US adds torture conspiracy charge against Maduro and Cilia Flores
A Manhattan federal court has added a conspiracy-to-commit-torture charge against former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The new count expands an existing US criminal case that already included drug trafficking allegations. The charge was announced on Thursday in New York and is tied to allegations that the pair tortured political opponents to maintain their power.
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The latest filing adds one count to the case already facing the couple, who had previously been charged with drug trafficking offences. According to the court record described in the supplied material, Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to the earlier drug charges. They have been held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center since their capture, and their trial is scheduled for June 1.
The new allegation gives the prosecution case a broader human-rights dimension, moving it beyond narcotics and weapons-related claims. The existing indictment already accused Maduro of working with cartel groups to move cocaine through Venezuela toward the United States. The torture count now places the alleged treatment of political opponents alongside those earlier accusations, increasing the legal and diplomatic stakes around the case.
The development is significant because it involves a former head of state and a sitting political figure in a case being pursued in the United States. It also reflects the way US courts are being used to test allegations that combine state power, organised crime and abuse of detainees. For Venezuela, the case adds pressure to an already contentious relationship with Washington, while for prosecutors it broadens the scope of a high-profile proceeding that is already due to go to trial next year.
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The supplied material does not say how many other defendants, if any, may be added to the case. It is also unclear what evidence prosecutors will rely on to support the torture conspiracy count, or whether the new charge will affect the June 1 trial date. The next developments to watch are any further court filings, possible defence responses and whether the timetable for the case changes.
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