FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores greet supporters during his closing campaign rally in Caracas, Venezuela May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores greet supporters during his closing campaign rally in Caracas, Venezuela May 17, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/File Photo
The United States is preparing to charge Venezuela's first lady Cilia Flores based on testimony from Yazenky Lamas, one of her former bodyguards.
Lamas was arrested four years ago in Colombia and extradited to the U.S. to face charges.
Having obtained his testimony, Reuters reports that the U.S. is expected to charge Flores in the coming months with crimes that could include drug trafficking and corruption.
According to Reuters, four people familiar with the investigation say the charges are likely to stem, at least in part, from a thwarted cocaine transaction that has already landed two of Flores' nephews in a Florida penitentiary.
The possible indictment of Flores has been described as "nauseating, slanderous and offensive" by Jorge Rodríguez, Venezuela's information minister. He didn't 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.
Prosecutors alleged that Maduro, now in his eighth year as Venezuela's president, for years sought to flood the U.S. with cocaine, seeking to weaken American society and bolster his position and wealth.
Maduro however dismissed the charges against him and his colleagues as a politically motivated fabrication by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Source(s): Reuters