Mireya Blavia de Cisneros faces fresh scrutiny over claims of ...

VoM News Desk | 20 Oct 2026, 06:43 AM IST | Breaking News, World | Follow on Google News

Mireya Blavia de Cisneros faces fresh scrutiny over claims of a multibillion-dollar inheritance power grab

CARACAS: Mireya Blavia de Cisneros, widow of the late Venezuelan billionaire Oswaldo Cisneros, is facing scrutiny on several fronts: an inheritance battle with her three stepdaughters, a criminal complaint from one of them, and allegations from Venezuelan government sources about taxes, business dealings and her ties to former president Nicolás Maduro.

Government sources have described Mireya as a close ally of Maduro and have raised suspicions that she has continued lobbying on his behalf. Those claims require independent corroboration. Officials have also alleged failures to meet investment commitments, outstanding personal and corporate tax liabilities and possible corruption involving business dealings during Maduro’s presidency.

The allegations touch family interests spanning telecommunications, oil and real estate, with particular attention on Digitel, one of Venezuela’s largest mobile telecommunications operators. Government sources have alleged underinvestment, bribery, political kickbacks and irregularities involving businesses associated with the family.

A legal source representing Mireya disputed aspects of the government’s allegations while acknowledging problems involving underinvestment and unfulfilled commitments, attributing some of those difficulties to US sanctions affecting Venezuela’s financial system.

Oswaldo Cisneros died in Miami on November 8, 2020. He had three daughters from his first marriage, Claudia Susana, Maritza Blanca and María Ella Cisneros Fontanals, and no biological children with Mireya. The couple adopted six children in Romania and Colombia: Carmen Elena, Camila Roxana, Alfonso Olaf, Oswaldo Antonio, Laura Gissel and Carla Giovana.

The dispute concerns those children’s inheritance rights, Oswaldo’s testamentary arrangements and administration of an estate linked to Digitel, oil, real estate and other businesses. Venezuelan government sources say tax authorities valued the estate at more than $10 billion, and allege that the SENIAT tax authority calculated a potential inheritance-tax liability exceeding $3 billion. One official claimed there was no record of payment and that authorities were examining inheritance and succession-tax obligations. The figures and payment status have not been independently verified.

Oswaldo’s closed will, registered in Venezuela in December 2017, named Mireya and all nine children as his “sole and universal heirs”. The daughters’ lawyers have questioned the arrangements, alleging they disadvantaged the daughters by giving the six adopted children greater collective influence. The litigation has been accompanied by allegations that Mireya sought majority control of family trusts and businesses through the adopted children’s voting strength.

Government sources allege the adoptions were part of a long-term arrangement to alter voting power within family structures, giving Mireya’s branch majority influence after Oswaldo’s death, potentially at the daughters’ expense. One official alleged irregularities and possible fabrication in the adoptions, claiming they formed part of a scheme to obtain majority voting control of the family trust. These allegations have not been established by the court rulings in the case.

Claudia Susana Cisneros Fontanals, who described herself as a legitimate, compulsory and testamentary heir, brought the principal challenge. On May 12, 2021, she argued that the six children lacked standing because their foreign adoption judgments had never undergone exequátur, the procedure by which certain foreign judgments are formally recognised in Venezuela. On August 3, 2021, the Social Cassation Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal agreed, ruling that the six lacked standing in the relevant succession proceedings and ordering related proceedings archived.

Mireya sought constitutional review. On January 31, 2022, the Constitutional Chamber annulled that judgment, finding that qualifying international adoptions governed by the Hague Convention did not require the additional exequátur. The ruling defeated the attempt to exclude the six on that ground, though it did not resolve every issue.

In July 2021, a Caracas court admitted a criminal complaint by Claudia against Mireya alleging private violence, extortion and association to commit crimes. Claudia alleged threats, coercion and other unlawful pressure intended to compel her to perform or tolerate acts she was not legally required to accept, and conduct intended to secure a financial advantage or cause her financial loss. The admission did not constitute a finding of guilt, and the available material does not establish the complaint’s final outcome.

A legal representative for Mireya said she would continue to contest the legal challenges brought by Claudia Susana Cisneros Fontanals.

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Mireya Blavia de Cisneros faces fresh scrutiny over claims of a multibillion-dollar inheritance power grab

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