NY drug trial starts for two nephews of Venezuela's first lady

NEW YORK: The drug trafficking trial of two nephews of Venezuela's first lady got under way in Manhattan Tuesday, with the leftist government in Caracas saying they were essentially framed.
Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, 30, and Francisco Flores de Freitas, 31, were arrested in Haiti in November and flown to New York by US Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
They are sons of brothers of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's wife Cilia Flores. She also served as speaker of the National Assembly from 2006 to 2011.
The men have denied charges that they plotted to smuggle 800kg of cocaine into the United States.
Prosecutor Emil Bove argued that the men believed they were powerful because they are close to Maduro. Their attorneys suggested however, they were not crafty enough to be plotting or carrying out the business of which they are accused.
The accused also are facing the charges due to political motives, their defence maintains.
Besides the Haiti case, the two men are accused of taking part in meetings to plan a shipment of cocaine to the United States via Honduras.
If convicted they face up to life in prison.
The speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, has likened their arrest at a posh hotel in Haiti to a kidnapping by the DEA, saying they were effectively set up.
Maduro's government is on the defensive in Venezuela after suffering a landslide defeat to the opposition in legislative elections last year.
Venezuela has suffered a spectacular implosion in the past three years as plunging oil prices have pushed it deep into recession, sparking riots, looting and violent crime.
Food and medicine shortages have grown so desperate that Human Rights Watch calls the situation a "profound humanitarian crisis."
Maduro says the economic crisis is a capitalist conspiracy backed by the United States. The opposition blames 17 years of socialist rule under the moustachioed president and his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez. — AFP