WASHINGTON – In a continued effort to apply pressure on Venezuela, the United States announced sanctions on Thursday targeting three relatives of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. This move comes as part of President Donald Trump’s broader strategy to exert influence over the South American country.

The sanctions specifically target Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores, and Efrain Campo, one day after Trump’s declaration of the U.S. seizing an oil tanker near Venezuela. Included in the sanctions list are Panamanian entrepreneur Ramon Carretero Napolitano, along with six companies and six ships flying the Venezuelan flag, all accused of facilitating the transport of Venezuelan oil.

Detailed by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the sanctions were officially published on Thursday.

These measures aim to block the sanctioned individuals from accessing any property or financial resources in the U.S. Additionally, the sanctions seek to deter American businesses and citizens from engaging in transactions with them. Banks and financial entities that disregard these restrictions risk facing sanctions or other punitive measures.

This is not the first instance of political maneuvers involving Maduro’s family.

In a notable exchange in October 2022, Venezuela released seven Americans who were imprisoned, while the U.S. reciprocated by freeing Flores and Campo, who had been incarcerated on drug-related charges for several years.

The U.S.’s latest actions against Venezuela follow a series of deadly strikes the U.S. has conducted on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, which have killed at least 87 people since early September.

Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.