Nicolas Maduro, wife face torture charge in new U.S. indictment

Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are now facing an additional charge of conspiracy to commit torture as federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment in the Southern District of New York on Thursday.

“As alleged in the indictment, the Maduro regime subjected over a dozen American citizens to torture while held in custody of the Venezuelan government — including drugs, electrocution, sexual assault, and more,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement on social media. “They will now answer for their crimes.”

The couple were already facing a slew of charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy; cocaine importation conspiracy; possession of machine guns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. 

The 30-page superseding indictment accuses the couple of overseeing a system of political repression that relied on Venezuela’s military, intelligence agencies and security forces to torture their opponents, silence dissidents and maintain power.

“To undermine Venezuelan democracy and entrench themselves in power, these same leaders presided over a system of repression that relied on violence against political opposition, arbitrary detention, and the torture of detainees, including United States citizens,” prosecutors wrote. “That torture included electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells, and psychological torture, such as threats to harm and kill victims’ families, including children.”

Maduro and Flores were indicted by a federal grand jury in January on charges stemming from what prosecutors said was his role in a scheme to import “thousands of tons” of cocaine into the United States and enrich themselves, their family and senior members of the Venezuelan government. 

The U.S. military took the couple into custody in an overnight operation and brought them to the U.S. to face the charges. They have pleaded not guilty to the initial charges. 

Prosecutors allege Maduro ordered political opponents detained and tortured, received regular updates on interrogations and instructed officials to intensify abuse. During one briefing about a defiant prisoner, Maduro allegedly told officials to “squeeze them harder.”

During political unrest in 2014, Maduro allegedly proposed abducting five to seven military officers suspected of disloyalty and extracting information through torture. According to the indictment, Flores agreed with the proposal.

The indictment also includes cases involving U.S. citizens subjected to electric shocks, drowning, severe beatings and other abuse while detained in Venezuela. One American arrested in 2022 was allegedly given injections that caused seizures.

A U.S. citizen detained in 2023 was severely beaten and tortured by Venezuelan intelligence officers, prosecutors said. One officer allegedly told the prisoner he had been kept alive because his U.S. citizenship made him useful in a potential prisoner exchange.

At a bail hearing for Flores on Thursday, her lawyer asked for the arraignment on the new charge to be delayed since they just received the indictment that morning, which was allowed by the judge.

Flores’ lawyer argued she should be allowed release on bail with strict conditions due to health concerns related to her heart. The judge denied bail for Flores, noting she had access to “considerable funds” and calling the charges “serious allegations.”

The case against the couple was brought in the Southern District of New York, where Maduro and 14 others were first indicted in March 2020, during the first Trump administration.