Venezuelan first lady's family in spotlight with U.S. arrest of nephews

Cilia Flores, wife of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends the United Nations Human Rights Council for a special session in Geneva, Switzerland November 12, 2015. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores is so well-known for helping relatives get government jobs that the arrest of two of her nephews on U.S. drug charges has spawned a joke in opposition circles: "Not all of her family can work in the legislature."

U.S. authorities on Thursday indicted Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores on cocaine trafficking charges, an embarrassment to President Nicolas Maduro ahead of key legislative elections next month.