immediate and severe. All assets and interests of the sanctioned individuals located in the United States, or controlled by U.S. persons, are frozen. Additionally, any company that is 50% or more owned by these individuals is automatically blocked. Transactions with them, whether direct or indirect, are prohibited unless expressly authorized by OFAC.
The Treasury warned that violations of the sanctions could result in civil or criminal penalties, even under the principle of strict liability, which amplifies the risk for banks, financial intermediaries, and third parties facilitating transactions with these actors.
While OFAC emphasizes that the ultimate goal of sanctions is not punishment but rather to force a change in behavior, the political message is clear: Washington is no longer limited to sanctioning visible Chavista officials; it is now targeting families, frontmen, and networks that turn the Venezuelan state into a criminal enterprise.
In other words, the clamp is tightening where it hurts most: in the wealth, surnames, and businesses that for years thought themselves untouchable.