Ousted Venezuelan president Maduro and wife Flores indicted on torture-conspiracy charges

A superseding indictment unsealed Thursday charges ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, with conspiracy to commit torture of US citizens held in Venezuela while Maduro was in power.

The new torture charges add to prior narco-terrorism and weapons charges the couple already faced. Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have been in custody since January, when US forces seized them in a predawn raid on Caracas and transported them to New York. Both have pleaded not guilty. The case is being prosecuted by the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. Federal prosecutors also announced that Flores was added to the earlier narco-terrorism charge. Maduro’s attorney, Barry J Pollack, said his client denies the new charges and looks forward to his day in court. The trial for both defendants is set to begin in June 2027.

A system of repression

The indictment accuses Maduro and Flores of presiding over a system of repression that relied on violence against political opposition, arbitrary detention, and the torture of detainees, including US citizens. According to the charging document, the torture methods included electric shock, asphyxiation, and other abuses. Flores is accused of helping develop the repressive system and ordering that individuals be tortured to protect family members involved in illegal activities. The indictment describes Maduro and Flores as having “sat atop that violent power structure,” alleging they “developed and facilitated the systems which they and their co-conspirators used corruptly to amass immense wealth and power, rewarding allies with ill-gotten funds and terrorizing perceived opponents through persecution and violence.”

The indictment describes one US citizen who was detained in Venezuela and subjected to, among other things, deprivation of food and water, simulated drowning, repeated beatings, electric shock to his testicles, and forced injections. Another account in the indictment describes a family member who was forced to drink latrine water, assaulted with tear gas, threatened at gunpoint, and placed in a cold room known as the “Freezer,” where a bright light was left on at all times and music was blared on repeat. Court papers separately describe asphyxiation with a bag, electric shocks to the testicles and knees, and beating with a blunt object. In one instance described in court papers, interrogators produced women’s underwear, claiming it belonged to the victim’s daughter.

Flores denied release

Flores’s request for pre-trial release or house arrest was denied by Judge Alvin Hellerstein on Thursday. Her attorneys had pitched house arrest guarded by 24-hour private security, citing chronic health issues including cardiac infirmities. Her team said in court that she had dropped more than 25lbs and lost two teeth since her detention. Hellerstein noted that Flores was refusing catheterization while in general population, calling it an outpatient procedure with no pain and no general anesthesia. Her blood pressure, he said, was controllable by pills. Hellerstein also said her appearance was no worse than, and perhaps a little better, than at her arraignment. Prosecutors argued Flores was a flight risk and had received appropriate medical care. Flores wore dark jail scrubs and listened to the proceedings through headphones with a Spanish-language interpreter.

Raid, oil, and aftermath

The capture of Maduro and Flores sparked widespread international outrage. Donald Trump defended the raid, calling it a “surgical law enforcement operation,” according to The Guardian. After Maduro’s ouster, Trump moved to secure access to Venezuelan oil reserves. In August, Trump announced an oil agreement claiming the US would have majority control over 65bn barrels of proven reserves, The Guardian reported; Venezuela has approximately 303bn barrels, the largest in the world. A Guardian investigation found the deal likely to fail due to legal and logistical problems. Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as interim leader with the backing of the Trump administration. Hundreds of political prisoners have been released under an amnesty law, but more than 300 remain behind bars, according to Foro Penal. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned in March that his office had received reports of detainees continuing to be tortured even after Maduro’s seizure, saying “structural and systemic human rights concerns” persisted in Venezuela despite his ousting.

At Maduro’s first US court appearance in January, he declared: “I’m a kidnapped president – a prisoner of war!” Flores’s lawyer said during her arraignment that she was “still bandaged up” from her rough arrest. Both statements were reported by The Guardian.