Maduro and Flores Face New Torture Charges

Federal prosecutors are expected to bring additional charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, according to CBS, the BBC’s US media partner. The reported charges would concern an alleged role in torturing Americans who were detained in Venezuelan prisons. CBS also reports that other people may face charges over the alleged torture of more than a dozen Americans wrongfully held by the Venezuelan government during Maduro’s rule. Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, told CBS he had not been notified of any new charges. The BBC says it contacted Pollack and the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan for comment. Maduro and Flores were seized by US forces during a night-time raid at their compound in Caracas on 3 January and taken to New York. They deny existing allegations involving weapons and drugs. Flores is due to attend a federal court bond hearing on Thursday, while the trial of both defendants is scheduled to begin in June 2027. The United States has accused Maduro of conspiring in narco-terrorism and cocaine importation, as well as possessing and conspiring to possess machine guns and destructive devices. He and 14 others were indicted in 2020. Prosecutors allege that Maduro, Flores, their son and accomplices took part in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and worked with cartels designated as terrorist organizations, using positions of public trust and corrupted institutions to move cocaine into the United States. Maduro has described the charges as a means of advancing what he calls US “imperial” aims to gain access to Venezuela’s oil. His and Flores’s lawyers have asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Maduro is immune from prosecution as the leader of a sovereign country and that the US operation to seize him was unlawful. The judge has not yet ruled on those requests.

US prosecutors have charged former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with conspiracy to commit torture, adding the accusations to existing drug-trafficking and weapons charges, which both deny. The new allegations were made public in a superseding indictment on Thursday. Maduro and Flores have been in US custody in Brooklyn since January, after US forces seized them during a raid on their compound in Caracas. Their trial is scheduled to begin in June 2027. Maduro’s lawyer, Barry J. Pollack, said Maduro denies the charges and looks forward to his day in court. A judge also rejected Flores’s request to be moved to house arrest. Prosecutors allege that the couple maintained power through a repressive system involving violence against political opponents, arbitrary detention, and torture, including of US citizens held in Venezuela. The indictment lists alleged methods including electric shocks, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, isolation, starvation, punishment cells, and psychological abuse, such as threats against victims’ families. Prosecutors say Flores helped develop the system, ordered torture, and received updates about prisoners, allegedly to protect relatives involved in illegal activity. The article notes that the accusations echo accounts from former Venezuelan detainees. Human rights advocate Javier Tarazona described being held with his brother in a tiny punishment cell for 46 days; another former inmate, Ángel Godoy, said he was isolated for months and prevented from contacting his wife. After Maduro’s ousting, Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez became interim leader with Trump administration backing. Hundreds of political prisoners have reportedly been released under an amnesty, but Foro Penal says more than 300 remain imprisoned. UN human rights chief Volker Türk has also said his office received reports of continued torture after Maduro’s seizure and warned that systemic human rights concerns persisted. Venezuela’s foreign minister at the time accused Türk of echoing the agenda of “extremists.”

A new superseding indictment filed by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York adds a charge of conspiracy to commit torture against deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. FBI Director Kash Patel said the indictment alleges that the Venezuelan government tortured more than a dozen U.S. citizens in custody, using methods including drugs, electrocution and sexual assault. The couple already face charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and offenses involving machine guns and destructive devices; both have pleaded not guilty to the initial charges. The 30-page indictment alleges that Maduro and Flores presided over a system of political repression involving military, intelligence and security forces. Prosecutors say the system used arbitrary detention and torture to suppress political opponents and maintain power. The alleged abuse included electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, isolation, starvation, punishment cells and threats against detainees’ families. Prosecutors further allege that Maduro ordered opponents detained and tortured, received interrogation updates and urged officials to intensify abuse. The indictment also describes his alleged proposal during 2014 unrest to abduct suspected disloyal officers and torture them for information, which prosecutors say Flores supported. The filing cites cases of Americans detained in Venezuela, including one person arrested in 2022 who allegedly received injections that caused seizures and a U.S. citizen detained in 2023 who was severely beaten. An intelligence officer allegedly said the latter had been kept alive because U.S. citizenship could be useful in a prisoner exchange. At a hearing, Flores’s lawyer sought a delay in her arraignment on the new charge and requested bail based on heart-related health concerns. The judge granted the delay but denied bail, citing Flores’s access to considerable funds and the seriousness of the allegations. The article also reports that U.S. forces took the couple into custody in an overnight operation and brought them to the United States. Maduro and 14 others had previously been indicted in the district in March 2020.

