CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Two nephews of Venezuela’s powerful first lady are facing arraignment in New York after being arrested in Haiti on charges of conspiring to smuggle 800 kilograms of cocaine into the U.S., people familiar with the case said.
The arrest of Efrain Campos and Francisco Flores is likely to exacerbate already tense relations between the U.S. and Venezuela and cast a hard look at U.S. accusations of drug trafficking at the highest levels of President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist administration.
The case also comes just three weeks before key legislative elections that opinion polls have been suggesting could hand the ruling party its worst defeat in 16 years as Venezuela’s struggles with triple-digit inflation and widespread shortages of basic goods.
“The timing is hardly ideal,” Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank, said in an email after the arrests were revealed Wednesday. “The arrests could give Maduro the excuse he was hoping for to declare a state of emergency and postpone the elections. He will blame the arrests on U.S. imperialism and see them as an attempt to undermine his government.”
Speaking on television Wednesday night, influential National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello didn’t directly mention the arrests of first lady Cilia Flores’ nephews but warned that Washington is trying to destabilize Maduro’s government before the elections.