A new U.S. torture-conspiracy charge brings allegations of political repression into the case against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros and his wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, alongside narcotics and weapons counts.
Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed a five-count superseding indictment Oct. 8. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says Count Two charges both defendants with conspiring to commit torture; the remaining counts concern narcoterrorism, cocaine importation and weapons offenses. The accusations have not been proven in court.
The filing alleges Maduro oversaw officials linked to torture, arranged for individuals to be seized and abused, and received briefings about torture inflicted on identified detainees. Prosecutors also accuse Flores of helping establish the system and directing torture. The indictment alleges a pattern of repression from about 1999 through 2025.
Prosecutors say corruption helped Maduro’s circle build wealth and political influence, while detainees and other Venezuelans suffered repression. They allege violence intensified when the leadership’s hold on power faced a threat.
The federal law permits U.S. courts to hear allegations of torture committed abroad if the accused is a U.S. national or is present in the country, regardless of the victim’s nationality. U.S. forces captured the couple in Caracas on Jan. 3 and brought them to the United States. DOJ says the conspiracy count carries a maximum prison term of 20 years.
A Reuters review of court records identified Maduro and Flores as the seventh and eighth people charged under the statute. DOJ says its first conviction under the law came in 2008, when Roy M. Belfast Jr. was convicted of torture-related crimes stemming from Liberia. In March 2026, a federal jury also convicted former Syrian prison chief Samir Ousman Alsheikh of torture and conspiracy to commit torture.
At an Oct. 15 hearing in New York, a judge entered a not-guilty plea for Maduro, while Flores pleaded not guilty, continuing the proceedings covered in EconoTimes’ earlier report on their pleas. The Associated Press reports a pretrial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 17, with trial set to begin June 14, 2027.
