Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been charged in a New York federal court with conspiracy to commit torture, in a sweeping new indictment that adds human-rights allegations to the drug trafficking case the couple already faced. The superseding indictment, filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges the pair presided over a system of repression that used violence, arbitrary detention, and torture against political opponents and U.S. citizens to hold on to power.
A 25-year conspiracy, prosecutors allege
The indictment alleges the conspiracy ran from at least 1999 through 2025 and involved Venezuelan military, intelligence, and law enforcement officials. Prosecutors say Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, oversaw a system of repression that relied on electric shocks, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells, and psychological torture — including threats to harm and kill victims' families and children.
The new charge adds one count of conspiracy to commit torture to the existing charges of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, to which both have pleaded not guilty. The torture charge carries up to life in prison if any of the alleged torture resulted in death, and up to 20 years if not.
Maduro "signed off" on methods, says U.S. Attorney
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald, speaking outside the courthouse, called the allegations "truly unthinkable" and "the epitome of corruption." Prosecutors allege Maduro personally directed or was regularly briefed on the abuse of detainees — in one instance, when told a detained military officer remained defiant, he allegedly ordered officials to "squeeze them harder" and suggested specific torture methods. The indictment also claims Maduro watched a video of a forced confession and personally threatened to kill one prisoner's child as psychological torture.
Flores, a former legislator and attorney general, is alleged to have helped develop the repressive system and ordered the torture of specific people; prosecutors say she was present at meetings where detainees' treatment was discussed.
The cases behind the charge
The indictment details several alleged cases. One detainee was reportedly subjected to electric shocks and asphyxiation after a 2018 drone attack that Venezuela said was an assassination attempt on Maduro. Among three U.S. citizens cited: an American arrested by Venezuelan intelligence in January 2025 — allegedly not the intended target — was beaten repeatedly over two days, suffered a permanent eye injury, and was warned after his release about a year later not to disclose the abuse; another was forced to eat his own vomit after being doused with a noxious liquid, then subjected to electric shocks to his torso and genitals and injected with a substance that induced seizures.
Barry Pollack, Maduro's attorney, said his client "denies the charges in the new indictment and looks forward to his day in court." The couple's attorneys have asked for the case to be dismissed on immunity grounds. The pair have been held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since their capture in Caracas on January 3, and their trial is scheduled for June 1, 2027. CNN reports investigators have also discussed charging several additional people for their alleged role in the abuse.
What happens next
Flores was expected to appear in Manhattan federal court on Thursday to press for release on health grounds while awaiting trial — a bid prosecutors oppose. With immunity motions pending and a possible expansion of the case to more defendants, the torture count adds a human-rights dimension to what is already one of the most consequential U.S. prosecutions of a foreign leader in decades.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources
- Al Jazeera: Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and his wife charged over torture allegations
- CNN: Nicolás Maduro and his wife face new charges over alleged torture of Americans
- AP/NPR: New U.S. indictment charges former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro with torture
- Fox News: Nicolás Maduro and wife face new charge of conspiracy to torture Americans