U.S. Files New Torture-Conspiracy Charges Against Nicolás Maduro and His Wife
A new indictment made public Oct. 8 accuses deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, of conspiring to use torture to suppress dissent, adding to existing U.S. drug and weapons charges they have denied.
U.S. prosecutors have brought new charges accusing deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, of conspiring to use torture to maintain control over the Venezuelan population, according to an indictment made public on Oct. 8 and reported by USA TODAY.
Maduro, who was removed from Venezuela by U.S. military forces in early January, already faced U.S. charges related to cocaine trafficking and possession of machine guns. He and Flores previously pleaded not guilty to those allegations, according to USA TODAY. The new indictment adds torture-conspiracy allegations to a case that, if it results in convictions, could carry decades in prison.
Maduro’s lawyer, Barry J. Pollack, told USA TODAY that his client denies the charges in the new indictment and looks forward to his day in court. An attorney for Flores did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the report.
What the indictment alleges
According to the indictment as described by USA TODAY, prosecutors allege a pattern of abuse against perceived opponents, including military officers suspected of disloyalty. The filing describes alleged methods such as electric shock, beatings, simulated drowning, prolonged isolation, starvation and threats against victims’ families. In one account from 2013, an officer suspected of meeting with an opposition figure was allegedly shocked repeatedly with a live wire, beaten and later rearrested and abused again in 2017.
The indictment also alleges that, during mass protests in 2014 over the disputed 2013 presidential election, Maduro proposed kidnapping several military members to extract information through torture — a plan Flores is alleged to have supported over a proposal to infiltrate the officers instead.
U.S. citizens among the alleged victims
Prosecutors also allege that U.S. citizens were among those mistreated. In one case dated to around 2022, a U.S. citizen detained while entering Venezuela was allegedly beaten, subjected to electric shock and injected with a substance that caused seizures before being released later that year, according to the indictment.
The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. No trial date for the new charges was reported.
Reporting based on coverage by USA TODAY.