US prosecutors have added charges against ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, alleging that they conspired to torture political opponents and US citizens. The charges appear in a revised indictment and are additional to existing drug-trafficking and firearms charges. Both defendants have denied the earlier accusations, and Maduro’s lawyer said he also denies the new charges and is looking forward to trial. The indictment alleges that human rights violations were part of a plan to keep Maduro in power. It says he authorized torture against specific people and oversaw a system that used torture, arbitrary detention and violence to repress the political opposition. The alleged methods include electric shocks, beatings and asphyxiation. Human rights groups have previously accused Venezuelan officials of torturing detainees; the new indictment is the first time Maduro himself could be held accountable for such allegations. Flores is scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court to seek release from jail and placement under house arrest, citing health problems. Her lawyers say she has lost weight, experiences dizziness and shortness of breath, and may have had a minor heart attack. They propose that she live at a New York residence under round-the-clock security. Prosecutors oppose release, arguing she poses a flight risk and danger to the public, and say she has received hospital care when needed. Maduro and Flores are being held in Brooklyn pending a trial scheduled for June next year. They were captured in a US raid on their Caracas home and brought to New York. Maduro calls himself a prisoner of war and describes his capture as a kidnapping; critics have questioned the raid’s legality under international law. The article also notes tensions over US policy toward Venezuela, including President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deal concerning Venezuelan oil reserves.

US prosecutors are expected to bring additional charges against ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, over the alleged torture of Americans detained in Venezuela, according to a US official. The charges could be announced as soon as Thursday and reportedly relate to the alleged wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens during Maduro’s 13-year rule. Prosecutors are also considering charges against other people suspected of involvement, but details about the proposed charges and alleged victims were not immediately available. Separately, Flores is scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court, where she is expected to request release from jail to house arrest on health grounds. Her lawyers say she has lost 25 pounds while in custody, experiences dizziness and shortness of breath, and may have suffered a minor heart attack in July. They propose that she live at a New York residence with round-the-clock security. Prosecutors oppose release, arguing that she presents an extreme flight risk and danger to the public; they say she has received hospital care when needed. Maduro and Flores are being held in a Brooklyn federal detention center pending a trial scheduled for June next year. They were captured during a US raid on their Caracas home on January 3 and taken to New York, where they already face drug-trafficking and firearms charges. Maduro denies wrongdoing, describes himself as a prisoner of war, and calls his capture a kidnapping. The raid was praised by President Donald Trump as a law-enforcement operation, while critics have questioned its legality under international law. The article also notes Trump’s announcement of a US deal to take control of part of Venezuela’s oil reserves, which interim President Delcy Rodríguez called historic.

