U.S. federal prosecutors announced Thursday that former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores face a new charge of conspiracy to commit torture, in addition to the drug‑trafficking and weapons allegations already filed against them.
Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have been held in a Brooklyn detention center since a pre‑dawn raid in Caracas on January 5, 2026. Attorney Barry J Pollack said the couple denies the latest accusations and expects to face the court in June 2027.
The superseding indictment details a system of repression that used electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, isolation, starvation, punitive cells and psychological torture against prisoners, including American citizens held in Venezuela during Maduro’s rule.
Prosecutors argue that these acts were carried out to maintain the Maduro‑Flores power base and that the torture inflicted significant harm on U.S. citizens, calling it the epitome of corruption.
Flores was added to the earlier narco‑terrorism charge, and her request for house arrest was denied by a judge. Both remain detained in Brooklyn pending their June trial.
The indictment echoes reports from former political prisoners in Venezuela who endured punishment cells and prolonged isolation, as well as claims that the regime ordered torture and regularly updated on victims. Human‑rights groups and the U.N. have continued to warn that the violence and torture in Venezuelan prisons persist even after the regime’s fall.
