US forces carried out a night-time raid on Nicolás Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, at their compound in Caracas on 3 January, then brought the pair to New York. Federal prosecutors are now expected to accuse them of playing a role in the torture of Americans held in Venezuelan prisons.
The prospective charges concern the alleged wrongful detention of more than a dozen US citizens during Maduro’s 13-year rule. Additional people may also be charged in connection with the alleged torture of more than a dozen Americans detained by the Venezuelan government under Maduro.
The allegations would widen an existing case against Maduro and Flores, who were brought to New York to face alleged weapon and drug offences. The US has accused Maduro of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and possession of and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Maduro and 14 others were first indicted in 2020, during President Trump’s first term. Prosecutors have alleged that Maduro, Flores, their son and accomplices took part in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and worked with cartels designated as terrorist groups. Prosecutors said the accused “abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States”.
Maduro previously described the charges as a tool to further “imperial” plans for accessing Venezuela’s oil reserves. His lawyer, Barry Pollack, told CBS that he had received no notice of the additional charges. Maduro’s 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. Pollack has also argued that Maduro’s seizure was illegal.
Both defendants are being held at a federal detention center in Brooklyn while awaiting trial, which is set to begin in June 2027. Flores is due in federal court in New York for a bond hearing on Thursday, where she is expected to seek house arrest on health grounds.
Her lawyers say she has lost 25 pounds in custody and suffers from dizziness and shortness of breath. They say she may have suffered a minor heart attack in July. Prosecutors oppose her release, saying she poses an “extreme risk of flight and danger to the public” if freed.
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