The rotten core of Venezuela's ruling elite is perhaps best symbolised not by its ageing revolutionaries, but by their entitled and often incompetent children. Known as 'Bolichicos', these spoilt scions live lives of outrageous luxury funded by corruption, while the nation they plunder endures profound economic collapse.
The 'Narco Nephews' and a Cartel Fantasy
In a story that seemed ripped from a gangster film, the nephews of Venezuela's First Lady, Cilia Flores, saw themselves as players in the international drug trade. Efrain Campos Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas swaggered through Caracas in the early 2010s, flaunting Ferraris and diamonds. Their ambition, however, vastly outstripped their competence.
Their downfall came in November 2015 in Haiti, where they were arrested after attempting to recruit US Drug Enforcement Administration informants. Their plan was a ludicrous scheme to smuggle 800 kilos of cocaine into the United States. One US official present at the arrest described them as "amateurish, spoiled brats" who were "completely out of their depth."
Months of wiretaps captured their bragging, making their defence almost impossible. Their own lawyer, John Zach, told a Manhattan courtroom his client was "utterly clueless," labelling the pair "very stupid men."
Nicolasito: The Princeling Without a Clue
The most prominent of the Bolichicos is Nicolas Maduro Guerra, the son of the de facto president. Indicted for cocaine trafficking in New York in 2020 alongside his father and stepmother, he remains at large in Caracas, where he holds a seat in the National Assembly.
Critics dismiss him as a hollow figure. A Caracas-based analyst described him as a "naive guy" and "a bad copy of his dad," lacking the intellect or strength for genuine leadership. His academic record is widely considered a joke; a degree in economics from a military university in July 2015 was earned despite reportedly rarely attending classes.
Nevertheless, he was handed a series of prestigious roles, including head of the Corps of Inspectors of the Presidency at age 22 and director of the National School of Cinema. He is better known for his gaffes, such as threatening that Venezuelan guns could "occupy the White House" in New York, and for his lavish parties, including a raucous 30th birthday during a strict pandemic lockdown ordered by his own father.
A Culture of Entitlement and Excess
The pattern of obscene privilege extends to other regime offspring. The children of Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez became fixtures in Madrid's tabloids. His son, Mitchell, was photographed partying in upscale clubs, prompting US Senator Marco Rubio to call for his Spanish visa to be revoked. His daughter, Yarazetd, sparked scandal by allegedly flashing her chest in a Madrid bar.
Her extravagant wedding celebrations in October 2023 at a UNESCO World Heritage site were estimated by a former US diplomat to have cost $300,000—a staggering sum for a defence minister with an official salary of $12,000 per year.
The children of the feared interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, are equally notorious. His son David's video mocking citizens suffering blackouts as "rats" went viral in 2019. His daughter, Daniela, reportedly flew her private jet to Paris for a weekend simply to buy a textbook unavailable in Venezuela, attended university classes with a nine-man armed guard, and now flaunts a globetrotting lifestyle on Instagram.
No Escape From the Tropical Paradise
With multi-million dollar US bounties now on the heads of their parents, the question arises: will the Bolichicos flee? Analysts suggest they are reluctant to leave their life of "money and stardom" in Venezuela. For now, they cling to their parents' coattails, as fleeing would signal the regime's imminent defeat. They remain, in the eyes of critics, the ultimate symbol of a revolution that betrayed its people, producing a generation of cartoonish villains living in a bubble of corrupt luxury.