A revised U.S. indictment adds torture allegations to the existing drug-trafficking case against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Prosecutors allege that the couple helped maintain power through a system of human rights abuses, including electric shocks, beatings and asphyxiation. The indictment says Maduro approved torture methods, sought updates about victims, watched a forced confession and threatened to kill a prisoner’s child. Flores is accused of helping develop the system and ordering the torture of specific people. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the earlier drug charges and argue that they are immune from prosecution as former leaders of a foreign government. They could face life in prison if convicted. The indictment describes abuse of three unnamed U.S. citizens. One was allegedly beaten, shocked and forced to eat vomit during eight months in custody; another required a lengthy hospital stay after a beating; and a third suffered permanent eye damage. The article also recounts former Marine Matthew Heath’s detention in Venezuela and a $300 million default judgment he and another former prisoner won against Maduro and other officials in May. Maduro has denied wrongdoing and has faced a separate International Criminal Court investigation over alleged crimes against humanity. Maduro and Flores have been jailed in New York since U.S. forces seized them from their Caracas home in January. A judge rejected Flores’ request for house arrest, despite her lawyers’ claims that she has lost weight, has heart-related symptoms and may need surgery. Prosecutors argued she was an extreme flight risk and could receive medical care outside jail when necessary. The judge cited her refusal to undergo a proposed diagnostic procedure and noted that she was receiving medication for high blood pressure. The Trump administration has defended the capture as a law-enforcement operation; Maduro has called it a kidnapping and described himself as a prisoner of war.

US prosecutors have filed a superseding indictment accusing ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, of conspiring to torture political opponents and US citizens held in custody. The new allegations add a torture-related count to the couple’s existing federal drug-trafficking case. The indictment, filed in Manhattan federal court, describes alleged abuse involving nine people, including three US citizens. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to the original charges, but had not yet entered pleas to the new indictment at the time of the report. The article says the couple were captured on January 3 at their home in Caracas during a US military operation ordered by President Donald Trump and taken to New York to face the drug charges announced that day. If convicted of all charges, each would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years in prison. Separately, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case, rejected Flores’s request to be released from jail because of health concerns. The article reports that a trial is scheduled for next year. It presents the new criminal allegations and the judge’s decision as developments in an ongoing legal case, while making clear that the torture accusations are allegations and that pleas to the new indictment have not yet been entered.

Manhattan federal court papers unsealed on Thursday accuse deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores, and other Venezuelan leaders of conspiring to commit torture. The superseding indictment alleges that Maduro and Flores presided over a system of repression involving violence against political opponents, arbitrary detention, and torture—including of US citizens believed to threaten Maduro’s power. It further claims Flores helped build the system and ordered torture to protect her family’s illegal activities. Maduro and Flores have pleaded not guilty to the criminal case’s earlier charges, and both have been jailed in New York since their capture by US special forces in Caracas in early January. The raid and their transfer to the United States prompted international outrage. The indictment describes alleged abuses including deprivation of food and water, simulated drowning, beatings, electric shocks, and threats against detainees’ relatives. It also alleges that the couple pressured Venezuela’s judiciary to block opposition figures from running for office, and that intelligence agents tortured relatives of an official who resisted. Maduro and Flores have not been convicted of the allegations described in the new filing. The indictment became public shortly before Flores attended a hearing seeking release before trial. Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied her request for house arrest with private security. Her attorneys cited heart problems, high blood pressure, weight loss, and lost teeth; prosecutors argued she was a flight risk and had received proper medical care. The judge questioned the severity of her medical claims, noting that a proposed catheterization was an outpatient procedure and that her blood pressure could be controlled with medication. The article also situates the case within the wider US-Venezuela relationship. Donald Trump defended the raid as a law-enforcement operation and pursued access to Venezuela’s oil after Maduro’s ouster. The piece reports Trump’s announcement of an oil agreement and the country’s vast proven reserves, while noting a Guardian investigation found that his proclaimed “biggest oil deal in world history” could fail because of legal and logistical obstacles. Greater oil access could potentially ease US fuel costs ahead of the midterm elections.

The Washington Post article reports that the U.S. Justice Department has charged deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife with torturing prisoners. The new charges add to existing federal counts against Maduro and members of his inner circle in New York. The brief excerpt does not identify the specific charges, describe the alleged acts or victims, name Maduro’s wife, or provide responses from the defendants or their representatives. It also gives no further detail about the legal proceedings or the evidence behind the allegations. The report’s central point is that the two people are now accused of torture in addition to facing other federal charges. Because the supplied article text is limited to a single sentence, no broader account of the case or its context can be established from the material provided.