In brief
In a move that deepens international scrutiny of Venezuela’s past regime, US federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment charging former president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores with conspiracy to commit torture. The indictment adds to a long list of existing charges, including narco‑terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering, all of which the couple denies. Prosecutors allege that the Maduro regime operated a system of repressive violence that targeted political opponents and American citizens, employing electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, isolation, starvation, punitive cells and psychological torment. The first case in the set will begin in June 2027, while the couple remain detained in Brooklyn, with Flores’s request for house arrest denied. The new allegations underscore the persistent human‑rights concerns that UN officials continue to raise about Venezuela’s prison system even after the regime’s fall.
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.
