In short
- US federal prosecutors charged Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, with conspiracy to commit torture in a superseding indictment unsealed on Thursday.
- Maduro and Flores have been held in a detention centre in Brooklyn since January and their trial is scheduled to begin in June 2027.
- Flores was also added to an earlier narco-terrorism charge, and a judge denied her request to be moved to house arrest on Thursday.
- More than 300 political prisoners remain in Venezuela even after hundreds were released under an amnesty law, according to the prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal.
United States federal prosecutors have charged Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 69, with conspiracy to commit torture. The superseding indictment was unsealed on Thursday and adds to drug-trafficking and weapons charges the couple already face and deny. Maduro and Flores have been held in a Brooklyn detention centre since January.
What are Maduro and Flores accused of?
Prosecutors allege the couple presided over “a system of repression that relied on violence against political opposition, arbitrary detention, and the torture of detainees, including United States citizens”, according to the indictment. The document lists electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells and psychological torture, including threats to kill victims’ families and children. Prosecutors said outside the courthouse that the alleged conduct had caused “significant harm to Americans”. Prosecutors had been expected to add torture charges against Maduro before Thursday’s filing.
What role does Cilia Flores face in the case?
Federal prosecutors also announced on Thursday that Flores was added to an earlier narco-terrorism charge. The indictment accuses her of playing a key role in building the repressive system, ordering that individuals be tortured and receiving updates on the torture of specific prisoners, which prosecutors allege she did to protect family members involved in illegal activities.
Where are Maduro and Flores being held, and when is the trial?
Both remain in a detention centre in Brooklyn after a judge denied Flores’s request to be moved to house arrest on Thursday. Maduro’s attorney, Barry J Pollack, said his client denies the new charges and looks forward to his day in court. The trial for both is set to begin in June 2027.
What has been alleged about torture in Venezuela?
The indictment echoes accounts given by prisoners released from detention in Venezuela. Javier Tarazona, who heads a human rights group in Venezuela, told BBC Mundo that he and his brother were held in a punishment cell for 46 days after being arbitrarily arrested. Another former inmate, Ángel Godoy, said he was kept isolated for months and was not allowed to contact his wife, who was kept in the dark about his whereabouts.
After Maduro’s ouster, his vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, who has met US President Donald Trump at the United Nations, was sworn in as interim leader with the backing of the Trump administration. Hundreds of political prisoners have been released under an amnesty law since she took power, but more than 300 remain behind bars, according to the rights group Foro Penal, which has tracked the releases.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said in March that his office had received reports alleging detainees were still being tortured, and that “structural and systemic human rights concerns” had persisted in Venezuela despite Maduro’s ousting. Venezuela’s foreign minister at the time accused Türk of parroting the agenda of “extremists”.
Frequently asked questions
What is Nicolás Maduro charged with in the United States?
US federal prosecutors charged Maduro, 63, with conspiracy to commit torture in a superseding indictment unsealed on Thursday, adding to drug-trafficking and weapons charges he already faced and denies.
When will Maduro and Flores stand trial?
The trial for both Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores is set to begin in June 2027. They have been held in a Brooklyn detention centre since January.
Where are Maduro and his wife being held?
Both are held in a detention centre in Brooklyn. A judge denied Flores’s request to be moved to house arrest on Thursday.
How many political prisoners remain in Venezuela?
More than 300 political prisoners remain behind bars, according to the prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal, even after hundreds were released under an amnesty law.
With reporting from BBC News.
Stock image, not from the events described. City Skyline — Joe deSousa / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
