U.S. federal prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment on October 8, 2026, charging former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and former First Lady Cilia Flores with conspiracy to commit torture. The new count adds to the narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, and weapons charges the couple already face in the Southern District of New York.
The indictment alleges that from at least 1999 through 2025, Maduro, Flores, and co-conspirators used torture, arbitrary detention, and violence to suppress political opposition and retain power. Prosecutors say the conspiracy involved Venezuelan military, intelligence, and law enforcement officials, and that at least nine people were tortured, three of them U.S. citizens.
According to the charging documents, the alleged abuse included electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells, and psychological torture such as threats to harm victims' families, including children. One American detainee was allegedly beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and forced to eat his own vomit during more than eight months of imprisonment; another was allegedly hooded, handcuffed, and beaten roughly every half hour for two days, suffering a permanent eye injury.
Maduro and Flores were captured by U.S. military forces during a pre-dawn raid in Caracas on January 3, 2026, and transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. They have pleaded not guilty to the earlier drug and weapons charges and have not yet been arraigned on the new torture count. Maduro's attorney, Barry Pollack, said his client "denies the charges in the new indictment and looks forward to his day in court."
On the same day the indictment was unsealed, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied a defense request to move Flores, 69, from jail to house arrest for medical treatment. The judge cited her as a serious flight risk and said the request was premature because she had declined to undergo recommended diagnostic tests, including a cardiac catheterization. Prosecutors had argued she posed an "extreme" flight risk and was receiving adequate medical care.
Lawyers for the couple have asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing they are entitled to immunity as a former head of state and first lady. Judge Hellerstein has not yet ruled on those motions. Prosecutors said in court that the Venezuelan government under interim President Delcy Rodríguez has not joined the defense's immunity claim on the couple's behalf.
The trial for Maduro and Flores is scheduled to begin in June 2027.
What is confirmed: The conspiracy-to-commit-torture charge was unsealed October 8, 2026; the couple has been held in Brooklyn since their January 2026 capture; they deny the prior charges and have not yet entered a plea on the new count; Flores's request for house arrest was denied.
What remains unknown: Whether the immunity arguments will lead to dismissal, how the couple will plead to the new charge, and whether additional co-conspirators will be charged.
What is awaited: A ruling on the dismissal motions, an arraignment date on the torture count, and the June 2027 trial, where prosecutors must prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.