Maduro (second from right) and his wife Cilia Flores (second from left) attend a US court hearing. [Reuters Yonhap News]

The Swiss government announced on the 5th (local time) that it has frozen assets held in Switzerland by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has been arrested and extradited to the United States, and his associates.

The Swiss Federal Council stated that this decision was made in accordance with federal law regulating the freezing and recovery of assets improperly acquired by high-ranking foreign politicians. It added, "We will strive to ensure that if the origin of the assets is proven to be illegal in future legal proceedings, they will be returned to the Venezuelan people."

The sanctions list includes 37 individuals, including President Maduro and his wife and children, former Deputy Minister of Electric Power Development Javier Alvarado, former Finance Minister Alejandro Aldana, former Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, and former Finance Director of Venezuelan state-owned oil company (PDVSA) Eudomario Carruyo.

The Swiss government stated, "The loss of power that has occurred, and the resulting possibility of pursuing legal proceedings related to illegally acquired assets, is significant," adding that it did not consider whether Maduro's loss of power was legally carried out or violated international law.

Switzerland banned arms exports to Venezuela in 2018 and had previously imposed sanctions, including asset freezes and entry bans, on some high-ranking officials.

The amount of assets held by Maduro and his associates in Switzerland is unknown. The weekly Le Matin Dimanche reported in 2021 that the Zurich prosecutor's office had confirmed that 9 billion Swiss francs (16.4 trillion won), suspected of being embezzled from Venezuelan public funds, were deposited across hundreds of Swiss bank accounts.