Former Venezuelan Leader Nicolás Maduro and Former First Lady Cilia Flores Face New U.S. Torture Indictment

Former President Nicolás Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, identified as 70 in one report and 69 in another, are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on October 15 in Manhattan federal court. The arraignment will address a revised indictment that adds charges of conspiring to torture political opponents and U.S. citizens to the earlier drug-trafficking case. Prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office allege that Maduro directed officials to employ methods such as beatings, asphyxiation, electric shocks, sleep deprivation and threats against prisoners’ families.

Maduro and Cilia Flores, before the judge in New York The Straits TimesUsNews and World Report

Maduro was captured by U.S. forces during a nighttime raid on January 3 at his Caracas residence and transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The capture followed years of U.S. sanctions targeting Venezuelan officials for alleged human-rights abuses, corruption and election-rigging. Earlier indictments, filed in 2020, accused the couple of narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking and weapons offenses.

The Straits TimesMaduro and Cilia Flores, before the judge in New York UsNews and World Report

The October 8 indictment expands the criminal case, asserting that Maduro personally recommended torture techniques and received updates on victims, while Flores allegedly helped develop the repression system and ordered specific tortures. If convicted on all counts, each defendant faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 50 years in prison. A separate trial is scheduled to begin on June 1, 2027.

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Defense attorney Barry Pollack has argued that the defendants should be immune from prosecution because they were acting as the leaders of a foreign sovereign. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the State Department have asked Judge Hellerstein to reject any immunity claim, stating that they do not recognize Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela since the disputed 2018 election and that the alleged crimes fall outside official functions.

Maduro and Cilia Flores, before the judge in New York

At the October 15 hearing, Maduro and Flores are expected to plead not guilty to the torture charges. The court will then set dates for further proceedings, leading up to the scheduled trial in 2027.

The Straits Times