Vast unexplained wealth: Why US seized Maduro’s wife

Bogota | When news broke that the United States had captured and indicted Venezuela’s longtime authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, another name appeared alongside his that left some observers puzzled: his wife’s, Cilia Flores.

Far more than a first lady, Flores is one of Venezuela’s most powerful political figures. She built extraordinary influence over decades while largely operating from the shadows. Flores shaped a judicial system in which nearly every major decision ran through her, and she embedded state institutions with relatives and loyalists, according to journalists, analysts and former officials. At the same time, they noted, her family amassed vast, unexplained wealth.