The United States Department of the Treasury removed this Friday from its sanctioned list Carlos Malpica Floresnephew of the first lady of Venezuela, Cilia Flores, wife of Nicolás Maduro.
without offering explanationsthe US Government removed Malpica Flores from the payroll, who between 2013 and 2016 served as Treasurer of the Nation in Venezuela and as Vice President and Internal Director of Finance of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), between 2014 and 2016.
The nephew of Maduro’s wife was sanctioned by the US in July 2017 for its long-standing relationship with PDVSA, an entity that, as the Treasury explained at the time, was “strongly associated” with “the corruption of the Venezuelan government.”
Carlos Erik Malpica Flores
As a result of the sanctions, the assets that Malpica Flores might have under US jurisdiction were frozen and he was prohibited from carrying out financial transactions with the US.
His removal from the sanctioned list comes after talks in Caracas between US and Venezuelan government officials in March.
After that contact, Washington announced in May that it was going to withdraw some economic sanctions against Venezuela, at the request of the Venezuelan opposition to resume dialogue with the Maduro Executive.
The dialogue between the Venezuelan government and the opposition, which began last August in Mexico City and under the mediation of Norway, was interrupted in October by the extradition to the US of the alleged figurehead of Maduro, Alex Saab.
Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, had conditioned the dialogue to alleviate the situation of his nephew.
Despite the talks, the Joe Biden government has said that it is not going to change US policy regarding Venezuela, and that Washington is willing to tighten sanctions against that country if it sees reason to do so.
Who is Maduro’s nephew?
The former treasurer and former vice president of PDVSA, Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, 49, is an economic and financial operator of Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro had conditioned the release of his nephew to resume dialogue with the opposition in Mexico, whose “formal talks” in mid-May.
One of his favorites is the small island of Saint Barth, in the eastern Caribbean, where he set up a party for Christmas 2014 to celebrate his appointment as vice president of PDVSA with pink champagne.
This is the most powerful financial hierarch of the Venezuelan presidential couple and the Chavista government, who acts in the shadows. He is quiet, reserved, he does not give interviews or have accounts on social networks but he likes luxury, giving parties with French pink champagne, traveling in private planes, staying in five-star hotels and exclusive restaurants in the Caribbean islands.
Since his uncle Nicolás came to power in 2013, he has held the most important positions such as the National Treasury Office, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the state-owned PDVSA, the BANDES and FONDES banking entities, the secretariat of the Presidency, the Foreign Ministry, the National Assembly and various foundations.
He is considered a financial octopus that has managed and continues to control the coffers of the nation’s budget, profiting from the public treasury while the country is suffering the worst economic and social crisis in its history, which has caused the exodus of more than 6 million of Venezuelans abroad.
Before being sanctioned for corruption, he created 16 fictitious companies in Panama, according to the Panama Papers. The isthmus newspaper La Estrella has published reports about the acquisition of properties in Panama for his aunt, the first lady. The same happens in the Dominican Republic.
With information from EFE
DB
