Federal prosecutors have filed new criminal charges against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, accusing them of overseeing a system of political repression that included the torture of Venezuelan citizens and Americans held in the country.
The Justice Department announced Thursday that a superseding indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan adds a conspiracy to commit torture charge to the couple’s existing criminal case involving narcoterrorism, cocaine trafficking, and weapons offenses. The allegations describe a system in which Venezuelan security forces and other government-linked groups allegedly used violence and intimidation to suppress political opposition.
According to prosecutors, detainees were subjected to beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, sexual violence, prolonged isolation, and threats against family members. The indictment alleges that Maduro, Flores, and other senior Venezuelan officials directed or enabled abuses against perceived opponents, including U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.
Maduro and Flores were captured during a U.S. military operation in Caracas on January 3 and transferred to New York to face federal prosecution. The couple had already been charged with drug trafficking and related offenses before Thursday’s expanded indictment. The new torture conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, separate from potential penalties associated with the other charges.
The case represents a significant expansion of the U.S. government’s prosecution of Venezuela’s former leadership, bringing allegations of human rights abuses directly into the federal criminal proceedings. Maduro and Flores have denied the earlier charges, and the new allegations remain unproven. Both defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted in court.
