CARACAS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is preparing to charge the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in coming months with crimes that could include drug trafficking and corruption, four people familiar with the case told Reuters.
If Washington goes ahead with an indictment of first lady Cilia Flores, these people said, the charges are expected to stem, at least in part, from a thwarted cocaine transaction that has already landed two of her nephews in a Florida penitentiary.
Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, declined to comment on any investigation or pending charges against Flores. Flores and her office at the National Assembly didn’t respond to questions for this article.
Venezuela’s information minister, Jorge Rodriguez, told Reuters that its questions about the possible U.S. indictment of Flores were “nauseating, slanderous and offensive.” He declined to elaborate.
In late March, U.S. prosecutors indicted Maduro and over a dozen current and former Venezuelan officials on charges of narco-terrorism and drug smuggling. Maduro, now in his eighth year as Venezuela’s president, for years sought to flood the U.S. with cocaine, prosecutors alleged, seeking to weaken American society and bolster his position and wealth.
