Prosecutors in New York have brought new charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, alleging they conspired to torture Americans and others detained by the Venezuelan government.
Maduro and Flores each face an additional charge of conspiracy to commit torture, according to a superseding indictment unsealed Thursday.
Prosecutors allege Maduro authorized the use of torture after becoming president in 2013 and oversaw a system that relied on torture, arbitrary detention and violence to suppress political opposition.
Maduro’s attorney, Barry Pollack, said the former president denies the new allegations and looks forward to his day in court.
The indictment describes alleged torture of Americans and Venezuelans, including beatings, electrocution, waterboarding, asphyxiation and sexual violence. In one case, prosecutors allege an American detainee was forced to eat his own vomit.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said Maduro, Flores and other members of their inner circle used a system of violence and repression to maintain their grip on power. “The members of Maduro’s broad conspiracy were not just sitting behind a desk,” McDonald said. “American citizens were tortured, and so were thousands of Venezuelans.”
More than a dozen Americans were detained by the Maduro government over the years. US officials and human rights advocates have accused Venezuelan authorities of using American detainees as political leverage.
According to the indictment, a Venezuelan military officer was repeatedly shocked with a live electrical wire, beaten and subjected to waterboarding.
In another case, prosecutors say a US citizen accused of participating in a plot to assassinate Maduro was tortured after being detained in January 2022.
The indictment alleges officers punched him, covered his face and poured a substance over him that caused him to vomit. Prosecutors say he was then forced to eat his own vomit.
The man was later transferred to Boleita Norte prison, where prosecutors allege he was subjected to additional abuse, including electrocution, beatings, asphyxiation, deprivation of food and water, and forced injections that allegedly caused seizures.
Prosecutors also allege that an American arrested in January 2025 was repeatedly beaten over a two-day period while being held at a detention facility. The indictment says the abuse caused permanent damage to his eye.
Several Americans previously detained in Venezuela have also described alleged torture.
Matthew Heath and Osman Khan, who were released in a prisoner exchange in 2022, have alleged they were subjected to waterboarding, electrocution, threats of sexual assault, forced drug use and solitary confinement.
Heath, a former US Marine, said Thursday that the new charges against Maduro and Flores feel “like justice is being served.”
The so-called “CITGO 6,” six American oil executives detained in Venezuela for nearly five years, have also described brutal conditions while imprisoned.
The men were arrested in 2017 and accused of corruption. Several later alleged they were tortured while in Venezuelan custody.
A United Nations report previously found that Venezuela’s General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence, known as DGCIM, was responsible for arbitrary detentions and the mistreatment and torture of political opponents and their relatives.
The report said the agency routinely used electric shocks, suffocation, waterboarding, beatings, sexual violence, food and water deprivation, stress positions and exposure to extreme temperatures.
Flores appeared in court Thursday, where her attorney asked that she be released to house arrest while awaiting trial.
US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied the request, saying Flores poses a flight risk. He said he was skeptical that assurances she would not flee would be enough to prevent her from escaping.
“With all the money that’s involved and all the contacts Ms. Flores has with the Venezuelan government and the people in it, the risk is serious,” Hellerstein said.
The defense has also argued that Flores’ health is deteriorating and that she needs medical treatment outside the jail's general population.
Hellerstein said that request was premature because Flores has declined certain diagnostic tests, including a cardiac catheterization.
Flores had not yet been arraigned on the new torture-conspiracy charge as of Thursday's hearing. The judge said an arraignment date will be posted once it is finalized.
Maduro and Flores were captured during a US military raid on the Venezuelan presidential palace in Caracas in January. They have pleaded not guilty to narcoterrorism conspiracy and other charges and remain jailed without bail in New York.
Maduro’s attorneys are also challenging the legality of his arrest and arguing that he should have immunity because the alleged conduct occurred while he was president.
Prosecutors said the Venezuelan government is not asserting immunity on Maduro’s behalf.
Venezuelan opposition figures have welcomed the new charges while calling for accountability for alleged abuses against Venezuelans as well.
María Oropeza, a state coordinator for the Venezuelan opposition party Vente Venezuela, said the charges were “good news” for those seeking justice and expressed hope that Maduro would also face charges for alleged torture of Venezuelans.
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