In this press release, “targeting family members” means imposing U.S. economic sanctions on seven relatives of two previously sanctioned men tied to Nicolás Maduro’s regime. These are blocking sanctions under Executive Order 13850, which normally result in: (1) freezing any property and interests in property they have in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons, and (2) generally prohibiting U.S. persons (including U.S. financial institutions and most companies) from dealing with them or their blocked assets. The text of the statement and the cited authority do not mention prosecutions or specific travel bans; the action described is financial sanctions/asset blocking.
The press release is a U.S. Department of State press statement, issued by Thomas “Tommy” Pigott in his capacity as Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the State Department.
Nicolás Maduro is the de facto president of Venezuela whose government the United States refers to as “illegitimate and corrupt.” In this context, his “corrupt network” refers to officials, relatives, and business associates accused of engaging in large‑scale corruption and deceptive dealings with the Venezuelan state, including misuse of state‑owned oil company PDVSA and other state resources. The statement links this network to people such as Carlos Erik Malpica Flores (a nephew of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, and former senior Venezuelan official) and Ramón Carretero Napolitano (a Panamanian businessman), whose activities allegedly helped sustain the Maduro regime through corruption.
The action against the family members is taken under U.S. Executive Order 13850. That order authorizes blocking sanctions against people who operate in specified sectors of the Venezuelan economy or who are responsible for, or complicit in, corruption involving the Government of Venezuela. The press statement explicitly cites Executive Order 13850 as the legal authority for the new designations of these family members.
Public information does not explain why this specific State.gov page is returning a “forbidden” error. It is likely due to a technical or access‑control issue on the State Department’s website rather than a policy change, given that the same text is available in full through mirrors and reposts of the official press statement.
There is no publicly available schedule or announcement indicating when the State.gov page will be fixed or the full text restored. The complete text is already accessible through third‑party sites that have reposted the official press statement, but when or whether the original URL will become readable again is unknown.
If confirmed as standard U.S. blocking sanctions under Executive Order 13850, the action could affect U.S. citizens and businesses by legally prohibiting them from engaging in most transactions with the newly designated family members and by requiring them to block (freeze) any of the designees’ property or interests in property that come within U.S. jurisdiction or their control. Ordinary U.S. persons with no dealings or business ties to these individuals would not be affected.