U.S. removes nephew of Venezuela’s first lady from sanctions list

(Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department has removed a former Venezuelan national treasurer and nephew of the country’s first lady from its sanctions list, it said on Friday.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed Carlos Malpica Flores from its sanctions list and announced the change in a statement.

The announcement on the Treasury’s website follows a meeting between a delegation of top Washington officials and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas in March, in an attempt to kick-start negotiations between the ruling socialists and Venezuela’s opposition politicians.

The removal from the list of Malpica Flores – who was also formerly a vice president of finance for Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA – had been discussed at that meeting, as was the future of a license for U.S. oil company Chevron to operate in Venezuela.

(Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Deisy Buitrago; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Sandra Maler)